To become an 'Atkins'...

Lets see if you can keep up with this...

We got married in January in Canada, but then returned straight after our honeymoon to Australia.

As soon as we got our marriage certificate, we applied for my partner visa (a VERY expensive visa might I add) which takes up to 9 months to process. We're four months in, and recently called regarding the status, but apparently it won't even get assigned a case worker and looked at for at least another 2 months.

I can't get my Australian drivers license changed without other ID in my married name, as well as the marriage certificate, as it was an overseas wedding. So the plan has been to get my passport changed.

We've been waiting to have enough money to get my passport changed (which you have to mail to the Canadian consulate in Canberra), and finally got around to sending my current passport, our marriage certificate, my birth certificate and a $100 fee to have it changed to my married name. A couple days later, we get a letter back saying I have to re-fill out the form and mail it in id WITH my married name (although the whole point of getting the passport was to get something with my married name on it....) as well as have a guarantor sign my form that is not a minister of religion or pharmacist or physio (which is acceptable in Australia, but not in Canada) so finding someone who is a police officer, a bank teller or notary (and has known me for 2 years...) is on the list of things now to do...

So...I can try again to get my Australian drivers license. but I need to apply with Victorian births, deaths and marriages to have my name changed (if I can prove I've lived here for longer than 3 months and am considered a 'permanent' or long term resident....which I have no idea if waiting for my partner visa counts for that). And in order to put this form in, I have to get BACK my current passport and birth certificate from Canberra to prove what country I was born in and am from. Which means, getting it sent back to me from Canberra, forfeiting the $100 fee for my passport I can't get, and paying $90 to get a piece of paper that says "yes, she has in fact changed her name because she's married".

If I'm able to get the name change form....I then take that to get my license changed....and then mail that and all my id AGAIN to Canberra (and another $100....) to get my passport changed.....

And all for what??? Just so that I can "legally" show that I "assumed" my husbands last name!!

Anyone else feeling exhausted from just reading that?!?

Good grief I say....they don't make what should be a very simple process (at least I think so) easy by any means!