[tommygirl61801]

We went to get Kirsten's passport today and after the attorney got it I realized they had put my middle name where the mothers maiden name is suppost to be I tryed to tell the attorney it was wrong but he kept saying oh it's ok, it's ok. Well I told my agency and now they have to check the pgn paperwork and her birth certificate to make sure it all has the right format for my name (I never changed my name when I got married which is the whole problem!) and try to go get a new passport on Monday so we can be submitted to the Embassy on Tuesday. Oh and if the BC is wrong...guess what another week wasted...I think that would make 15 weeks total at that point this Attorney has wasted.

So my question is can the name on a passport actually be changed? Has anyone had to do this? My agency doesn't even know if they will let us change the name and I know the embassy is not going to issue us a visa with the last name like that. SO FRUSTRATED!

We just can't catch a break......

[annaguat]

Well the name on the Guatemalan BC for my children and for that matter on all paperwork from the adoption is not on my BC or American passport or COC. I have never had a problem. I hope it will be resolved quickly and cause no problems. Anna

[Larue]

You'd be amazed. DH and I also have different last names. I kept my maiden name. Sabrina's passport says her first name, DH's last name as her middle name, then my last name. Her visa is the same. Her BC and COC has her first name, middle name, and my last name. Other documents have her first name, middle name, and DH's last name. It's all so confusing!

We didn't have any problem. One thing, when you purchase the baby's lap ticket - it HAS to match her passport. Whatever wacky name combo it has. Best wishes!

[jennzyc]

Hello,

When I got my sons guat passport his birthdate was wrong We were at the embassy and I was ready to get his visa and they said we needed to correct his birthdate. We got a hold of the attorney and went to the place that you get passports issued (somewhere in guat city) and they fixed his birthdate and I made it back to the embassy in the nick of time to get the visa. Not the same situation as you but maybe the info will help.

Jennifer

[Wonk]

I don't know about the short-term question but long-term things can be more difficult. We talked to our attorney about wanting to change her name on her Guatemalan passport once she was back home and apparently it is not so easy. You have to go through the courts to legally change the name which costs like $2500. After hearing that, we figured that there is no reason why she legally can't have one name in one country and another in another country. So we are not changing her Guatemalan passport even though now it is not her legal name in the United States.

[Quesita]

This may be a dumb question, but if you are doing a name change anyway, does the name on the Guatemalan passport really matter that much?

If I were you, I would be really tempted to just grab the paperwork, go through the last steps, get your baby home, and deal with the passport issue later.

[tommygirl61801]

I'm worried about the embassy rejecting it because the name is wrong and my agency say they are being rather picky right now. Trust me I would be happy to leave it and not have to worry about fixing it but I am so scared the embassy is going to be like get this fixed - no visa until you do! I think I will seriously lose it at that point :-(

[saranbr]

If I were you, I'd chance it with the embassy. Our case made it through (I just discovered yesterday when reviewing the legal paperwork for our attorney for the readoption) with DS's birth year one thing on all the legal paperwork and another on all the paperwork we filled out. Now I have to have the pediatrition do Xrays, etc and write a letter verifying his actual age so the year is correct of the US side legal paperwork! Not only that, the embassy gave me a receipt for his visa that said IR3 and proceded to issue an IR4.

[jcmc]

I don't know about changing the name but DD's birthdate was wrong by 5 years on her original passport. We only knew because we were visiting when we got BC and passport. They had it changed in less than 2 weeks when we went back for PU.

[IH8MEAT]

Wow...I hope you get through the Embassy ok. Seems like most people are saying that it doesn't matter.