Changing maiden name in California

[VictorB 0]

Hello everybody!

We have just married and we want to change my wife’s maiden name before submitting documents for adjustment of status (AOS) for my wife.

The problem: in California it is not possible to change maiden name during the marriage ceremony (license marriage and certificate does not have a graph for that).

We need to do now 3 things:

1) change maiden name

2) apply for SSN

3) Submit documents for AOS

What is better to do at first?

How and where can we change a maiden name?

Thanks for your answers

[Rocio 0]

Hello everybody!

We have just married and we want to change my wife’s maiden name before submitting documents for adjustment of status (AOS) for my wife.

The problem: in California it is not possible to change maiden name during the marriage ceremony (license marriage and certificate does not have a graph for that).

We need to do now 3 things:

1) change maiden name

2) apply for SSN

3) Submit documents for AOS

What is better to do at first?

How and where can we change a maiden name?

Thanks for your answers

1) just start using it, thats all it takes

2) bring passport with i-94, birth certificate with translation if applies and marriage certificate

3) submit documents using new name

what is better..........for 1 nothing to do really, for number 2 and 3 it doesnt matter the order

the change is the fact of start using it after marriage, apply for ids like ssc and drivers licence with new name

hope this helps

good luck

[VictorB 0]

Rocio,

You mean (if I understand correctly) that after a marriage we should simply apply for SSN and AOS with a new name (even if it is not was changed in marriage certificate)?

Is it correct?

[Kez/JWolf 6]

A marriage certificate only ever shows the brides maiden name and the grooms family name....

Marriage is the only reason you are allowed to change your name without having to go through the courts....

All your wife has to do is use her new family name... make sure you change it everywhere... banks, doctors, SSN, Drivers licence/state ID and of course when filling for AOS...

Kezzie

[Jasman0717 8]

Claudeth didn't have any I.D. cards or anything so the only thing we actually changed was the SSN. We are now in the process of renewing her passport and that is a whole different situation! The Filipino government has more red tape than the U.S.

[terri o'neale 0]

Hello everybody!

We have just married and we want to change my wife’s maiden name before submitting documents for adjustment of status (AOS) for my wife.

The problem: in California it is not possible to change maiden name during the marriage ceremony (license marriage and certificate does not have a graph for that).

We need to do now 3 things:

1) change maiden name

2) apply for SSN

3) Submit documents for AOS

What is better to do at first?

How and where can we change a maiden name?

Thanks for your answers

It isn't that hard to do name changes on CA. Take your marriage license to your local Social Security office and fill out a form requesting a new card. Take the license to the Department of Motor Vehicles to change the name on your Drivers License/ID Card. Take the license and your old passport to the USCIS offices or your local postoffice for a new passport. Most banks/credit cards and the like require you to have legal ID...one of these three in your new name before they will make changes. It takes a little while to get them all handled. Just when I thought I have them all done something else shows up in my maiden name.

The hardest part has been me...I sometimes forget and am half way through...Por...O'Neale.

[Kajikit 65]

You don't need to do anything special to change her name - just start using the married name. Florida doesn't have a 'new name' box on the certificate either... there's no problem with the name change as long as your wife is doing one of the generally recognised changes - either substituting your name for hers, or adding them together with a hyphen, or dropping her middle name and using the two last names instead. Looking at the marriage certificate will clearly show where both names came from so nothing formal needs to be done.

If you want to do something else (like making your own surname with the letters from both names) you have to change your name by deedpoll to make it official.

Use the married name on your AOS application and when your wife's EAD comes back she can change her SSN to her married name using that for evidence.

[zyggy 9]

You don't need to do anything special to change her name - just start using the married name. Florida doesn't have a 'new name' box on the certificate either... there's no problem with the name change as long as your wife is doing one of the generally recognised changes - either substituting your name for hers, or adding them together with a hyphen, or dropping her middle name and using the two last names instead. Looking at the marriage certificate will clearly show where both names came from so nothing formal needs to be done.

If you want to do something else (like making your own surname with the letters from both names) you have to change your name by deedpoll to make it official.

Use the married name on your AOS application and when your wife's EAD comes back she can change her SSN to her married name using that for evidence.

There;s no deed poll in the US.. In the US it is done through court order..