Passport name – Will issues arise if my US and Canadian passports have different names?

Question I am a Canadian citizen that lives in the United States with my fiancé, I currently have a valid Canadian passport and will be changing my passport name along with applying to become a naturalized citizen in the United States. When I get married and change my name, I will not be changing my name on my Canadian passport. This will cause my passports to have different names. Will this cause any serious issues because my US and Canadian passports have different information? Please advise me what to do.

Answer It is likely that issues will arise if your passports contain different names. Any passport used for travel should have your full legal name in that passport. I would advise you to change your name once you are marry and your name change. You will be able to do this through a Canadian Embassy or a Canadian Consulate. Being that you live in New Jersey, the following will be Canadian Embassy and Canadian Consulate locations that are closest to you.

Canadian Consulate General – New York City
1251 Avenue of the Americas
Concourse Level
New York, New York
USA
10020-1175
Tel: (212) 596-1628
Fax: (212) 596-1790

You can use the following link for information of the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C.

http://can-am.gc.ca/Washington/

What to do after marrying and changing your name:

You have up to one year after getting marry to change your name in your passport. So, if you have your passport less than one year before you got marry, you will avoid any fees with changing your name. Hence, if you have exceeded that time period of one year, then you will have to mail your application in. You will have to fill out form DS-82, collect all supporting documents, and finally package and send them out. This regular passport service has a fee of $75. This is for regular processing. Also, there is an rush service available for a fee of $60 extra.