A different kind of birth certificate/boarding drama....

[nothomeonacruise]

Becca, this isn't about making sure it's the right certificate, it's about whether or not her mother needs to have the certificate amended as the official vital record is misspelled.

 

They don't check your maiden name. I agree, but I'm not an expert, etiher.

[Neals6]

My DH had a similar problem. I think back then they spelled names the best they could because a lot of women used midwives. My husband is only 47 but his mom had a midwife and all of his brothers and sisters the first or last name is mispelled. We went to the office of vital statistics and had to take his parents marriage liscense,farther's death cert. and a school record.All in all we had it stratend out in one day. Maybe you should call your office and find out what there requirements are and it will save you a lot of time and grief. Hope this helped and everything turns out ok. My pvp has alwalys told me to take my marriage liscense with me just in case.Noone has ever asked for it but better safe than sorry.

[tracyanns]

Just an FYI that it really depends on the agent you get. I have seen different agents ask for different things and although they may not all ask for it, if it is in the contract that you have to have it and you don't they can deny you boarding.

 

We cruised on the Fantasy about a month ago and they asked a woman next to us for her marriage license and she didn't have it...still arguing about it after we walked away in less than 2 minutes with our passports (they really do expedite the check in process)...I do not know the outcome but I think one of the agents said you were required to provide all of the bridging documents...or maybe they had an issue with her specific paperwork and wanted if for that reason, not sure but either way they asked her for it so better to have it than not have it.

[blindrid]

OK Since grandma is cruising now,it is best that she get a passport,That way she wont have to have 10 pieces of I D,and a meltdown,to get on the ship and have fun:p;)

 

That's all well and good but grandma also needs a legit BC to get one.... that's the point of the OP's concern.

[old sole]

Yeah, that is strange. Seeing as how the thing that you get from the hospital is nothing more than a souvenier copy for the proud parents. Here in SC the hospital copy is good for absolutely nothing.

 

Only in the past several years has that been true. I used my hospital birth "certificate" from McCloud Hospital in Florence SC as my official birth certificate (I thought they were one & the same, and apparantly so did everyone else) for getting a driver's license, going to college, joining the Army, getting married, and getting a passport. The first time I ever needed the SC Dept of Vital Statistics certified copy of my BC was when I had to replace an expired passport 6 years ago.

[CRU1Z1N]

If the first name is spelled correctly, and the same, on the birth certificate and drivers license or state ID, there won't be a problem. No one checks your maiden name... Did they spell your parents last name the same as yours on your BC? Example..John Smith father, Jane Doe Smith mother born to them daughter Janet Middlename Smyth. IF the last name does not match then you may have a problem

 

Would someone please show me where Carnival states that you need your marriage license?

 

Thanks!

[toadally]

Three years ago I was asked for my marriage license. Last year my BC and ID were all that were asked for. This year my passport was great.

[Warm Breezes]

Three years ago I was asked for my marriage license. Last year my BC and ID were all that were asked for. This year my passport was great.

 

When they asked for your marriage license 3 years ago, did your photo ID name match your booking name or were they different and that is why they needed the bridging document?

[CruisinManiac]

My wife has her own middle name on her license and her last name. Her maiden name is nowhere on that document, her government retirement card, social security card, passport, etc.

 

I don't know how old you are (I am over 50) or where you were raised, but in the South Carolina where I was raised, it was proper to drop your middle name when you took your husbands name, and use your maiden name as the middle. I have not used my given middle name in 32 years.

 

Having said the above, read the following. Not knowing she had done so, our daughter had to renew her drivers license shortly after she married. She dropped her maiden name and kept her given first and middle name. We understand why she did it. Her first name is Mary, and her middle name "Katherine", but she has always gone by "Katherine". So, if she had dropped her middle name, and kept her maiden name, she would lose the name that she goes by. She says she wasn't thinking straight when she did that, and had even filled out some work applications that way.

 

Our daughter has already run into trouble with the new name and trying to get a teaching job. When the school system called some of her references, the people that were called had no idea who Mary "Jones" was. :eek: Only when the school system answered back that her middle name was "Katherine" (her real name is very unusual and people recognize it immediately,) did they know who the questions were in reference to.

 

From now own, our daughter will fill out applications and other paper work as Mary "Katherine" "Smith" "Jones".

 

Whew!!! Not sure that all made sense. :rolleyes:

 

Only in the past several years has that been true. I used my hospital birth "certificate" from McCloud Hospital in Florence SC as my official birth certificate (I thought they were one & the same, and apparantly so did everyone else) for getting a driver's license, going to college, joining the Army, getting married, and getting a passport. The first time I ever needed the SC Dept of Vital Statistics certified copy of my BC was when I had to replace an expired passport 6 years ago.

 

lol...our oldest daughter was born at McLeod Regional in Florence. :)

 

BTW - My daughter got her passport before she was married. Can she still use that same passport if they travel again, or does it need to be updated before it officially expires?

[JPEvans]

But of course she can't get a Passport without her birth certificate...

 

Not entirely true. You need to prove your U.S. citizenship. A friend of

mine was born in France, and his mother married a US citizen and was

adoped by the new husband. His adoption papers would prove his

citizenship, not his French birth certificate.

[imsulin]

?? Her Maiden name would not be on her license:confused:

 

Answer..NO, it will not matter if last name on BC is missed spelled, she will be using her DL with Married last name, they will be looking to make sure the first name & date of birth are correct only.

I say fix the BC when you get back.

 

took my DIL 1 year to make a correction to her BC thru the state.

 

have a great family cruise:)

 

You're wrong. In the South, it is VERY common for a female to have first-MAIDEN-last name on her DL. (I'd never seen this before I moved down here, and still don't understand the logic behind it). I came across this when I started working as a TA here in 1999, and it was very confusing. I've always had first-middle-last name on my DL. (But, I've had a Passport since I was 18). I think this is a very legitimate issue as to whether or not the maiden name is on the DL.

[WinnipegCruiser]

It might be a good idea to try and start the passport process at the same time. As a back up... I mean with the DL, SSN....and the bad BC....

 

Along with the verifier....

[CruisinManiac]

You're wrong. In the South, it is VERY common for a female to have first-MAIDEN-last name on her DL. (I'd never seen this before I moved down here, and still don't understand the logic behind it). I came across this when I started working as a TA here in 1999, and it was very confusing. I've always had first-middle-last name on my DL. (But, I've had a Passport since I was 18). I think this is a very legitimate issue as to whether or not the maiden name is on the DL.

 

:) The logic is to never forget who they are or what family they came from. ;) That's always been my husbands mantra when the kids were growing up and going off to places without us (youth group tours, camp, etc.) After kissing the kids goodbye, he would always say to them "be good, remember who you are, where you came from, and what/who you represent." Our minister of music heard this one day, and made a sermon about it a few weeks later. :D

 

My DH and I were a little hurt when our daughter dropped her maiden name.

 

Keeping your maiden name as the middle is not really much different than a married woman keeping her maiden name as her last name, or hyphenating her name with the husbands name. ;)

[CRZCRAZY]

I don't know how old you are (I am over 50) or where you were raised, but in the South Carolina where I was raised, it was proper to drop your middle name when you took your husbands name, and use your maiden name as the middle. I have not used my given middle name in 32 years.

I'm 59 and was raised in Chicago and have lived in California for the last 40 years. I guess it's a regional thing that is done more in the South. When I grew up it was the standard to drop the maiden name completely, and when I moved (or should I say the Navy moved me) out to California, I started to see more hyphenated names, but still keeping the original middle name. That was in the 70s when there were a lot of changes being made in the way women did things, including credit reporting, marriage and property rights, etc.

[GatorMomInNC]

I really don't get the whole changing your name thing when you get married. It never would occur to me to go to a courthouse and legally have my last name changed, just because I had gotten married. It would be so weird for me to have a different name than the one I have had all my life and way too complicated and too much trouble in situations such as the one the OP is talking about. I truly believe this is an archaic practice that will disappear in another generation or two.

[nrdsb4]

I really don't get the whole changing your name thing when you get married. It never would occur to me to go to a courthouse and legally have my last name changed, just because I had gotten married. It would be so weird for me to have a different name than the one I have had all my life and way too complicated and too much trouble in situations such as the one the OP is talking about. I truly believe this is an archaic practice that will disappear in another generation or two.

 

 

You don't have to go to a courthouse to get your name legally changed when you get married. It's not at all complicated. When my driver's license expired, I changed the last name on that, same with my passport, and I didn't until recently change it on my social security card. I lost the card, so when I replaced it, I changed the last name. Easy as pie.

 

I took my husband's last name because we planned on having children. We wanted our children to have the same last name as their parents. It was done more as a symbol of unity than anything else. I do agree that, while it's far from being "archaic' at this time, it may eventually be phased out as a tradition.

[GatorMomInNC]

You don't have to go to a courthouse to get your name legally changed when you get married. It's not at all complicated. When my driver's license expired, I changed the last name on that, same with my passport, and I didn't until recently change it on my social security card. I lost the card, so when I replaced it, I changed the last name. Easy as pie.

 

I took my husband's last name because we planned on having children. We wanted our children to have the same last name as their parents. It was done more as a symbol of unity than anything else. I do agree that, while it's far from being "archaic' at this time, it may eventually be phased out as a tradition.

 

In Florida when we got our license they specifically told us, now, this doesn't mean your name is changed, you will still need to go do that separately. I took that to mean a formal name change, but I never looked into it because I wanted to keep my name.

 

We have 2 kids, and they have their dads name. I don't get offended when people assume my last name is the same, and we usually refer to ourselves as The (husband's last name). So far it has not been an issue that I have a different last name as my kids, although I think that my kids' teachers sometimes wonder if I am divorced/remarried when they first meet me. I am curious to see what happens when I cruise with them (in 9 days!!! YEAH!!) with passports with different last names (my husband won't be with us).

 

Anyway, to each his own - my mother and my sister both changed their names, and some of my friends. Personally, I just think it is weird to change the name you were born with...maybe it is because I didn't get married until I was 39 and I was just very attached to my name!!

[KFinTx]

We leave on the Elation on Nov 6 (myself, hubby, 2 kids, mom & step father). My mother is 60 years old and has never been out of the country before and until now apparently never had a need for her birth certificate.

 

look into filing a change of name petition.

[KFinTx]

I don't know how old you are (I am over 50) or where you were raised, but in the South Carolina where I was raised, it was proper to drop your middle name when you took your husbands name, and use your maiden name as the middle. I have not used my given middle name in 32 years. :rolleyes:

 

Custom or no, your legal name remains First Middle Maiden Married, unless you go to court & change it. Of course, my mom had to go against tradition after she married & dropped her given first name, so the name she used after marriage was Middle Maiden Married. :eek:

[cherylandtk]

I am curious to see what happens when I cruise with them (in 9 days!!! YEAH!!) with passports with different last names (my husband won't be with us).

The port may ask your for proof (certified BC's)that you are your children's mother and they may ask for notarized permission from your husband to take them out of the country. Chances of either are low to start with, but because you have a different last name that tends to send up warning flags and initiate more questions. On some lines (not Carnival, which you are taking) these bridge documents are required.

[Crusin6]

Yes, I know a passport would have made things much simplier but seeing that she is 60 years old and never had the need for her birth certificate until now needing a passport is a mute point. Of course, if she enjoys cruising and wants to continue in the future she will invest in a passport (after getting the BC mess straightened out of course). We have had this trip scheduled for a while and until a few weeks ago she thought she had a copy of her birth certificate when it was actually the other thing issued from the hospital.

what kind of documentation did she use to get her Marriage License then?

The first one as well as the current one. Maybe she could use whatever she used to get the M/C? Just askin?

[Crusin6]

The port may ask your for proof (certified BC's)that you are your children's mother and they may ask for notarized permission from your husband to take them out of the country. Chances of either are low to start with, but because you have a different last name that tends to send up warning flags and initiate more questions. On some lines (not Carnival, which you are taking) these bridge documents are required.

be careful if any ports are in Mexico. To be safe get a notarized letter from you DH stating it is OK for you to take the kids out of the states.

[rocketmom09]

OP, I would just get the birth certificate the court has for her and use it to get the passport for now. When I went to get my passport, my mother's name was spelled wrong on the certified birth certificate. Mine went thru fine.

 

In the meantime, call the passport office and tell them what you've posted on here and they can tell you whether you need to do more footwork before presenting for the passport.

[Crusin6]

a Marriage License is all that is needed to change your name after marriage....no need for a court appearance...as the Marriage License is the legal document.

 

If you are not legally marriaed and want to start to legally and officially start using someone else's last name..or..just want to change your last name for some reason....then you go to court.

 

Of course nothing is stopping anyone from using any name they choose...however, it is not your legal name ....just sort of a pen name. Your legal docs will still show your birth name and your marriage license entitles you to use your spouses last name for legal purposes....not just for social purposes....of course this is all assuming that not fraud is involved and one is not running from the law:D

[TahoeBob]

I can't help but wonder why she never had the need for her birth certificate before age 60. Im 57 and had to have birth certificate to start school, get a driver's license, get a marriage license, etc. Did she not ever have to produce a birth certificate for any of those or other reasons?????:confused:

I am 56 and I never needed my BC until 6 years ago when I took my first cruise. I am sure that my parents needed it when I first started school, but other than that there was never a need.