Different surnames on evidence for ROC?

[rick313 5]

Hello. We are applying for Removal of Conditions in the next month. My wife (the applicant) changed her surname to mine after our marriage here in the US. However, she still uses her foreign passport in her old surname, and thus all of our air tickets have been purchased using her old surname. I’m just wondering, will this be problematic for our ROC compilation of evidence of bona fide marriage if we submit copies of our air tickets when we have different surnames on them? I will note, on other US-issued documentation, she uses my current name. So basically, some of her documentation will have her old surname (passport and air tickets), and the rest will have her using my surname.

Other evidence we are planning to submit:

*Apartment lease with both of us identified

*Federal taxes for 2012, 2013

*Retirement beneficiary form designating my wife as beneficiary

*Life insurance beneficiary form designating my wife as beneficiary

*Marriage certificate

*Copies of our drivers licenses (showing same residence)

*Itemized health insurance statement showing all of our health insurance claims and payments for the past 2 years

*Current car insurance statement showing we are jointly covered (however, the car title is only in my name)

* Voided copies of checks from a bank with both our names

*W-2 forms for both of us (showing same residence)

*Experian credit report showing she is a joint user on one of our cards

Any thoughts on whether our evidence is sufficient either? Thank you in advance!

[ryna 132]

My wife uses my last name on all of her U.S. documents/identification but still has her former name in her foreign passport which she has to use to purchase tickets when we travel internationally and we had no problems with ROC. It's very common that foreign documents remain in the old surname, especially if the wife comes from a country that doesn't traditionally change surname after marriage.

[flora01 37]

Hello. We are applying for Removal of Conditions in the next month. My wife (the applicant) changed her surname to mine after our marriage here in the US. However, she still uses her foreign passport in her old surname, and thus all of our air tickets have been purchased using her old surname. I’m just wondering, will this be problematic for our ROC compilation of evidence of bona fide marriage if we submit copies of our air tickets when we have different surnames on them? I will note, on other US-issued documentation, she uses my current name. So basically, some of her documentation will have her old surname (passport and air tickets), and the rest will have her using my surname.

Other evidence we are planning to submit:

*Apartment lease with both of us identified

*Federal taxes for 2012, 2013

*Retirement beneficiary form designating my wife as beneficiary

*Life insurance beneficiary form designating my wife as beneficiary

*Marriage certificate

*Copies of our drivers licenses (showing same residence)

*Itemized health insurance statement showing all of our health insurance claims and payments for the past 2 years

*Current car insurance statement showing we are jointly covered (however, the car title is only in my name)

* Voided copies of checks from a bank with both our names

*W-2 forms for both of us (showing same residence)

*Experian credit report showing she is a joint user on one of our cards

Any thoughts on whether our evidence is sufficient either? Thank you in advance!

When she changed surname,why did not she change it in passport too?

I am sure there are more experienced people who can guide you better,but when you change your name legally its better to change it in all present docs.Passport is very important of them.

[ryna 132]

I don't know about Thailand or India but, in Colombia, it's not as simple as showing up with a marriage license and requesting a name change. One has to make any name change through a lengthy process in the Colombian courts, in Colombia, which is quite inconvenient for someone who is a permanent resident of another country (the US, in this case.) If it's really that important (and it's not), one could have an also known as (AKA) annotation put in the foreign passport, by the FOREIGN country's consulate in the U.S.

Really, USCIS is aware of this and, in any event, they already know that "old name" is the same person as "new name" because of earlier immigration paperwork. This doesn't matter one bit for ROC.

BTW - OP, your evidence looks pretty good. I'd thrown in a few (joint) bank statements and maybe any joint utility bills, scattered over the entire period of your marriage.

[rick313 5]

Thanks for the replies! That makes me feel a little better about her maintaining her original family name on her Thai passport.

It is indeed a situation where its not easy at all for her to change her surname on her passport (there will be implications for her property that she owns in Thailand and other things). At some point, we will likely have to consult a Thai attorney to learn more about the process of getting her name changed on that document.