All names in this post are made up; I use pseudonyms for my safety and the safety of my family, among other things. So if the names seem punny and unrealistic, that’s why.
I got married in September of 2006, and when I did, I took on my ex’s last name, Price. My maiden name was Banks. I moved abroad a week before my wedding, and since my wedding was not performed in the US, my name was never legally changed in the US, so my passport and bank accounts were still under the name Penny Banks.
I didn’t bother changing the name on my passport and bank account because I didn’t see the need, so I lived with two separate names for years.
When I got my youngest daughter American citizenship, about 8 years ago, the American embassy realized from my paperwork that I never changed the name on my American passport and told me that I needed to do it already, but I told them I was in the process of getting divorced, so they said I could wait until after my divorce was final to change my name.
Six years ago, a few months before my divorce became final, I decided to change my first name socially to Pearl to represent something beautiful and precious that came through hardship (my non-pseudonym name is a variation of pearl in another language), something that I felt represented my life.
After my divorce, I decided to make it official, but also wanted to change my last name. I ideally wanted to get rid of the last name Price, but my kids asked me to keep the same last name as them. I didn’t want to go back to my maiden name for various reasons. I wanted to take on a new last name that had meaning for me, Worth (because I am worthy), so I decided to pair it with my ex’s last name.
My new name was now Pearl Price Worth.
And my American passport still said Penny Banks.
It was a bit uncomfortable every time I spoke to my bank on the phone and had to identify myself with my deadname, but what to do? I never changed my name legally in the US, so that was still my legal American name. And it was a bit confusing to remember when booking flights to use the name on my local passport, other than when traveling to the US or places that I wanted to visit on my US passport. I once booked a flight under the wrong name and needed to pay money to change the name on the flight at the airport…
But changing my name legally in the US seemed like a headache and expensive, since I first needed a new passport under my new name, and to do that, I needed to bring my name change documents. But since I changed my name twice, it was more confusing. And since the documents were not in English, I was sure I’d need to get them officially translated, and that was extra money. And once that was done, I’d need to then change my name at the bank, etc…
So I didn’t bother.
And Then My Credit Card Got Canceled
Because of divorce-related reasons that I can’t get into for legal reasons on this blog, my ability to have local credit cards was cut off. I could have debit cards, but no more credit cards. My existing ones were canceled, period. I hoped that this issue would be resolved, but it is still ongoing, so I’ve been living with only a debit card.
Fortunately, I have an American bank account, and with that, I applied for an American credit card. I was sure I wouldn’t be eligible since I had no credit, as my entire adult life was spent abroad, but I was first given one that had strict stipulations (I think I had to have the same amount of money as my credit card limit set aside as a deposit on my card). When that was paid every month, the stipulations were removed and it became a regular credit card with a small limit, and when I showed I paid that off monthly, my limit was increased. Now I have a credit card that has cashback that I pay off in full each month. And it is under my American name.
Big deal, right?
Well, it wasn’t a big deal at first.
I had an American driver’s license under the same name. So when I drove abroad and wanted to rent a car and they required a credit card under the same name as the main driver of the car, I just used my American passport and driver’s license to rent the car.
But then my American driver’s license expired and I needed to use my local driver’s license. But the problem is I didn’t have a credit card under the same name as my driver’s license. Just a debit card.
And this sucks.
Because while you can find car rental companies that will take clients that use debit cards and/or will take cash deposits, these are generally much more expensive than car rental companies that take credit cards. Sometimes even twice the price.
Finally Deciding to Change My American Name
I have a trip coming up, and when going to find a rental car, I was so frustrated by the extra fees involved and vented to my friend about it, and she asked me why I didn’t just take care of it already. And at this point, it was definitely worth the hassle and the fee, since the cost of the new passport was less than the extra amount that the rental car would cost me with a debit card.
I was sure it would take forever to find an appointment for the embassy, which is why I took my kids on a trip to Cyprus to take them to the embassy a few years back, but I was able to get an appointment within 2 weeks. Not soon enough to get my new passport back before my upcoming trip, but for the next trip after that.
I didn’t get my paperwork professionally translated, since I wasn’t sure it was needed, and I figured that if it was required, I’d simply get it done and make another appointment and submit it then, but no point paying extra just in case.
I’m glad I didn’t bother paying for the paperwork to be translated.
I brought my marriage certificate that showed my name change from Penny Banks to Penny Price and the newer paperwork showing the change from Penny Price to Pearl Price Worth, but they didn’t even care about the marriage certificate, just the latest paperwork. And it didn’t matter that I had no professional translation. In my case, they just had me translate the paperwork myself on the photocopy of the paperwork that I brought and submitted that to them. I don’t know if they’ll accept this from everyone, but I’m glad I didn’t waste money on a professional translation when I didn’t need one.
So Now It’s Official. Or at Least Semi-Official.
I still need to get my new passport under the name Pearl Price Worth, and then I need to submit that to the bank to get a credit card under that name. I then need to submit my paperwork to Social Security to change my name there as well.
And then I’ll only have one name anywhere in the world.
And then it won’t be a headache.
And I’ll only hear the name Penny from people who forget what my name is or don’t respect that I changed my name, and not from myself every time I identify myself as an American citizen.
And hopefully I won’t have to pay extra every time I rent a car.
Is Having Two Different Legal Names Always a Problem?
Does having two separate names cost everyone extra money? People asked me about this when I posted about my name change on Facebook. It definitely can cost money if you make mistakes with airline tickets because of it, or if you have credit card issues like I do. Other people can live their whole lives with two separate names, but for me, I’m glad I finally, finally, finally, twenty/six years later changed my American name.
