Name to be used for Spouse Visa Application

[lemmy_k]

Hi,

I plan to get married to my fiance in December, she lives in New Delhi, India and I am a british national.

My aim is to get married Mid-December then within a day or two apply for her settlement visa from Delhi. To do this, she will fill the form in November at which point we will not be married. Filling the form in November helps us get an appointment in december.

Question is, when filling the form, should she use her maiden name or married surname? After marriage she won't have any official paperwork confirming her name change from her maiden name to my name (unless the marriage certificate is sufficient for that). So, If she uses her maiden name the information is technically incorrect and if she uses her married name we don't have any papers to prove that identity within 1-2 days of marriage.

Seeking some guidance from experts on what is the best way to handle this.

Thanks in advance

[Casa]

Are you intending to submit the application before the marriage ceremony has taken place?

[lemmy_k]

Yes and No.
I intend to fill the online application form via VFS and submit it and pay for it before marriage, but attend the appointment after marriage. So lets say I submit the application on 25th Nov online and make an appointment for 20th December for in-person submission, with the marriage taking place on say 10th december.

My idea was to fill my wife's "post marriage details" in the application form, which is why I'm not sure about the surname.

[lemmy_k]

Just thought of a couple of options:

1) After marriage, instead of waiting for a new passport for my wife with her new name, we can submit the application using whatever legal document it is which is required for her to legally change her name. I'm guessing this takes less time to get

OR

2) She keeps her maiden name (only changes title from Ms to Mrs) and applies for her visa, then changes her maiden name at some later point. The question is that the visa issued then will be in her maiden name, so would we have to get a new visa after her name change?

I'm leaning towards option (2) since it is less rushed with the potential overhead of getting the visa updated.
Any thoughts?

[Casa]

You can't submit a spouse settlement application until the marriage has taken place.

[lemmy_k]

Ok, thanks Casa.

[stler]

I think, you need to have the same name as in passport when making a visa application.