Hi there.

I have dual nationality (US and British) and recently got married. As I understand it, in order to change my name here in Switzerland I first need to get my UK passport changed to my new name, as that is the one my B permit is based on.

That part I can do. My concern is when I travel to the US - under US law I must enter and leave the US on my US passport, but enter and leave Switzerland on my British one (that bit's not US law). Will it matter if the names are different on the two passports? And which name would it be best to book flights under?

I'm thinking if I carry my marriage certificate to explain the name change I should be covered, but wondered if anyone had experience in this.

Thanks.

The name on the flight ticket must match the one on the passport of the person travelling. Would it not be easier to update both passports with your married name?

Yes.

Not true, you can enter and leave Switzerland with any valid passport.

My daughter normally leaves with her US passport, but always enters with her Swiss passport (as I used to do when I still had both).

Tom

Yes, it would be easier to get both changed at the same time and I'll try to do that, but as I use the US one less frequently that is the easier one to get changed - to update my UK one I need to find 4-6 weeks where I won't be going anywhere, which is harder.

I've tried to leave Switzerland on my US passport before, and they got suspicious that I didn't have a visa in it, and they told me off for not presenting my UK passport...

People must get married and change their names all the time, and as holidays / flights are often booked months in advance (before a name change), surely airlines must be used to this?

I don't get the issue. Authorities don't actually check your passport names vs. ticket name when you arrive in a country, so just book on your US passport on the way out (which you'll need). Use this to get on the (return) flight in the US, and when arriving in CH, whip out the UK one...

What's the issue?

My guess is your best bet will be to try to change both passports before the next time that you travel.

I'm a dual national too, and often end up showing both passports, depending on which way I'm going. And since the passports always have to match the plane tickets, I can't see a way to do it without having everything in the same name.

In most cases, passports are not showing exactly the same names...
I am dual Swiss and IT, and while in Italy my married name does not exist (a woman always keeps officially her maiden name, and the married name is added as a postscriptum at the end), in CH I have to add the married name after the maiden one.

To add insult to injury the divorce transcription takes such a long time that I am Ms. Maiden with First Husband at the bottom on the IT, I am Ms. Maiden on the CH one... and my current legal name is Ms. Maiden Second Husband.