Did you change your name once your spouse arrived in the US? Did you have problems with NYS accepting your marriage certificate from another country? Did you have a civil ceremony in NY after you married in another country?

I am a canadian citizen married to USC , he lives in newyork , i didnot change my name after marriage , and we didnot have any civil ceremony in NY , we registered our marriage in canada

Hi there,

I'm a Malaysian citizen married to a New Yorker USC. We got married in Malaysia last July but just recently had a ceremony in New York. This is considered the official marriage by US standards because according to city hall marriage outside the country is not valid, thus they did not accept our Malaysian marriage certificate.

You have an option of changing your name. It's really up to you. Your call. I havent decided yet.

FINALLY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I spoke with an immigration attorney yesterday and he said this will cause little or NO problems with my husband's Visa in the future. He said we can simply explain when needed that NY does NOT accept a foreign marriage certificate in most cases, that is why we have a second one. Thank you again. It's nice to hear from someone who is IN NEW YORK and knows what I am talking about.

glad to be of help..anything to help a fellow VJ! Good luck with everything...hope all goes well

Even I know what you're talking about. You ran into a problem because you did things backwards. Had you taken care of the passport and Social Security card first, you could have used those documents instead of your marriage certificate to change the name on your driver license.

Do you really think people who change counties, States or countries during their marriage have to re-marry their spouse for the State of New York to recognize they are married? It's ludicrous.

I really don't know WHY you feel the need to be so obnoxious. I did nothing backwards, I did them as I knew best. When I went to change my passport I was told by the agent that they would not accept my Moroccan marriage certificate. Where do YOU LIVE? Are you an immigration attorney who knows NYS laws? If not, then you need to stop being such a know-it-all, condescending, pushy person. Stop insulting me, telling me I do things wrong, and I am unaware of what the procedures are. This is the first time I am dealing with immigration issues, the first time I married someone who is not am American citizen. You seem to know a lot, but you certainly don't know everything. If you can't answer my posts NICELY, just stay away. You are NOT helpful. You are offensive, at best.

I really should clarify... I am new at this but I have done my research and NO WHERE does it say to change my federal information first. I went to the county offices because there IS NO federal office nearby. Changing passport information is done at the county office. And in case you were not aware, it's not the marriage they do not accept, it's the MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. If you actually read the threads here you would have seen that. The only way for me to get one they WOULD approve is to have another one here in NY. I spoke with SEVERAL county offices and there is no way to get a NY marriage certificate based on the information in my Moroccan certificate. THAT is where the problems came from. If you cannot accept how I am handling this situation, feel free to stop replying to me. I want advice from others who have faced this situation, not someone in an entirely different state who thinks it's ok to berate other users.

I live in Washington. The laws of the State of New York have no bearing whatsoever on changing the name in your passport or on your Social Security records. The same is true in all 50 States because those are federal government agencies, not State. I understand you did as you knew best.

This is a public board where others search, read and learn from these threads. As such, I think it is important that the readers understand that what you thought was best, was not best unless a couple actually wants to marry the same person twice to satisfy some policy. If one other person making the same mistake, somehow makes you feel more validated in your decision, so be it.

Others do not need to make the same mistake. I'm trying to make that clear here. Just like you, nobody really wants to have to marry their spouse again to comply with some silly State policy. Since it isn't necessary and can be avoided by taking care of passport and SS records first instead of driver license first, it is important people see that as fact. I think it's more important than making you feel good about your own actions.

Further, this board is full of people posting their experiences with foreign marriages. I've read thousands of posts over the time I've been a member and only in your threads have I ever heard of anybody who legally married abroad needing to have a new marriage in any State, before the wife could accomplish a name change.

Do you think New York residents who decide to have "destination weddings" in Jamaica or Acapulco come back home and marry again? You did what you did. You could have reversed the order of documents you changed names on and avoided a second marriage. What's done is done but others here can learn from your mistake.

Come on now, we are all adults here.... theresaandali did what they thought was best, so there is no need to make them look like they don't know what they are doing, because it worked at any rate. There is no need to be condecending towards each other.

Of course not. There's only a need to inform others so they don't make the same mistake.

So i am just a bit confused by all that i have read here. Am I to believe that when I get to NY later this year God's willing (in the process of doing IR-1 visa) i will have to remarry i husband that i have been married to for 4 years now. The marriage took place in Jamaica and he lives in NY.


Please clarify for me.

Thanks

Read post #9, middle paragraph.

Of course not. This is precisely the kind of misunderstanding I'm trying to avoid by posting in this thread.

You're already married in Jamaica. If you get your name changed in your passport now, while you're still there, there will be no need to change names again later.

The OP who began the thread is not an immigrant. She is a US Citizen wanting to use her foreign husband's surname. It is a different process but somewhat the same, in that passport is the first thing to change. The OP indicates there is not federal office nearby, so she went to a county office first. That was the beginning of her problem. As an immigrant, even if you don't change your passport name before US arrival, you can do so through a Jamaican Consulate in the US, later. You should apply for the visa in your married name if that's the name you want to use. You also have the option of keeping the name you used before marriage.

Changing Name in Passport

http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/Chang...geName_851.html

You won't see any mention of a county office anywhere in the procedure.

I understand what is not accepted. You made it clear in your initial thread. They will, however accept a passport and SS card as proof of identification to change the name on a driver license. So, had changing the name in your passport and SS card been your first steps, the second marriage could have been avoided.

You didn't know that. I get it. Let's not encourage others to make the same mistake. Ok?

Thanks for the clarity. From the day i got married I have used my husband name on all my documents. It is also the name in my Ja passport and that is the name they have for me at the NVC. I did not give up my surname i just addedd my husband's name to it.

Once again thank you for clarifying for me

Hi all,

I can see how someone reading this thread might be confused into wondering if a foreign marriage is accepted in New York State. So just to reiterate, a marriage that is valid in the foreign country in which is was performed is recognized as valid in New York State (with a few exceptions I believe, like if the person was underage...) I was married in Cuba and it has never been questioned here, in any circumstance.

There was an interesting case I read about recently in fact that highlights this. There was a lesbian couple from Rochester, NY who were legally married in Canada. ( I believe that both are US Citizens and residents.) They went to court in NY State when one's employer tried to deny the other spousal benefits. The court affirmed that a marriage that is legal in Canada must be recognized as legal in New York State. Congratulations to the happily married couple! Now I hope that will soon apply to gay and lesbian US citizens who want to marry and bring their spouses to the US, and experience the same hopes and joys as many of the rest of us on this forum. Onwards!

2NS

It's not the validity of the marriage, it's actually about the documentation proving it. NYS will NOT accept my Moroccan marriage certificate for things such as name changes.

That's crystal clear. Is it just as clear that they will accept a passport and SS card, if you get those before trying to change the name on your driver license? Is the procedure for changing the name in your passport now clear? Do you understand it need not be done at a "county" office, since it is issued by an agency of the Federal, not county of State government?

I'd just like to add my 2cents for whatever it's worth here. I got married in Malaysia in July and that is date we used for all my visa applications.

Last month I went to NY because my husband's family wanted an official ceremony there. And in order for us to get a justice of peace to witness us exchanging vows we needed to apply for a marriage license from the city hall. The lady at the city hall verified that we cannot use the Malaysian Marriage Certificate to substitute that. The NY marriage license says I can change my last name if I want to.

That's the extent of my knowledge of how it works in NY. In terms of name changes, passport, SSN I can't really say much cause we havent reached that step yet. Currently my Malaysian Passport is still in my maiden name and I have no intentions of changing that because here we don't take our husband's last name. That might change when I go to live with my husband in the future though.

I know this is not much help but at least its another view of the situation.

Thank you so much for your additional input. You know what I have been saying, as you experienced it as well.

No, she hasn't experienced it yet because she doesn't have a visa yet.

Further, she has some decisions to make that may not have been thought through completely yet. If she changes her name when she marries a second time in New York, she'll be using two names. If she doesn't change her passport name, she can't travel abroad in her married name. If she gets the green card in her married name, she'll have to carry proof that the the separate names in the Passport and on the Green Card belong to the same person, whenever she enters the USA. This can be done fairly reliably with the New York wedding certificate, the photo and perhaps a New York drivers license but there's also the chance the CR1 visa in the passport will give the CBP agent pause in accepting a NY marriage certificate when the CR1 visa is a clear indicator that the couple married before she entered the US.

Her easiest solution is not to change her name at all.

Why the groom's family wants an official legal wedding between two people already married is beyond my understanding though. Married is married.

Well, what pushbrk said is correct. My wife (the USC) got her name changed on all her documents...with no problem. Everything is in her new name. She did in the order that pushbrk said...she is from NY. It was all stress free...all done in a month.