CheekyCat

There usually are no stops between New York and Southampton ;)

I meant cruise that begin and end in the same harbor without making stops anywhere else.

Since that was the only cruise I took, I wonder if that mean I'm still a first time cruiser? :) (have one booked for November)

CheekyCat.... :D:D:D .... IF this is indeed a real problem that you have and it's not a joke post for a laugh, I think what has happened here is awful. I also think it constitutes fraud because you legally do not have a middle name yet your passport says you do.

 

I think you could get into a lot of trouble because when you signed your application, you agreed that the above information was true, which of course, it was not.

 

Advice? I have none. But I'm absolutely shaking my head at both of you. :o

I don't know how much I can trust the response that I got from the passport agency employee on the phone. I did talk with her for almost 15 minutes. She said that a lot of people put down middle names that were not documented on any of the IDs they submitted. Per the FAM, if the person never had a middle name, it's usually allowed to go through. However, if the person had a previous middle name and submits a renewal application with an entirely different middle name, it will be flagged and sent for further determination. Adding/removing middle names are allowed for married women, or men who never had a middle name(which is my case)

Interestingly, she also said variations of names are permitted on the passport. (i.e. William/Bill, Elizabeth/Beth, Robert/Bobby, etc)

She said they either allow it or put the renewal application on hold, pending a response from the applicant. She added that I could just return the new passport that I just got and apply for another one. However, I will have to pay the full passport fee again, since the "error" was not caused by the passport agency.

I can't imagine traveling all that way and not getting off the ship.

about 10 years ago, we took a cruise-to-nowhere 5-day cruise... it was real fun, but after leaving New York harbor, we never saw land again until 5 days later.(and yes, New York harbor again) :)

I'm not sure if I need to be freaking out right now.... :( I'm a newbie around here and I just don't know what to do or think right now.

Last month, my DW filled out passport renewal forms for both of us. The old passports still had about 8 months left, but since we had extensive travels plans for the next 12 months, we figured it was easier to get new ones now.

Anyway... I trust DW with my life and I never question anything she asked me to sign... so I signed the passport renewal form that she filled out online on Dept. of State's website.

Last week, our new passport books and cards arrived one day apart. Mine arrived later... when I looked at it, I almost flipped out. I thought they had made a mistake. On the data page, it showed my name as "John Amadeus Doe"... (my name isn't actually John Doe, of course... just using John Doe to protect my privacy)

I never had a middle name in my life. My birth certificate, old passports, drivers license and everything just had first and last name. My parents never gave me a middle name.

When DW came home, I showed it to her and she said "wow... they accepted it?" That's when I knew it was her doing. :) :(

I am a classical music fanatic, so friends and family frequently call me "Amadeus" (as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) DW said she put "Amadeus" in the middle name field of the passport renewal form thinking that it would not have been accepted and they would just issue the new passport in the same name as my previous passport. I guess this is a much cheaper way to get a middle name added. In my state, the circuit court charged about $85 to make such name changes(plus required fees for background/fingerprint check, as well 6 weeks of mandatory wait time)

Thanks!

After speaking with a passport agency rep on the phone, I was told that pursuant to 7 FAM(state department foreign affairs manual) 1311 Appendix C, if the applicant's citizenship document only shows "John Doe" but puts "John Amadeus Doe", it is accept to print the new passport as "John Amadeus Doe"......

I looked up the rules and under appendix C, section D, that is apparently the rule... (text below copy & pasted directly from "7 FAM 1311 Appendix C"

d. For example, if Louise Mary Martin is requested as the name on the application, the name listed on the citizenship evidence and/or identification could be:

(1) Louise M. Martin;

(2) L. Mary Martin;

(3) L.M. Martin;

(4) Mary Martin;

(5) Louise Martin;

(6) Mary L. Martin; and

(7) Lou Martin.

What would you do in this situation? Request a new passport minus the new middle name? Just just live as "John Amadeus Doe" from now? (which I don't mind, since a lot of people call me "Amadeus" anyway)