greekcanadian

Hello everyone, been reading Fodors for a while, and thought I would finally sign up to get some of your expertise!!!

I am a dual passport holder, and I have a LONG LAST NAME. LONG. I plan on shortening it on my Canadian passport (to the first six letters). It is 16 letters long and, from what I gather, will be either a pain in the ass to change (too, to the same shortened name) through Greece or maybe not even possible!! I am worried about surrendering my passport, and not getting it back!

I am looking for help/suggestions/advice/whatever! Is it OK that I have my Canadian passport as a shortened version of my Greek last name? I will only ever use the passport/ticket name of the country I'm travelling to, as I know enough to have tickets matching names. Or could this be a problem when returning to Canada? (I only ever remember being asked for a passport when I return, never a boarding pass...) I know some have passports with their maiden names still on, or names different from their husbands even after marriage.

Please, any words of wisdom, personal stories/experience or what have you would be GREATLY appreciated!

djkbooks

Passports with maiden names are irrelevant to your situation. And, no one cares of you're married or use your husband's name, so long as your ticket is booked with the same name on the passport.

I don't know how things work in Canada, but in the USA, you'd have to legally change your name for a passport to be issued in another name.

I have a friend who's Greek and has dual passports (15 letter last name). She uses a shortened version of her last name socially and for business (she owns a salon), more like a nickname (so she doesn't have to spell it constantly on the phone). She owns a second home in Greece and travels there several times a year. I asked her and she told me the implications of changing her name (and many you don't think of) were just too burdensome. She kept her name when she got married. Too many places to document any name changes!

greekcanadian

Thanks for replying!

The plan is to change it legally in Canada and have it on that passport...this appears very easily doable, as I was born here. But then taking this info to the Greek Consulate and asking them to change it, too...? I'm a little iffy on this.

flanneruk

Then your question's not the one you first asked.

If you're legally changing your name, your problem will be about using your GREEK passport on journeys to Europe.

If you become, say, Smith, there's no problem at all (except the pain of getting your other records to match your new name)about going wherever you like as Smith, Canadian citizen. But presumably you want to use your Greek name and passport to enter Greece - or anywhere else in Europe.

The problem you'll hit is getting out of Greece. To get into Greece (or most other European countries) you show your Greek passport: this is often scanned, and it doesn't usually matter whether your ticket says "Smith" or "Smithopoulos" because immigration officers don't challenge arriving EU citizens. But on departing, you need to show both your passport and your boarding pass to the passport officials.

You can't show your Canadian, Smith, passport because when they scan it there'll be a high risk it'll flag up that Smith never entered. You can't use your Greek passport because it won't match your boarding pass.

You'll also have a problem getting in if you travel from outside the Schengen area to Spain (and possibly some other European countries, which are contemplating a similar system): if your ticket says Smith, Canadian, you have to pre-clear online as Smith before you go to the airport - and the airline won't let you board unless you have. You then can ONLY use the Canadian passport for entry - which loses you all the advantages of using the European one.

The answer, of course, is to use the Canadian passport for trips to Europe, which restricts you to 90 days in Schengen. If this isn't acceptable, you need to go through the hassle of getting the Greeks to accept your Canadian name change.

greekcanadian

Hmmm. The plan was to book my ticket using my Greek name/passport, using it to enter the EU, using it to leave the EU, then using my Canadian passport to re-enter Canada. I'm certain I've heard this done by others with different names on different passports (whether it's a maiden name on one and a married name on another, or what have you).

Ideally, I'd LOVE to submit the shortened name to the Greek Consulate as well, and have e-mailed to ask about how one would go about this. But, if it's possible to go about it the way I detail above, then I could just do that.

REALLY appreciate the replies, btw. Travellers are always such a helpful bunch!!

greekcanadian

Btw, I mean that the name on the boarding pass, on arrival and departure, will correspond to the name on my Greek passport. Isn't it correct that one leaves and enters a country on the passport of the country (i.e. I'd enter and leave Greece on that passport, but return and enter Canada on the Canadian one).

nytraveler

I don't think you should be bouncing around the varouis passports like this. You should use one for the trip and for the tickets. If you want the benefit of Greek citienship to get into Schengen then you shuold use it to gt back into Canada too. Otherwise you have left and never returned.

Heimdall

<i>The plan was to book my ticket using my Greek name/passport, using it to enter the EU, using it to leave the EU, then using my Canadian passport to re-enter Canada.</i>

That's the normal practice for dual nationals, and exactly what my daughter, a dual US/UK citizen, does when visiting the US from her home in the UK. It's a real advantage, because she doesn't need a visa to enter the US, and avoids the long 'All Others' queues when reentering the UK. In fact, the US State Department website says that US citizens are required to enter the US on their US passport. What Canada and Greece require I don't know.

Now, for different names on the two passports, I can't advise you, but feel sure that using your Greek passport to enter Greece, and your Canadian passport to reenter Canada, is what you are expected to do.

brotherleelove2004

We're just a bunch of travel junkies and not trained immigration authorities. Contact your nearest Greek Consul. We've got a lot of combined experience, but you need SPECIFIC LEGAL INFORMATION, not welll-meant speculation.

cw

I don't know the Canadian rules but how could you leave Canada with a boarding pass that has your Greek passport name if you're using your Canadian passport to leave and reenter Canada?

I think the procedure you cite--entering a country with the passport of that country--is what people do, but the name is the same on both passports and thus on your airline ticket.

ira

Hey GC,

>The plan is to change it legally in Canada and have it on that passport<

Why bother?

You can go by any name you wish in Canada without any legal repercussions (unless you engage in fraud) and use your full name when you need to use your passport.


aka Ivan Jakovich Charnavesinsky

Heimdall

If you have a problem, it is likely to be with the airline, not the immigration authorities. No Greek citizen, with a valid Greek passport, is going to be denied entry to Greece. Likewise, a Canadian citizen with a valid Canadian passport will have no problem reentering Canada.

Suggest you check with the airline(s) you are travelling with to see what, if any problem, you will encounter with a different name on the boarding pass from the passport. I agree with Ira (Ivan), though - why not keep the same name on both passports and call yourself what you like in Canada? You aren't going to be carrying your passport around at home, are you?

WWanderer

>>The plan was to book my ticket using my Greek name/passport, using it to enter the EU, using it to leave the EU, then using my Canadian passport to re-enter Canada.

They really do not like you doing that. You should travel on a single passport. Carry the Greek one to prove to anyone who cares that you are a citizen if needed, but travel on the Canadian passport.

Or, if you need to travel for a longer period, book and use your Greek passport to travel, and retain your Canadian passport to show if required upon re-entry to Canada.

Heimdall

Who are "they"?

thursdaysd

"They really do not like you doing that. You should travel on a single passport." Nonsense.

I have dual US and UK citizenship. I leave and re-enter the US on my US passport, absolutely no choice about that, lol! (Otherwise I couldn't get in, since I don't have a US visa, duh.) I enter the UK (and the rest of Europe) on my UK passport. When I leave for the US I show both passports to the airline.

Which passport I use for the rest of the world varies with visa requirements - for my next trip I'll do Asia on the US passport, and switch to the UK when I get to Europe.

Heimdall

Hi thursdaysd,

That's exactly what my US-UK dual citizen daughter does.

To be fair, there is no reason I can see why the OP shouldn't travel on the Canadian passport only, unless he/she intends to stay in the Schengen zone for more than 90 days in 180. Judging from the number of different countries tagged on this thread, that indeed may be the case.

thursdaysd

Heimdall - except that she'd have to go through a different immigration queue - likely longer and with the possibility of a bunch of questions.

WWanderer

Who are "they"?

By "they" I meant Canadian immigration officials, thought that would be obvious from what I said, sorry.

Yes, carry both passports, but you can only use one, and you should use the same one coming and going. I know that US immigration also wants you to do this (I know because both my husband and son are dual and I watched my son try this, and he was told that he should choose one passport and use this one only.)

thursdaysd

"I watched my son try this, and he was told that he should choose one passport and use this one only" - precisely where did he "try this", what exactly was "this", and who told him to use one only?

There was a long lecture at my swearing in ceremony when I became a US citizen about how dual citizenship was a "really bad thing" - totally irrelevant to travel outside the US.

Heimdall

Sorry WWanderer, but you are wrong on that. The US State Department website says:

"Most U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States. Dual nationals may also be required by the foreign country to use its passport to enter and leave that country." See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1753.html

Here is a non-official source for Greek-American dual nationals:
http://livingingreece.gr/2007/06/03/...can-and-greek/

Scroll about half-way down the page, and read the section entitled 'Which Passport Should I Use?'