Introducing Cathryn Davis, epouse Russell

A good friend of mine, a born and bred Midwesterner is moving to Paris in the fall for her last year of graduate school, right after her wedding to Bob, a doctoral student from the Midwest. Cathryn has decided to take Bob's name, which makes her visa situation slightly complicated since she wants to change all her identity documents in the three weeks or so between the wedding and the big move...

Cathryn: my name changes on august 7, but I'm not in the country till august 10. so, soonest i could have the new passport is august 13. but I'm not in DC then, so I'd have to mail it in, and would need the visa back by august 29, the last business day before we go.

and that's just tight enough to worry me.

me: can you just use your current passport?

Cathryn: I'm really set on changing my name. we're starting to toy with just going to the courthouse and getting married, so we can deal with all of this right now. but i have the romantic notion that I'd like to "get married on my wedding day," so I'd like not to do that unless we need to

me: using your current passport doesn't mean you're not changing your name, just that you haven't informed the state dept of that fact

Cathryn: fair enough. i suppose i could get my visa on my old passport, then get a new one at the American embassy while we're there.

see, I'm strongly committed to making my name change "official"

me: I'm French, i have very little interest in "official"

Cathryn: I'm American, and a law student. i like rules and structure.

me: but yeah, you can get a new Russell passport at the embassy

so you'd be delaying the officialdom by a few weeks, which is prob what it would take you if you weren't moving

Cathryn: wouldn't that mean I'd have to go back to the prefecture to get a new carte de sejour put into my new passport?

me: i don't know about that, but that would solve the short time-frame issue

also, sweetie?

Cathryn: it sounds like i should try to find someone over there to talk to

yes?

me: I'm supportive of your cultural right to like officialness and structure

but you're going to have to let go of that a little bit if you're going to live in paris for a year

Cathryn: but i am going to France, where i need to understand there will be less?

i know.

me: also - under French law, women don't "change" their name like here

Cathryn: a very, very fair point.

me: you add your husband's name to your own if you so choose

and can use whatever you want in daily life

so you would be Cathryn Davis epouse Russell

but you can refer to yourself as and have people call you Mme Russell, that's totally up to you

however for a French cop, your legal last name on paper will always be Davis

even if he doesn't address you as such

Cathryn: fair enough.

me: now stop hyperventilating, you'll be fine

We're very eager, here at The Interculturalists, to chronicle Cathryn and Bob's Acculturation Adventure - so stay tuned!