changing name on passport

[Wannabeinaus]

Hello. I hope I could get response with my problem. I recently got married, just a month ago. Presently, me and my husband are planning to apply for a student visa in Australia. He will be the main applicant and I will be the dependant. However, my name on the passport is still my maiden name. Do I need to update my name on my passport? Am I compelled to? Will it affect our application? We already have our marriage certificate on hand from National Statistics Office issued under the security paper. Will this suffice any legal matter relating to our application?

[Wannabeinaus]

As an additional info, our counselor told me that I should renew my passport, but the expiration of my passport will be on 2012. She said that I need to use my husband's name because it can cause a refusal of our application but I refuse to believe because I know that I have the right to maintain my maiden name, though, not so sure about it. I hope you could enlighten me with my prob. Thanks

[20mom10]

The first question I have is did you keep your maiden name or take your husbands name? if you legally took his name your passport is invalid because you are not legally Mary Doe any more, you are Mary Smith. If your counselor told you that you needed to renew it with your new name why wouldn't you? I have learned the hard way that it is better to take the extra two steps today to avoid the fifty steps tomorrow.

[nursemich]

Hello thank you for your reply.:) I still want to keep my maiden name. I am hesitant to renew my passport because it will cause additional cost and also delay in our application because it takes weeks to be released. But If I am compelled to use my husband's name, I am willing to do so.