Passport

Yes, it probably will be a problem even if she carries the original marriage certificate. Brazilians and their government are absolutely obsessed about names, especially on documents. They insist that everything be perfect, even common spelling errors on official documents here can result in nightmares that in many cases require Court Orders to correct, since Cartórios won't do it on their own.

You should contact the Federal Police as soon as possible and first verify if they can modify the existing passport or if she will need to apply for a new one. This can take several weeks so don't waste time.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, EB Experts Team

Thanks for your response. My wife went to federal police today and they suggested that she ask US Embassy ,she is waiting for their response, but I think after getting your opinion we will go ahead and get a new passport. If we are not mistaken she will have to carry both because her visa is in the current one.

Your wife is a Brazilian, so if the Feds are telling her to ask the US Embassy, they obviously don't see much of a problem with the fact that the passport is still in her maiden name. I can almost guarantee the the US isn't going to have any problem with it whatsoever if she's got the marriage certificate to show the previous name. They'll be as happy as larks to accept that I'm sure. Check with them for sure, but don't sweat it.

Cheers,
James