Hello All!

I just found this site and I am so impressed by the wealth of information that's available on this forum. This is a great public service!!

My wife (Canadian citizen) and I got married in July and our marriage certificate was just mailed to me on the 12 of Oct. by the Gov't of Ontario office. The question I have is regarding the name that I can put on the I-130 and I-129F forms for my wife. I wanted to put her new name (she decided to move her maiden name to her middle name and take my last name as hers). However, she hasn't legally changed her name yet Canada and probably won't for another 2-3 months as she is very buy with school and work right now.

Will it be okay if I put her new name on the forms or do I have to put her maiden name on the form, as that is still her legal name? I figured that by doing this now, it will save a lot of hassle later on, but am afraid that this might cause a whole set of new issues. Advice anyone??

Secondly, has anyone filed I-130 and I-129 F forms at the same time to the Texas Service Center? I am in Georgia and that's where I will be submitting the petitions. Just want to see if they rejected someone's forms because the forms were submitted together.

These are the only questions I have. Other than that I am ready to submit the forms for my wife. Let the journey begin!!!

Any help/answers will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Is there something special that she has to do in Canada to be able to use your name? When I got married here in the US I was able to just start using my married name from the day we got married... I did have to send my Passport off with a copy of our marriage certificate to get that changed to my married name but that is all I had to do??? what does she have to do in Canada...

Kez

No there's not much that she needs to do, but in Canada the toughest thing to get changed is the Citizen's Card that Canadian Citizens carry. I have read online that it takes quite a long time to get that changed. Obviously the passport is also another important legal document that would need to be re-issued with her new name.

Btw, how much did the new passport cost? Did you have to pay the full fee or was it cheaper? Just curious. Thanks!

If there is no special rules in Canada for changing a name after marriage then you can fill in her forms using her married name.... she should get started on changing her ID card and her passport to match her married name.... I can not tell you how much it costs to have her passport changed as I am from the UK so it would not help you...

Try asking in the Canada forum I am sure there will be people there who can tell you...


Kez

Kez you know you have to "legally" change your name at the Social Security office here in the States right? So there actually is a special rule. Right now you are exactly official. You can change your DL and Passport easy but the official change is with SSN.

Secondly, has anyone filed I-130 and I-129 F forms at the same time to the Texas Service Center? I am in Georgia and that's where I will be submitting the petitions. Just want to see if they rejected someone's forms because the forms were submitted together.

Unless something has changed, you need to submit the receipt from the I-130 with the I-129F, so filing them together won't work.

But from what I have been reading, people have been submitting both forms together at the VSC and the CSC without rejections (with the exception of one case I read about on the forums). That's the only reason I ask. If it can shave off 2-3 months by filling simultaneously, then why not!

Can someone confirm this, please!