How to list Iranian compound last names (Family/Last, and 'Tribal'/Village)? I-129F

[Howpful1 0]

US and Persian naming-conventions do not 'map' onto each other exactly.

It is not clear what is the proper way to list these, in Form I-129F, Part 2, Questions 2a-c.

In the US, everyone has one Last Name (a.k.a. Family Name), sometimes hyphenated. E.g., Smith. Or Smith-Jones.

We have a Given Name (a.k.a. First Name). E.g., Mary.

Many (though not all) have a Middle Name (rarely used). E.g., Katherine.

So the full name would be: Mary Katherine Smith-Jones (first middle last). Or: Smith-Jones, Mary Katherine (last, first middle).

In Iran, the naming conventions are different. Many people have what I'm calling "compound last names" -- one name more specific to a particular family, and a broader name that may have originated from a tribal or village name (even though in theory tribal or village names have been eliminated in modern Iran), and the latter may almost never be used in everyday life.

E.g., the immediate family might be named Arshi, the broader ('tribal/village') family name might be Meradloo. The given name might be Zahra. The full name would be Zahra Arshi Meradloo. But in everyday life the woman would go by just Zahra Arshi or Ms. Arshi (never using the broader name). Her business card might just say "Zahra Arshi," her friends and colleagues would know her only as Zahra Arshi, while her passport might say "Arshi Meradloo, Zahra." (Note that "Arshi" is *not* a Middle Name -- her father's full name might be e.g. Mohsen Arshi Meradloo.)

What and where is the appropriate way and place to list these names in the I-129F?

I'm guessing to put both names in the "Last Name" field (Part 2 Q.2a), like this: Arshi Meradloo

And, of course, for Given Name it is: Zahra

And nothing anywhere else, e.g. no Middle Name, and nothing in Q.10a-c (Other Names Used).

Is that right? (This question must come up with every Iranian-Western K1 aplication. :-) ) I wouldn't want to confuse a US clerk, who might inadvertently think that "Meradloo" is the Last Name, and Arshi is a Middle Name (in the wrong place), or that it should be hyphenated (Arshi-Meradloo), or something like that.

Thank you!

Edited October 25, 2014 by Howpful1

[aara1988 1]

Hi,

I would recommend you use whatever her passport shows. So, Arshi Meradloo in Last Name (as you yourself guessed) and no middle name. They usually want to see the same stuff that is in your passport. One time I had to pay $80 to change my name in a plane ticket to the US because I had only used my first last name (I have two, as every Spaniard does) and it didn't match my passport name.

I don't have a middle name either and I think that I wrote None, or maybe I drew a dash in that field.

Cheers

[icv21 110]

I would put them both as last names like @aara1988 says we have 2 last names in Spain and no middle name.

Then don't get it here in America so when I went to open a bank account for example I always explain it and they say I can' only put one so my new documents never match my passport. Or they put one of my last names as middle name etc......

But for uscis I put given name Iris. Middle name: nothing , and last names both I have. You could do it. Does your passport shows it that way???

I'm glad I changed both my last names for my husband's so I won't have to deal with it any longer and I will have only one in my GC and american documents

[ChuckM 8]

For my wife we used two first names and two last names. She was adamant that she did not have a middle name. So Par.. Sad.. went into the first name field, Sey... Moz... went into the last name fields. That is how here Iranian Passport lists it and now her Green Card. There have been no issues with her name listed like this in the 19 months she has been in the USA. Bank accounts, Credit Cards, Driver Licenses and Social Security are all listed like this.

As noted above, when we book things like airline tickets, we always use her full name since that is what is on the ID.

Edited October 26, 2014 by ChuckM