Hi,

My wife holds an Australian and Thai passport and would like to changer her surname to mine. We live in Australia

firstly, what is the easiest way to change it for both countries?

i can't figure it out, seems extremely difficult changing in Australia for Thailand doing it any other way would end up with either tickets issued in different name to at least 1 passport.

hopefully someone has gone through something similar.

Also, my wife thinks changing her surname will cause less problems in Australia when we have kids and them having different surname to her. i'm thinking this is a hell of a lot more of a head ache.

what do people think, should she just keep her surname?

if this has been covered before sorry i searched but couldn't find much except for someone wanting to do something similar living in Thailand which is obviously different to me.

My wife holds an Australian & Thai passport.

It wasnt difficult to change surnames at all.

It became quite complicated having Medicare, Medibank, Bank accounts in different names and as you say plane tickets credit cards etc.

Her citizenship papers coupled with a couple of stat decs was all that was required in her case.

Edited to add: I guess you might have been married for more than 12 months.

But..

Change of name - Marriage

You can only change your name on your passport by providing an RBDM marriage certificate. You may be entitled to a replacement passport free of charge when applying for a name change due to marriage if your passport was valid when you were married and your application to change your family name is lodged within 12 months of your wedding date (a priority processing fee may still apply).

https://www.passport...gemarriage.aspx

http://www.dfat.gov....Names/index.htm

My wife was issued with a new Australian passport FOC

Edited May 3, 201214 yr by edwinclapham

why did she not change at marriage? name change in thailand is very easy. best to just call the embassy in australlia and ask if it can be done abroad.

also, not sure if you mean that she had a passport issued in maiden name and then got married. if this is the case they do not issue a new passport. they put a sticker into the old one.

My wife holds an Australian & Thai passport.

It wasnt difficult to change surnames at all.

It became quite complicated having Medicare, Medibank, Bank accounts in different names and as you say plane tickets credit cards etc.

Her citizenship papers coupled with a couple of stat decs was all that was required in her case.

did you change her name for both in the 1 location?

living in Australia not sure if we will be in Thailand long enough to changer her name for Australian passport.

why did she not change at marriage? name change in thailand is very easy. best to just call the embassy in australlia and ask if it can be done abroad.

also, not sure if you mean that she had a passport issued in maiden name and then got married. if this is the case they do not issue a new passport. they put a sticker into the old one.

she didn't think it would be so difficult to do in Oz. Sorry it was her existing passport she had before we were married with the surname she as born with.

why did she not change at marriage? name change in thailand is very easy. best to just call the embassy in australlia and ask if it can be done abroad.

also, not sure if you mean that she had a passport issued in maiden name and then got married. if this is the case they do not issue a new passport. they put a sticker into the old one.

My wife holds an Australian & Thai passport.

It wasnt difficult to change surnames at all.

It became quite complicated having Medicare, Medibank, Bank accounts in different names and as you say plane tickets credit cards etc.

Her citizenship papers coupled with a couple of stat decs was all that was required in her case.

did you change her name for both in the 1 location?

living in Australia not sure if we will be in Thailand long enough to changer her name for Australian passport.

My wife had her named changed for the Australian passport via the post office as we live in a rural location.

The Thai Passport was changed in Thailand with the appropriate paperwork.

why did she not change at marriage? name change in thailand is very easy. best to just call the embassy in australlia and ask if it can be done abroad.

also, not sure if you mean that she had a passport issued in maiden name and then got married. if this is the case they do not issue a new passport. they put a sticker into the old one.

she didn't think it would be so difficult to do in Oz. Sorry it was her existing passport she had before we were married with the surname she as born with.

It is a very common ocurance and nothing to worry about. Medicare and Medibank will want sight of her change of names to swop the names over as well.

My wife holds an Australian & Thai passport.

It wasnt difficult to change surnames at all.

It became quite complicated having Medicare, Medibank, Bank accounts in different names and as you say plane tickets credit cards etc.

Her citizenship papers coupled with a couple of stat decs was all that was required in her case.

did you change her name for both in the 1 location?

living in Australia not sure if we will be in Thailand long enough to changer her name for Australian passport.

My wife had her named changed for the Australian passport via the post office as we live in a rural location.

The Thai Passport was changed in Thailand with the appropriate paperwork.

ok, so how did she get into Thailand then? the air ticket and passport wouldn't match up? did she just show her marriage cert to Thai immigration?

My wife holds an Australian & Thai passport.

It wasnt difficult to change surnames at all.

It became quite complicated having Medicare, Medibank, Bank accounts in different names and as you say plane tickets credit cards etc.

Her citizenship papers coupled with a couple of stat decs was all that was required in her case.

did you change her name for both in the 1 location?

living in Australia not sure if we will be in Thailand long enough to changer her name for Australian passport.

My wife had her named changed for the Australian passport via the post office as we live in a rural location.

The Thai Passport was changed in Thailand with the appropriate paperwork.

ok, so how did she get into Thailand then? the air ticket and passport wouldn't match up? did she just show her marriage cert to Thai immigration?

I dont think I quite understand

My wife entered Thailand as she always does on her Thai passport, her e tickets of course matched her maiden name. On departure she produced for e ticket purposes only her old passport and left on her new Thai passport. Does that make sense lol. At all times she had all valid documents to support the name changes.

She then enters Australia on her Australian passport.

Bearing in mind her Thai passport /name change was carried out in Thailand.

Edited May 3, 201214 yr by edwinclapham

I dont think I quite understand

My wife entered Thailand as she always does on her Thai passport, her e tickets of course matched her maiden name. On departure she produced for e ticket purposes only her old passport and left on her new Thai passport. Does that make sense lol. At all times she had all valid documents to support the name changes.

She then enters Australia on her Australian passport.

Bearing in mind her Thai passport /name change was carried out in Thailand.

ok i think i get you now, did immigration in Australia ask to see her ticket when departing? i vaguely remember they ask for your ticket, passport and exit card before proceeding through.

I dont think I quite understand

My wife entered Thailand as she always does on her Thai passport, her e tickets of course matched her maiden name. On departure she produced for e ticket purposes only her old passport and left on her new Thai passport. Does that make sense lol. At all times she had all valid documents to support the name changes.

She then enters Australia on her Australian passport.

Bearing in mind her Thai passport /name change was carried out in Thailand.

ok i think i get you now, did immigration in Australia ask to see her ticket when departing? i vaguely remember they ask for your ticket, passport and exit card before proceeding through.

Bearing in mind most tickets are all e tickets now. No ticket was therefore requested by the Australian authorities. Because in effect she is an Australian leaving for Thailand whereby you are requested to have a return /onward ticket from Thailand.

So she presented her Oz passport, & boarding card, completes her "departure card" and enters Thailand on her old Thai passport.

Amends Thai passport which took about 15 minutes I believe.

Entering Australia with your completed "arrival card" on your new Australian passport = no problems.

In cases like this it is highly recommended that you carry evidence i.e. old passports. marriage certificates etc just in case...

Seriously we did not experience any problems.

Edited May 3, 201214 yr by edwinclapham

As long as you can show you're not trying to do anything shady, this is an entirely normal and straightforward issue, and no matter about tickets and passport names not matching up shouldn't cause any problems, as long as you're doing your best to get everything in alignment as soon as you can.

My wife is not an Australian citizen and she is living in Aus on a 309 temp resident until permanent comes through.

Her Thai ID, and passport, and Australian visa are in her maiden name as is her Medicare card.

Her RTA ID and both bank accounts, are in her (my) married name.

You will face difficulties changing Medicare if yours is also only on a 309, but I read she has an Australian passport. I've been told to wait until she's permanent although €“I am still trying. We're also looking into doing her Thai passport while in Australia, but haven't done so yet. I do have another thread on this elsewhere.

Regarding any name changes you want to make, as long as you have the registered marriage certificate, not the commemorative one, you should be able to change any Australian document she has upon proving who she is: ie providing ID in maiden name, marriage certificate, and it should be that simple. That's what we've done for both the RTA and the banks. However, Medicare is tied to her visa and passport.

Being that your wife is an Australian citizen, this shouldn't be an issue.

About the children though, any born in Australia, believe it or not, her name is quite irrelevant. I requested from BDM what could be done in our situation as we want her married name on the birth certificate and I was concerned that we'd have to use her maiden name, ie the name she would be in hospital under, €“something that we do not want to do. Their written (email) response was that we can use any name for my wife that we want! It is not tied to any ID and no ID has to be provided. I couldn't believe it myself, but PM me if you'd like and I'll send you a copy of that email.

Edit: here is the thread that I'll be updating as I find out more:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/550298-Changing Name On My Wife'S Thai Passport

Link doesn't look quite right, but should give you an idea where to find my post (sorry on the iPhone app ATM and it has it's shortcomings)

Edited May 3, 201214 yr by Madivad

I love this review I really love it

I love this review I really love it

I see you've tried to post two images here to a finance forum. BTW, they haven't worked. Have you got the right thread/forum? Can't quite figure out what you mean here

Having two seperate surnames shouldn't be a problem.

My mother still has her maiden name in her Thai passport even through she's been married 40 something years. Australian passport is in her married name. Her tickets are all booked in her married name, and there is no issues with the discepancy.

She needs to change her name at the local ampur where she registers, but given her trips to Thailand are only brief, she can never be bothered. So all her Thai ID remains in her maiden name.

No biggie.

Edit: here is the thread that I'll be updating as I find out more:

http://www.thaivisa....550298-Changing Name On My Wife'S Thai Passport

Link doesn't look quite right, but should give you an idea where to find my post (sorry on the iPhone app ATM and it has it's shortcomings)

thank you, i will keep an eye on it.

Having two seperate surnames shouldn't be a problem.

My mother still has her maiden name in her Thai passport even through she's been married 40 something years. Australian passport is in her married name. Her tickets are all booked in her married name, and there is no issues with the discepancy.

She needs to change her name at the local ampur where she registers, but given her trips to Thailand are only brief, she can never be bothered. So all her Thai ID remains in her maiden name.

No biggie.

Does she ever get asked at either end why she has a ticket in a different name to passport? I like this idea, however might be a bit inconvenient dusting off the marriage cert every trip to Thailand to carry around just in case questions get asked. I guess Australia accept dual citizenship so i guess if she carries her Thai passport at all times and buys tickets in the same name as thai passport we can always show her Thai passport at immigration if needed.

Nomad, as far as I know, she has never been asked, and we are talking about decades worth of travel here.

Even though things are booked in her married name, it doesn't stop her entering and departing Thailand on her Thai passport in her maiden name.

On the return journey back to OZ, the airline check in people swipe her OZ passport and this is checked against the DIAC database on Australia. Once cleared, they issue her boarding pass.

She take the boarding pass to Thai immigration and gets stamped out on the Thai passport. Thai immigration don't care so long as she has the boarding pass, and I'm guessing, if they were worried about her identity given the discrepancy, she can always show the Aussie passport to them. But as I said, that has simply not happened as far as I can tell, having done through immigration with her.

Thailand, as others have said, simply does not have an issue with dual nationals these days.