Can You Change Your Surname After Getting A Settlement Visa

[malct]

Is it possible that my wife can change her surname after getting a settlement visa.

we got Married 4 weeks ago and she has now been granted a settlement visa. my wife fly's to the UK in October.

would it be a problem for my wife entering the UK using her maiden name in her passport.

I understand that the name on the airline ticket must be the same as her passport.

Also if she wanted a job in the UK, she needs to show her Passport to her employees and that would conflict with different surnames.

Any advice on this would be great.

Thank you

Malc

[7by7]

There is no requirement under UK law (and I think Thai) for a woman to take her husband's surname on marriage. So your wife having a different surname to yours will not be a problem. My wife didn't change her Thai passport until it expired and she renewed it at the Thai embassy in London.

Indeed, as long as there is no intention to deceive, a person can have as many names as they wish. At one point she had a Thai passport in her maiden name and a British passport in her married one!

For any occasion in the UK where your wife needs to show that she is married to you her visa should suffice; though you may want to get a translation of your marriage certificate as back up.

[malct]

Thank you 7by7

I may have asked the wrong question.

My Wife is now wanting to change her Surname and to take on my surname, She is planning on going to her local amphur on Monday for the name change, With everything done for her visa under her maiden name, would this create a problem

Malc

There is no requirement under UK law (and I think Thai) for a woman to take her husband's surname on marriage. So your wife having a different surname to yours will not be a problem. My wife didn't change her Thai passport until it expired and she renewed it at the Thai embassy in London.

Indeed, as long as there is no intention to deceive, a person can have as many names as they wish. At one point she had a Thai passport in her maiden name and a British passport in her married one!

For any occasion in the UK where your wife needs to show that she is married to you her visa should suffice; though you may want to get a translation of your marriage certificate as back up.

[7by7]

UK immigration wont be interested in her Thai ID card or tabien baan. As long as the name on her visa matches the name in her passport, no problem.

Ditto the airline; as long as the name on her ticket and the name in her passport match, no problem.

If she does want to change her passport as well then in these days of electronic everything I believe they will cancel her passport and issue a new one. If she does this then she must make sure she gets the old one back as that will have the visa in it. She will then need to present both passports when necessary, and I'd suggest having your marriage certificate plus English translation to hand as well; just in case.

I know you wanted to submit her visa application as soon as possible after your marriage, but a new passport in Thailand only takes about 5 days. So it may have been better to have changed her passport before submitting the visa application. That way everything would be in her new name.

[Thongkorn]

All my wife did was to start using my Surname when she first came to the UK,She just put my surname after hers,

[bifftastic]

When my wife changed her name, and subsequently her passport, she kept the old one.

If I were you I'd tell her to change her name by all means but keep the original passport active and travel using that one (on her maiden name) 7by7's right, it shouldn't make a difference, but I reckon it's an added complication to have an active visa in a cancelled passport and another passport in a different name. Airline check-in staff can be a pain if they don't understand something.

Tell her she can change the passport later, the visa is in the current one so she should travel on that one. I just think it would be easier

[malct]

We are planning on coming back to Thailand in April, so she can change her passport then, least she will have entered the UK once with her visa

When my wife changed her name, and subsequently her passport, she kept the old one.

If I were you I'd tell her to change her name by all means but keep the original passport active and travel using that one (on her maiden name) 7by7's right, it shouldn't make a difference, but I reckon it's an added complication to have an active visa in a cancelled passport and another passport in a different name. Airline check-in staff can be a pain if they don't understand something.

Tell her she can change the passport later, the visa is in the current one so she should travel on that one. I just think it would be easier

[bifftastic]

Good idea. She can also ask the UK border people, when she uses the visa for the first time, if it will cause her any problems when she changes her name.

It shouldn't, but it wouldn't hurt to get the information from the horses mouth, as it were