Hi everyone,

I got my conditional Green Card in September 2007 through marriage. My wife is a US citizen. When we got married, she wasn't sure about changing her name, so when we applied for adjustment of status a few months later, she was still using her maiden name.

She has recently decided that life would be a little easier if we both had the same name, so she has initiated the process of changing her name (i.e. taking my family name). She has already been to the Social Security Office and the local DMV, but we have no idea how to go about notifying USCIS. We don't even know if we need to. We've called the customer service number, but they were no help. I've been reading about all the different things that can go wrong with the I-751 process, so I certainly don't want to risk any additional hassle for a perfectly legitimate but unreported name change.

We're still nearly a year away from filing the I-751 application, but knowing how serious they are about address changes, we're feeling a little nervous not knowing what to do about this name change. If we don't notify them now, should we use my wife's married or maiden name when it comes time to send in the I-751? (By then all her official papers, like SS card, DL, passport, bills etc. will bear her married name.)

I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.

I would just use her married name on the forms... and on the form there is a spot for "Other Names Used (including maiden name):"

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-751.pdf

His wife is the US citizen, that spot is for the alien filing the I-751 not the US citizen. She just should put the name that she is currently using...if you want in the cover letter you can explain that situation about her name change.

Good luck.

oops, my bad....

like the poster above said I would just use her married name on the forms...

Hi,
My wife and I are in that same situation right now. We got married and did all the original filing in Ecuador, and they don't really do name changes down there, so we submitted everything with her maiden name. Then when she got her and got her conditional green card, we called INS and they said she can officially change it when we do the 751. Since the green card is the governing document that tells the DMV and Social Security what to use, that needs to be done first. They say you could also do it any other time using a form (I-91 maybe??) but you have to pay for a new green card, like several hundred dollars. We just decided to wait till the I-751 and do it then to save all that money. Hope this helps you. Along with all the other proof paperwork we also submitted a copy of our marriage document (in spanish but with an english translation) and a letter of instruction to have the new green card say my last name