Passport Question

[Chacam]

Not sure if this forum is the right place for this, but maybe someone can help.

my wife’s legal name is LaDonna. Through a clerical error somewhere, her passport and drivers license have it as La Donna. (We just noticed)

Is this likely to give her problems in the future.  Getting the drivers license changed locally should be easy. How does she get her passport corrected?

thanks for any help.

[satxdiver]

It could cause problems if you get an immigration officer that is very picky.  However the immigration at Port Everglades uses facial recognition and it should not be a problem.  In answer to your passport question, you would have to file and pay for a new passport needed only if you meet an immigration officer that is very strict.  All the ones that I have had the occasion to present a passport are not that concise.

[PacnGoNow]

30 minutes ago, Chacam said:

Not sure if this forum is the right place for this, but maybe someone can help.

my wife’s legal name is LaDonna. Through a clerical error somewhere, her passport and drivers license have it as La Donna. (We just noticed)

Is this likely to give her problems in the future.  Getting the drivers license changed locally should be easy. How does she get her passport corrected?

thanks for any help.

I cannot imagine any problem.  
 

If you’re flying, Some airlines run first and middle names together and never a problem with customs/immigration when showing your onward transportation.

 

On the PP, is this her first name?  Only error is just a space in her first name?

 

If so, I would not give it a second thought. 
 

BTW, I would carry the PP and Dr lis, so that you have 2 matching ID’s.  I wouldn’t change the Dr lis at this time.

 

My cousin is also LaDonna, she has had her name shown many different ways too.  Never a problem traveling, because they can see a space is not an issue.  It is the same person. 🥴

 

 

 

 

[lahlah57]

15 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I cannot imagine any problem.  
 

If you’re flying, Some airlines run first and middle names together and never a problem with customs/immigration when showing your onward transportation.

 

On the PP, is this her first name?  Only error is just a space in her first name?

 

If so, I would not give it a second thought. 
 

BTW, I would carry the PP and Dr lis, so that you have 2 matching ID’s.  I wouldn’t change the Dr lis at this time.

 

My cousin is also LaDonna, she has had her name shown many different ways too.  Never a problem traveling, because they can see a space is not an issue.  It is the same person. 🥴

 

 

 

 

I can really see no problem since its merely a where the space is issue. Yes a DL too could be used as back up for picture image.

 

[sparks1093]

From State.gov:

You can correct your passport if there is a data or printing error. A data error may include an issue with your name, gender, or place of birth. A printing error may include data is missing on the biographical page, discoloration, or crooked printing. We will correct the error at no charge if the passport is still valid.

To correct a data or printing error, submit the following by mail:

• Form DS-5504 (find mailing instructions on the form)
• Your current passport
• One color photo
• Evidence of the error (e.g. your U.S. birth certificate showing the correct spelling of your last name).
• You will not have to submit any fees.

How long can I use the new, corrected passport?  

• If you are reporting the error within one year of us issuing your incorrect passport, the new passport will be valid for 10 years.
• If you are reporting the error after one year, the new passport will be valid until the expiration date of your original, incorrect passport. 

[PacnGoNow]

18 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

From State.gov:

You can correct your passport if there is a data or printing error. A data error may include an issue with your name, gender, or place of birth. A printing error may include data is missing on the biographical page, discoloration, or crooked printing. We will correct the error at no charge if the passport is still valid.

To correct a data or printing error, submit the following by mail:

• Form DS-5504 (find mailing instructions on the form)
• Your current passport
• One color photo
• Evidence of the error (e.g. your U.S. birth certificate showing the correct spelling of your last name).
• You will not have to submit any fees.

How long can I use the new, corrected passport?  

• If you are reporting the error within one year of us issuing your incorrect passport, the new passport will be valid for 10 years.
• If you are reporting the error after one year, the new passport will be valid until the expiration date of your original, incorrect passport. 

I would wait until returning from their trip.  OP may be leaving March 7.  There’s no time for this correction.

 

That link is very helpful. 

[SbbquilterUT]

My passport has my maiden name shoved on the end of my first and it has never been noted.  Not to say it cannot happen but it has been that way for many years and it does not match my license but it has always been accepted.

[Ferry_Watcher]

For cruise line agents working during embarkation, we treat this as a name correction.  If the check-in agents using the hand held tablets have a problem scanning the passport with their device, then your wife may need to go to a counter agent with a lap top to have her passport scanned, but it should be pretty simple.

I would not worry about checking-in.

[sparks1093]

36 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I would wait until returning from their trip.  OP may be leaving March 7.  There’s no time for this correction.

 

That link is very helpful. 

Yes, if they are cruising that quickly this can wait. It won't be an issue for the cruise and the correction can be done at any time. (I found out about this because I misspelled her middle name on the application. Always thought it was "Ann", turns out it is "Anne". Handled without cost. The passports expire next year and I still haven't lived this one down.)

Edited March 5 by sparks1093

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

For cruise line agents working during embarkation, we treat this as a name correction.  If the check-in agents using the hand held tablets have a problem scanning the passport with their device, then your wife may need to go to a counter agent with a lap top to have her passport scanned, but it should be pretty simple.

I would not worry about checking-in.

Always good to hear the answer from someone at the front lines who would be the one to deal with this sort of "problem".

 

But are all as easy going as you?

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Always good to hear the answer from someone at the front lines who would be the one to deal with this sort of "problem".

 

But are all as easy going as you?

Thanks.

At least in Seattle people who work there are pretty easy going.  It might be different since we are a seasonal port, and we know that by early October the season ends and we are off until the middle of April.  I also think that most folks who go into hospitality are generally helpful people.  Some seasons by the middle of July I am wondering "why?", but by early September as the ships begin to move to their next homeport I get wistful thinking that I am going to miss being at the pier (and especially missing my co-workers).

[navybankerteacher]

If both passport and license have the name the same way, just use that way whenever you make a reservation.

[Shmoo here]

7 hours ago, SbbquilterUT said:

My passport has my maiden name shoved on the end of my first and it has never been noted.  Not to say it cannot happen but it has been that way for many years and it does not match my license but it has always been accepted.

On my passport my (original) middle name and maiden names are together (no spaces).  On my license it's first name, (original) middle name, maiden name, (married) last name.  All separate.  Never been an issue (yet).

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

On my passport my (original) middle name and maiden names are together (no spaces).  On my license it's first name, (original) middle name, maiden name, (married) last name.  All separate.  Never been an issue (yet).

You rarely, if ever, show both at the same time - so the difference is immaterial.  It would, however, be a good idea to book travel in the name which appears on the form of identification you plan to use.

[capriccio]

Our last name is spelled LaXxxx.  At some point in the mid-2000s we first noticed that government agencies were starting to insert a space after La.  Our son found out the hard way when he filed an absentee ballot request spelling it the usual way and the application was rejected.  After much back and forth they told him that 'the computer' added the space so they couldn't accept his manually completed request. 

 

When we moved to Florida, our drivers licenses also had the space although we never filled out an application with one,  Sometime in the last decade we noticed that the US Passport office and Global Entry did the same.  We still fill out everything with the spelling of the name on our birth certificates or, in my case, marriage license. 

 

The most absurd example was completing the application of our local telephone company in 2004.  For more than 15 years the billing department addressed the bill to Xxxx La but they managed to get the name correct (or almost since they added the space) in the telephone directory.  After asking them to correct it every few years, we couldn't believe it when one month they got it mostly right except they added the space.