Battling Beaurocracy
I'm taking my husband away for a weekend for our wedding anniversary next year. After 20 years, I don't think you need "stuff" as gifts, but a bit of time doing something relaxing is nice. His idea of relaxing is running ultramarathons. So, we're going to New Zealand for a 60km trail run. He'll do fine, I won't look pretty at the finish. 
I need a new passport. Get the forms all filled in and witnessed, photos done and endorsed, and take them and every piece of ID I have, and trot along to the passport interview.
Nope. No good. My Scottish birth certificate and my Australian citizenship certificate are in my maiden name, and I don't have a certified copy of my marriage certificate to explain why my name has changed. The piece of paper you hold up while you're smiling for photographs after the ceremony isn't a legal document apparently.
So, off to the courthouse I go, to order a certificate. I fill in the form, and although the mountain of documents I have will prove who I am several times over, it's no good. I don't have a utility bill from within the last 6 months. Home I go, to try again another day.
The kicker? I still have my old expired passport, and it's in my married name. Nothing has changed on it, the new passport will be exactly the same (except for maybe a few more wrinkles and grey hairs on the photo). Oh, they tell me, things are being tightened up. Still, are they being so tightened up that I need to prove my name change when they've already issued me a document acknowledging said name change???
Vent over, thanks for listening, I feel better.
I need a new passport. Get the forms all filled in and witnessed, photos done and endorsed, and take them and every piece of ID I have, and trot along to the passport interview.
Nope. No good. My Scottish birth certificate and my Australian citizenship certificate are in my maiden name, and I don't have a certified copy of my marriage certificate to explain why my name has changed. The piece of paper you hold up while you're smiling for photographs after the ceremony isn't a legal document apparently.
So, off to the courthouse I go, to order a certificate. I fill in the form, and although the mountain of documents I have will prove who I am several times over, it's no good. I don't have a utility bill from within the last 6 months. Home I go, to try again another day.
The kicker? I still have my old expired passport, and it's in my married name. Nothing has changed on it, the new passport will be exactly the same (except for maybe a few more wrinkles and grey hairs on the photo). Oh, they tell me, things are being tightened up. Still, are they being so tightened up that I need to prove my name change when they've already issued me a document acknowledging said name change???
Vent over, thanks for listening, I feel better.
Sal
When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
Beyond the Path