Wife Changing Name On Passport/visa For Uk

[kenkannif]

From a friend:

Just a quick question for you and your advice will be gratefully received.

Should my wife change her name on her passport and will it affect her in any way?

At the moment she has a Thai passport in her maiden name and as we only got legally married in October in the UK we haven't done anything about it yet. I realise that you have previously stated on many occasions that she will not lose any ownership rights as long as a declaration is signed stating that the funds are hers, but she is still Thai and fears Thai authority and the local rumour mill! That's just the way people are brought up here I suppose.

The wife and want to go back to the UK this summer for work and and in the following years we would like to holiday there so we were considering a mutiple-entry (Visit, multiple, valid for 1, 2, 5 or 10 years) visa so that we don't have to go through this tiresome process year after year. We have no intention of settling back in the UK, but would the application process be easier if she had my family name in her passport? Does this visa allow her to find a job? Sorry for asking you all of this but we have tried e-mailing (no reply) and finding information from the UK Embassy web-site and it is rather hard to understand their vague guidelines.

Thanks chaps!

[OldAsiaHand]

My experience is with the US, not the UK, but for what it's worth....

My wife didn't change the name on her Thai ID and passport for over ten years and it didn't seem to impact us in any way. Before she applied for US residency, she did change it just to prevent any possible questions arising with regard to the paperwork.

It was a real pain in the butt to get it done and the various Thai authorities through whom the process had to go (and there are, naturally, a ton of them) did everything they could to make it difficult and unpleasant. A Thai woman who wants a farang name? Unthinkable. Anyway, amid much cursing of her fellow Thais and much biting of her lip to keep from saying what she thought of them, she finallly got the deed done over a period of about a month, although it would have been difficult without friends at the embassy who assisted in subtle ways. The Thais she dealt with at every level were obstructive and unhelpful.

Has it made any difference? Well, I fancy that immigration procedures when we're together may have gone a little more routinely and she may have been checked out a little less thoroughly, but that's about it.

[lopburi3]

What name is on her ID card? That should have been changed upon marriage (she is now a Mrs.) so that is the first item. Takes about five minutes to make a new ID card.

Passport should be in the same name as ID card. To change a passport is not at all difficult but I would just make a new one (they only cost about 1,000 baht). Again it is a quick and simple process. Things have improved greatly with government service in the last decade.

If she does much traveling believe having your names match and her having a foreign name do help with immigration and visa services.

As for the UK laws on work do not believe she would be able to work on a tourist visa, if that is what you are asking, no matter what her name is.

[the scouser]

As far as the UK is concerned, a woman is under no obligation to change her name upon marriage. Any visa application should be supported by the marriage certificate which, irrespective of what the applicant calls him/herself, shows them to be married.

Scouse.

[Rj 81]

As far as the UK is concerned, a woman is under no obligation to change her name upon marriage. Any visa application should be supported by the marriage certificate which, irrespective of what the applicant calls him/herself, shows them to be married.

Scouse.

So, in simple terms , when I get married, my G/f doesn't have to change her name in order to travel back to the UK?

[Rinrada]

she has a Thai passport in her maiden name and as we only got legally married in October in the UK .

The wife and want to go back to the UK this summer for work and and in the following years we would like to holiday there so we were considering a mutiple-entry

Thanks chaps!

Legally married in the UK....so.....

[the scouser]

As far as the UK is concerned, a woman is under no obligation to change her name upon marriage. Any visa application should be supported by the marriage certificate which, irrespective of what the applicant calls him/herself, shows them to be married.

Scouse.

So, in simple terms , when I get married, my G/f doesn't have to change her name in order to travel back to the UK?

Sorry, Rj, I forgot that the Mancs have problems with long sentences.

Scouse.

[Rj 81]

As far as the UK is concerned, a woman is under no obligation to change her name upon marriage. Any visa application should be supported by the marriage certificate which, irrespective of what the applicant calls him/herself, shows them to be married.

Scouse.

So, in simple terms , when I get married, my G/f doesn't have to change her name in order to travel back to the UK?

Sorry, Rj, I forgot that the Mancs have problems with long sentences.

Scouse.

Waht do you maen?

No, seriously, am I right in what I've said?

[the scouser]

Yes!

Is that short enough?

Scouse.

[GU22]

Yes, you are correct. My wife didn't get around to changing the name in her Thai passport until she renewed it last year, by which time she had successfully applied for ILR and then British citizenship.

The only thing to remember is that when booking flights the name on the ticket must be the same as the name on the passport.

However, I believe she has to change the name on her I.D. card within 30 days of the marriage.

[Rj 81]

Yes!

Is that short enough?

Scouse.

Okay! okay!

Sorry I've been up since 05.45

brain

not

working

[vinny]

In Thailand, a wife can now indeed keep her maiden name, if she wants to. But I believe that she has to change her title from "Miss" to "Mrs." See Thai Women Allowed to Keep Maiden Names.

[OldAsiaHand]

However, I believe she has to change the name on her I.D. card within 30 days of the marriage.

My wife waited eleven years and, when she finally got around to doing it, nobody said anything to her about such a requirement. Still, it might be true, I suppose, but.............

[LeedsLeedsLeeds]

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply to my query and thanks especially to KK for posting on my behalf.

The real issue behind this is whether or not my wife will lose any rights once her family name has been changed to mine. As many people have told me that it makes no difference at all as have told me that she will no longer be able to own land. This is a big issue for us as we have both given up teaching and are now developing land that we already own (in her name) as our sole source of income. We know from a good friend of ours that his wife has changed her name in her passport but her ID card is still in her maiden name. They, like us, depend on land ownership for income.

Another slightly lesser issue is that of our intention to spend six months this year working in Guernsey in order to save money for further investments in land. We both plan to work and need to know what kind of visa would be most suitable. We never intend to settle in Guernsey, so any kind of residency visa is unnecessary. What we do require is a multiple entry visa so that we can go back whenever we wish for holidays or family commitments. Would this kind of multiple entry visa be for tourists only and would we have to apply for two different visas for our trip this year and for our future holidays?

Rinrada, legally married in the UK and ceremonially married in Thailand - is that any clearer?

[the scouser]

Your wife will need permission to work in the UK and the most straightforward way for her to derive this is through a settlement visa. Without the authority, she won't be allowed to work whilst on tourist visas. Furthermore, are you from Guernsey? If not, you might not be allowed to just turn up and work in the Channel Islands, but perhaps a Channel Islander would have a better idea of that.

Cheers,

Scouse.

[lopburi3]

She does not lose any right to own land. Period. And in fact never did before. But prior to a few years ago the land office would refuse to register any new purchase with a woman who had a foreign sounding name as a matter of internal policy based on the law for inheritance (which would call for marriage property to be jointly owned) and the law that foreigners could not own land. To avoid a conflict they just would not register the land. Now there is a method in place to take care of this in that the woman simply declares the money as hers alone and the husband signs that he understands he has no ownership.

Again - she has full rights to lands ownership using a married name.

[LeedsLeedsLeeds]

Thanks Lopburi and Scouser, that's the kind of information that I was after. As I said we'd prefer not to apply for any kind of setlement visa as we only want to go to Guernsey for six months work and after that we only wish to holiday there once in a while for the sake of my friends and family. The wife also loves Guernsey and looks forward to going back. I am from Guernsey (bit misleading calling myself Leeds, I know) and the work situation is very different from that of the UK. Firstly there are more jobs than people on the island and secondly 'work permits' aren't necessary as we have a Housing License system (Local Market and Open Market) in place that issues a Right To Work document. Foreign Nationals must first gain clearance from Guernsey Immigration before being eligable for a Housing License.