Wife holds different passports with slightly different names on each

[cmdwedge]

Hi team,

Here's the situation -

In 2006, Wife gets her first passport made out in her maiden name. Aussie passport.
In 2008, we get married, wife changes her surname to my surname.
In 2009, Wife gets her second passport - a UK one, as she was entitled to it through dual-citizenship. UK Passport has her married name.

We are flying to HK in a week... and just realised today that her Aussie passport has the wrong name on it - and our flight tickets are also in the new, married name.

Now I figured that she can simply use the UK passport to travel to HK and return a week later, with maybe a raised eyebrow when returning through Sydney, but we can easily prove her Australian citizenship through her Australian passport with the maiden name, her birth certificate showing that she was born in Victoria, and our marriage certificate, showing why we went through the trouble of using her UK passport instead.

She is extremely anxious that it's somehow 'illegal' to use a non-Australian passport when leaving and re-entering Australia. I figure that it's her right to use whichever passport she likes, and in this case, only her UK one is valid for the name on the ticket.

Any advice? Can she just use the UK passport?

Thanks very much, Phil

 

[ckck]

It is always best to check with the government authority in these situations.

https://www.passports.gov.au/Web/FAQ.aspx#faq10

About half way down the page you will find "My name has changed. Can I travel in my previous name, otherwise how do I change the name on my passport?"

You can always phone: 131 232 for information on leaving/entering the country with the UK passport. For some reason I thought if you are an Australian Citizen you are supposed to leave/enter on the Australian passport. Having said that... don't take my word for it phone and ask.

hths,

ck

 

[thewinchester]

While not your exact situation, I have a number of friends who are dual AU/UK nationals, the odd one or two who are quite well traveled. They have frequently left Australia on their AU passports & entered a non-EU destination country on their UK passport - and not had a single problem crop up in over 10yrs of doing so.

Having said that, please remember that as previously highlighted in the 2nd passport thread that there are some countries (Saudi Arabia being one example) where it is illegal to be in possession of two passports at once. For advice on countries where this might be an issue, please ensure you refer to the individual country advice on the Smart Traveler website.

 

[Deleted member]

While not your exact situation, I have a number of friends who are dual AU/UK nationals, the odd one or two who are quite well traveled. They have frequently left Australia on their AU passports & entered a non-EU destination country on their UK passport - and not had a single problem crop up in over 10yrs of doing so.

Having said that, please remember that as previously highlighted in the 2nd passport thread that there are some countries (Saudi Arabia being one example) where it is illegal to be in possession of two passports at once. For advice on countries where this might be an issue, please ensure you refer to the individual country advice on the Smart Traveler website.

I have always wondered about that ( carrying two passports) as a result I leave one at home now. Unless I am really sure

 

[medhead]

Does one have to present the boarding pass to the immigration authorities when entering or leaving a country? Sure the name has to match for the airline, but surely immigration authorities are only concerned with legal exit and entry?

 

[Geegeela]

If you re-enter on your UK Passport you will need a Visa.

I would just use your Aussie one at the exit when you return.

If you are queried just explain situation.

They are not going to “send you back on the next pane” ... YOU’RE AN AUSTRALIAN.

 

[rechoboam]

I always travel with two, leave with one and arrive with the other. Including in the gulf...no one has ever searched me. Actually I was at the desk fiddling with both one time because I knew I had Israeli stamps in one. Somehow (?jetlag) I presented the wrong passport open at the page with the Tel Aviv stamps. No one cared but perhaps I was just lucky? Don't try any of this at home.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi team,

Here's the situation -

In 2006, Wife gets her first passport made out in her maiden name. Aussie passport.
In 2008, we get married, wife changes her surname to my surname.
In 2009, Wife gets her second passport - a UK one, as she was entitled to it through dual-citizenship. UK Passport has her married name.

We are flying to HK in a week... and just realised today that her Aussie passport has the wrong name on it - and our flight tickets are also in the new, married name.

Now I figured that she can simply use the UK passport to travel to HK and return a week later, with maybe a raised eyebrow when returning through Sydney, but we can easily prove her Australian citizenship through her Australian passport with the maiden name, her birth certificate showing that she was born in Victoria, and our marriage certificate, showing why we went through the trouble of using her UK passport instead.

She is extremely anxious that it's somehow 'illegal' to use a non-Australian passport when leaving and re-entering Australia. I figure that it's her right to use whichever passport she likes, and in this case, only her UK one is valid for the name on the ticket.

Any advice? Can she just use the UK passport?

Thanks very much, Phil

Australian citizens must depart and enter australia using their Australian passport.

Using your other passport overseas is no problem at all. In fact my Australian passport doesn't have a single stamp in it after 1 year!

 

[Deleted member]

That is handy to know Mel,
So you leave Aussie on your oz passport for say Thailand and pull your second passport out when you land? Or is it not as simple as that?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

That is handy to know Mel,
So you leave Aussie on your oz passport for say Thailand and pull your second passport out when you land? Or is it not as simple as that?

It's as simple as that! Thailand doesn't care where you came from - they're just interested in the passport you want to use to enter and depart on.

You just need to be aware that at some airports you will need to show both passports at check-in. You will always need to show your Australian passport - because otherwise they will be looking for your ETA or visa (which you won't have). Sometimes they also want to see you valid arrival stamp into the country you are departing from (so you need to produce that passport as well).

When you go through the foreign immigration exit control yuo just show the passport you used to arrive on.

 

[Balwyn3103]

It's as simple as that! Thailand doesn't care where you came from - they're just interested in the passport you want to use to enter and depart on.

You just need to be aware that at some airports you will need to show both passports at check-in. You will always need to show your Australian passport - because otherwise they will be looking for your ETA or visa (which you won't have). Sometimes they also want to see you valid arrival stamp into the country you are departing from (so you need to produce that passport as well).

When you go through the foreign immigration exit control yuo just show the passport you used to arrive on.

Check-in staff when you leave Japan are very concerned with how you entered the country, acting somewhat like an arm of the border patrol. I enter on my US passport and when I check-in to leave on my Australian passport they double check the US passport to see that I entered legally and almost always have to consult the supervisor

 

[simongr]

I almost always travel with both my UK and Oz passports. I only use the UK passport for entry/exit from the EU as it is almost full and cant take many more stamps. My shiny new Oz passport is 64 pages so is used for visa to all other countries (not sure what to do if/when I go to China next as I can not have Saudi and China visas in the same passport)

Having said that, please remember that as previously highlighted in the 2nd passport thread that there are some countries (Saudi Arabia being one example) where it is illegal to be in possession of two passports at once. For advice on countries where this might be an issue, please ensure you refer to the individual country advice on the Smart Traveler website.

For this reason Saudi is the one country I travel to without my spare passport.

If you re-enter on your UK Passport you will need a Visa.
I would just use your Aussie one at the exit when you return.
If you are queried just explain situation.
They are not going to “send you back on the next pane” ... YOU’RE AN AUSTRALIAN.

You wont be granted a visa to enter Australia under your UK passport as you are an Australian.

I always travel with two, leave with one and arrive with the other. Including in the gulf...no one has ever searched me. Actually I was at the desk fiddling with both one time because I knew I had Israeli stamps in one. Somehow (?jetlag) I presented the wrong passport open at the page with the Tel Aviv stamps. No one cared but perhaps I was just lucky? Don't try any of this at home.

I am always careful if I have to show my passports to anyone. It is part of my descent routine to take out my inbound passport and put into my pocket with onward boarding passes/immigration forms. My other passport is then secured in my travel wallet. Generally the only time I do show my passports is to airline staff when travelling to the EU from Oz - as they want to see that I can enter the EU.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Check-in staff when you leave Japan are very concerned with how you entered the country, acting somewhat like an arm of the border patrol. I enter on my US passport and when I check-in to leave on my Australian passport they double check the US passport to see that I entered legally and almost always have to consult the supervisor

thanks for that! I was trying to remember where they search for the inbound immigration stamp and it's Japan!!

 

[cmdwedge]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. We decided to suck it up today and get a brand new Australian passport with her new married name, and paying the expedite fee. Fortunately we live near a passport office (at DFaT in Canberra) so we can pick it up in person on Thursday afternoon.

See you in HKG next week!

 

[simongr]

Good decision - I was going to suggest that but didn't think you could get it that quick

I recall having to pay the expedite fee for my Oz passport as I had a trip planned a few weeks out - in the end it was lucky as sadly I had a family thing to attend to about a day after my passport arrived !

 

[thewinchester]

...but didn't think you could get it that quick

Actually, this is pretty much the norm if you apply in person at a Passport Office.

Previously, passports could be produced in each state passport office - up until the introduction of the M Series ePassport. Before the M Series, getting a passport from a state office under a standard application in 1 business day or less was pretty normal (as was my experience when getting my L Series back in 99").

From M Series onwards, I understand they are now produced at a central facility - but it is still a fast process. As Passport offices can input the required photos & data digitally, these requests can be dispatched straight onto the production line (assuming approvals & background checks are passed). If collecting from a state office, these will generally be sent in the normal overnight secure document courier services which goes from the production facility to the state passport offices. On a standard service, I find the passport is often ready for collection in 72-96hrs.

With Australia Post, the documents & photos have to be sent from the GPO/PO/LPO by secure couriers back to a central processing facility in an undisclosed east coast location. This has to be matched & re-checked against the data AusPost collect and send to DFAT using a secure EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) packet for each application.

As I understand it, the EDI packets of information collected at AusPost are sent instantly to DFAT. In the time it takes the physical documents & photos to reach them, applications are given the once over and any issues caught. If everything passes by the time the paperwork arrives, the photos are sent on their way for scanning and passport production, before being sent back to wherever they need to go.

Due to constant stuff-ups by DFAT, I always make my application at the nearest Passports Australia office in person. Despite being an Australian Citizen by birth, required documents being furnished, etc; their data match exercises with state registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages causes more than a few foul-ups for Victorian born citizens.

One example: They did a data match run in 2005 with the Victorian registry, who claimed they couldn't verify my details despite DFAT having a certified copy of my long form birth certificate with all the reference numbers and details (I made DFAT check that they had this information available and correct under a Personal FoI request). As a result of this and without any further investigation by DFAT, I was blocked from online renewal and had to renew in person when it is expired.

Thanks to what DFAT they claimed were privacy reasons I was not informed of this until I went to attempt renewal online - and then had to call to find out why the system refused the renewal.

After pressuring DFAT and even getting the relevant minister involved that over 3,000 Victorian born citizens were affected in that years data match exercise, none of the affected persons were notified proactively in any way at all, no attempt was made to look further into the 3,000 affected passport holders to work out why or manually correct/fix the mismatch.

All in all, DFAT really dropped the ball and I did make a point of bringing it to the then minister's attention (think it was Crean at the time - useless as a rolled up wet newspaper) citing the poor customer service of his agency in respect of passports. Doubt it did anything, but still puts it on the record and I made an effort for them to try do better - try being the operative word.

 

[rechoboam]

Actually, this is pretty much the norm if you apply in person at a Passport Office.

Previously, passports could be produced in each state passport office - up until the introduction of the M Series ePassport. Before the M Series, getting a passport from a state office under a standard application in 1 business day or less was pretty normal (as was my experience when getting my L Series back in 99").

From M Series onwards, I understand they are now produced at a central facility - but it is still a fast process. As Passport offices can input the required photos & data digitally, these requests can be dispatched straight onto the production line (assuming approvals & background checks are passed). If collecting from a state office, these will generally be sent in the normal overnight secure document courier services which goes from the
...

All in all, DFAT really dropped the ball and I did make a point of bringing it to the then minister's attention (think it was Crean at the time - useless as a rolled up wet newspaper) citing the poor customer service of his agency in respect of passports. Doubt it did anything, but still puts it on the record and I made an effort for them to try do better - try being the operative word.

Holy cow- people on this forum know a staggering amount of stuff!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. We decided to suck it up today and get a brand new Australian passport with her new married name, and paying the expedite fee. Fortunately we live near a passport office (at DFaT in Canberra) so we can pick it up in person on Thursday afternoon.

See you in HKG next week!

I think that was the best idea! In the event of marriage, with regard to documents - you either change everything or nothing. As you know passports have to match the name the tickets are booked in and frequent flyer numbers need to be the same as the name on the ticket & reservation.

I realise people above have said it's fine to leave/enter Australia on your Australian Passport & use the UK passport elsewhere however you may have run into issues even leaving Australia as your wife's ticket was issued in her married name which did not match her maiden name in her Australian Passport.

Also leaving HKG, at checkin the passport you present to the checkin agent should always be the one you intend to enter the next country on ie Australian Passport & I imagine straight away they would have had issues with the reservations/tickets being in your wife's married name & the Aussie Passport in the maiden name.

It's no use showing the British Passport to checkin at HKG (which matches the name of the reservation) as if using the UK Passport the airline would want to see an Australian Visa in it which you can't get if you're an Australian citizen & you thereby have a vicious circle.

It's important to realise that the passport you show when checking in is the passport you intend to use to enter the country of destination & not always what you show customs when departing Australia.

Eg a dual citizen of Australia & the US holding passports for both countries if flying SYD to LAX should show the US Passport at checkin but show the Australian Passport when they depart customs at SYD. On arrival in LAX present the US passport to Customs/Border Protection.

When departing LAX for SYD at checkin hand over your Australian Passport as this is the document you will be entering Australia on. If there was Customs & Immigration when departing the US you would show your US passport but you don't go through customs outbound, you just checkin with the airline then make your way through the TSA screening point to the gate.

Definitely sort out these issues in advance as you don't want to be fumbling around deliberating what passport to hand over when you're tired and jetlagged.