Change of surname on passport

fred83 Member

24POSTS

13 years ago

Hi Guys,

What follows is something really specific to this case. I do need your expertise here.

My girlfriend and I are getting married in one month and a half and she will be taking my surname: Gatti.
By Latvian laws this cannot be written with a double "t" on a Latvian passport. Therefore her surname will be written with one "t": Gati.

We have been told that on the 3rd page of the password there will be a kind of comment stating that the original surname is "Gatti".

All this sucks, I do know it, but apart from the concept of altering my surname that bothers me, I am more worried about all the problems we will have in the future, which will affect our kids as well!

For example: we have already booked the flight tickets to Australia, of course with the new surname, "Gatti", and we will have to apply for the VISA there. We do want to use the right surname, but won't we have problems at the gate or getting into the country?
Won't we always have problems with this?

Do you have any experience? Suggestions?

Thanks and regards,
Federico

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solentlife Active member

28POSTS

13 years ago

My Family name is LUTHER ... I married here ... Latvian law decreed that her name would be LUTERE.
The Marriage Certificate is even worse ... it should have read

Svetlana Lutere (Luther) but was printed up as :

Svetlana Lutere Lutere

I objected at the time as no other country except where they use a different alphabet do they have such practice.

When she travels we have to explain the stupidity of it ... but so far no refusals.

Nigel

fred83 Member

24POSTS

13 years ago

solentlife wrote:
My Family name is LUTHER ... I married here ... Latvian law decreed that her name would be LUTERE.
The Marriage Certificate is even worse ... it should have read

Svetlana Lutere (Luther) but was printed up as :

Svetlana Lutere Lutere

I objected at the time as no other country except where they use a different alphabet do they have such practice.

When she travels we have to explain the stupidity of it ... but so far no refusals.

Nigel

Hi Nigel,

Thank you for your feedback!

In the meantime I've got in touch with the Australian embassy in Frankfurt (where we live) and the flight company.

For the VISA we will have to use the surname that is written on the page with the picture, at the bottom of the page, the one that looks like a code. Most likely it will be the "wrong" one, but we'll know it just after getting the new passport.

For the flight company there are no problems, as long as both surnames are written somewhere on the passport.

What is sure is that this will be a problem for all our lives and will affect our kids too.
It's such a stupidity that surnames are getting changed! Even more considering that my surname is not strange at all... why should a "t" be removed, I still have to understand... I mean, in your case (still nonsense to me) but at least they try to write it as they read it. In mine? "Gatti"??? Why should you change it??????

Thanks and regards,
Federico

Paris_crx New member

6POSTS

7 years ago

Here are my聽 thoughts on this as i am faced with the same problem however i have a different approach! My birth certificate has my surname written as JORDANOU which is who i am( and proud of it) That bit of paper is what verifies my identity and ties me into the system hence a tax payer etc. All the characters of my surname are believe it or not in the Latvian Alphabet! They now want to change my wife's name to something that looks like JORDANOU but spelt with a Z, work that one out! This to me is forgery and illegal. So the reality what they are saying is once changed then you are no longer the person who is tied to the birth certificate and you don't have to pay any tax as you don't exist!聽 Also i think the Latvian government not the wisest as their population is decreasing ! may have a hidden agenda maybe in 50 plus years time to reclaim the properties (ex USSR) back and we all know how much Latvian government dislikes the Russians hence with their stupidity got rid of the booming Russian Tourism from Jurmula deporting famous Russian celebrities who were bringing in millions to their country! That aside i would not accept my name being something else and will be taking them to the European court to battle it out and the reason i will be doing this is a) the principal behind it and b) someone in the past did just that and won the case so based on that they do not have a leg to stand on and it will cost them money and embarrassment. They recon they have some law that has been passed and can do it but on what grounds! The BBC have laws but they don't stand. Would be interesting to hear some comments on this subject. Over to you guys

Naesby Contributor

116POSTS

7 years ago

ill try to help. I cant see why you have to change passport. You keep your identity and nation you can do what the rest of us do just register as resident. No change in anything then. You can even vote in local elections buy a house anything as a resident why do you want to be a citizen? It costs and you have to speak Latvian. None of the vast amount of ex Brits here bother beyond politeness with six words. I have lived here as householder 6 years remain on British passport but had to change my driving license over as at 65 yours stops and need to pay 45pound to Britain or chance for 25 euro to Latvian. The try to place an S on end of names I told them NO pulled out my passport and said write it like that. They obliged. I have never found them hard to deal with. So will that answer all questions.if not just keep your passport and apply fora Latvian one but it seem mad to me. A Latvian passport against a UK passport that takes me around the world is even respected in Russia and China mainland.
a Latvian passport cannot get you into Britain China or Russia. Its ok in Eu though but laughed at in Sweden as my girl friend is Latvian I had to protest then they stopped. It is one poor place to exist as jobs are few and hard to find unless in Riga. Locals here live on field grown work with no job at all may of them. Then those who keep a cow sell milk and some earn bits by restoration for us Brits. If you are here now just show passport and ask to register once you have an address only.

Paris_crx New member

6POSTS

7 years ago

Think got cross wires! Thanks for the response however as you rightly say I have a UK passport and I'm not gonna live nor wish to live in latvia. My wife wants my surname and they won't translate my UK marriage certificate with my name on it

Paris_crx New member

6POSTS

7 years ago

Latvians when it comes to surnames my friend are retards. I have had the same problem however i was shocked when i found out the whole world laughs at them. All the characters of my surname are in the Latvian Alphabet but for some reason they cannot string them together! Their get out clause is "Its Latvian Law" LOL聽 its sad really however the underlying issue is they have problems with ex USSR citizens so in short they do whatever they can to make their life difficult. The only people they are damaging is themselves as the population of the country is going down drastically and Russians are not investing in Latvia any more( and we all know how rich they are) They even kicked out famous people! says a lot for business orientated heads!
Anyhow i wouldn't worry about it let them do what they want and put what they want on any paper they want. Trust me all countries know about this and they are prepared for it especially when it comes to travel. I just sent in an email with the new documents to Lufthansa so they know its her travelling and to my surprise when i called to ask and mentioned Latvia the guy on the end of the phone started to laugh! Just goes to show you how Latvian government functions. Just on a side note also if you have worked all your life you will end up with about 100 euro pension as well LOL
Mind you they have nice beer so a weekend for me is more than enough. Well done Latvian Government we all love your thought process keep up the good work of damaging your country and being the laughing stock to other at least we all need entertainment !

Julija T Member

1POSTS

3 years ago

@fred83

Hi! I was just wondering if you had any trouble with re entry with using the Last name with the code?

I have visa with Simpson , but I鈥檓 my passport Simpsone鈥� I do have original form in Simpson on the third page. But I was not sure on what name do I get the flight ticket and would I have a trouble with that

thank you!!