Hi to all those who have done Adjustment of Status.

By Philippine culture we use our mother's maiden name as our middle name and its the middle name I used in filling up forms for the K1 application and in my passport and all other documents upon entering the USA (SSN application, I-94, Marriage Certificate) . Now that I am married I definitely changed my previous surname to my husband's family name and by Philippine custom my previous surname is now my middle name but the system here is different because US citizens can choose their middle names and not necessarily their mother's maiden name.

My questions:

When applying for the AOS what middle name should I use? Should I follow the Phillipine system to the effect that my middle name now is my previous surname or should I retain the middle name I used in my SSN, I-94 and Marriage Certificate?

Thanks for the help.

Myla

It's all up to you. If you have a middle (second) name like "Maria Cristina", you can drop your mother's maiden name (your middle name when you're single) and your maiden name (father's last name).

Here's an example:

Maria Cristina Perez Gomez - unmarried name
Maria Cristina Smith - married name

Since I didn't have the second name, I just used my mom's maiden name as part of my legal name here in US.

i.e.

Maria Perez Gomez - unmarried
Maria Perez Smith - married

I think others followed the Philippine family code...

Good luck!

--Mae

When in Rome...

I agree, the choice is yours. My wife was agonizing over the choice since she wanted to honor both parents, who have passed away. I suggested that she keep her name as it was and just add my name with a hyphen. That's what we did. You should use the name on your marriage certificate for now though so that the paperwork matches names IMO. You could always change it later.

when my wife signed the marriage license, it was in her maiden name. when she filed for AOS, she used my last name as her married name, no problems. if you choose to change your name after AOS, there will be more fees involved. as others have said, the choice is yours.

As for me i chose to retain my mother's maiden name as my middle name and use my husband's family name as my new family name. Others follow the Filipino culture and others didn't change their name at all. You can choose whatever you want, remember that whatever name you used in your AOS application thats the name that will appear in your Green Card, so choose wisely.

Thank you all for the information Godbless

we actually have a problem.. on our I-129f forms we accidently left off her surrname (philippines middle name) and used her 2nd name as her middle name. We didn;t realize until we got our NOA2 for some reason... Her birth certificate shows all 4 names. FIRST FIRST MIDDLE LAST (middle being her mothers maiden name)

NOA2 shows *FIRST* *2ndFIRST as middle* *LAST* (only 3 names) and yes it was our fault..

Now we are worried that when she gets her passport it will show her moms maiden name as her middle name instead of the 2nd part of her first name (which we accidently filed as her middle name) if that makes sense...

should we contact the embassy at some point? or should we wait until she gets her passport first to see what it says? So confusing, and kinda scary.

Please help us if anyone knows. We just got our NOA2 a few days ago!

Myla,

We filled out the forms for the AOS using her surname as her new middle name and that's how her name is now on her Green Card. She did get some grief at her biometrics appointment because the lady there said she couldn't use her surname as her new middle name, but that lady didn't know what the hell she was talking about. It is a custom for many cultures so they shouldn't get confused with the idea.

In the Philippines, the Official Middle Name for single women and men are their mothers maiden name, that would appear on every documents issued in the Philippines including Passports. I don't think you will have any problem because when she fill out the Form G325a she put her mothers maiden name in there and i guess the Embassy will understand that. But if you want to be sure call the embassy immediately, you don't have to wait for the passport because im sure they will use her mother's maiden name as her middle name.

U.S. immigration paperwork should have no effect on her name on the Philippine passport. That has to be applied for and received from the proper Philippine authority. Once you have that passport (you'll need a copy to send in with DS-230) see how the name appears on it then send a letter to the NVC with Dept WC in the address with the proper name and a copy of the biometrics page of the passpor t(the open page with the name and picture). I accidently mispelled my wife's middle name and followed this procedure with no problems. You might also call NVC for any additonal info (603)334-0700.

This is actually my point. I am sure my father will appreciate me not dropping his family name in deference to Philippine customs, however, in all my paperworks before getting married I used my mother's maiden name as my middle name and it might create confusion with the immigration why I suddenly have a different middlename. Anyhow, my husband and I decided to retain my mother's maiden name as my middle name and drop my father's family name so my middlename in all my paperworks, before and after marriage is consistent.

Names can be confusing sometimes . . thanks and Godbless

That's exactly what happened to my case. From K1 application to present, we used my mother's maiden name as my middle name to show consistency. So far, so good. You'll be fine, Myla!

--Mae