Changing wifes name

[hypocrisy 0]

My wife is out of status....will have the money for AOS very soon. I was wondering if it's possible to change her name to her new married name or will that raise a red flag for her through immigration and they will know she's here out of status? We were considering waiting until we have the money and send in the paper work? any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated!!

[rubyred 0]

what do you mean by 'changing her name'? did you not change it on when you got married, on the marriage certificate?

[hypocrisy 0]

We were told we couldnt change it on the marriage license,that we had to go change it at the court house at a later date.....

[Cuchita 1]

When they gave me my marriage certificate they didn't even ask for what name I wanted, the marriage certif. asks for maiden name. There's no line for new married name or such. The one who changes your name is the SS office when you ask for it.

Don't worry about her status, many people wait till they collect the money and then get their GC with no problem. The AOS papers ask for maiden names, not married.

[lechatnoir 0]

I asked this question in another name change thread but didn't get a response... if the immigrant is male and wishes to change his name to his wife's name instead of the usual method... how does one do that on the forms? Is that even possible or would he need to wait till after the GC is issued and then ask social security to change it?

My fiancee wishes to take my name instead of me taking his. He also wants to change his first name.

[rubyred 0]

that's weird - when we got married and were filling out the paperwork for the license, i was asked if i would like to change my name (it was an option on the license, but the the person at the county clerk's office also asked).

[Septembergold 0]

I wasn`t asked if i wanted to change my last name at the clerk`s office. The form only had a line for maiden name. It was the pastor that married us who asked what name i`m taking and said i should sign the marriage certificate accordingly. I think it works the same way with the male taking his spouse`s name, because that`s what my husband wanted to do, but we decided otherwise because of the peculiarities of Russian grammar

If you want to change your first name you`ll need a court decision. I gave up on that idea... didn`t think it was worth it.

[lechatnoir 0]

I wasn`t asked if i wanted to change my last name at the clerk`s office. The form only had a line for maiden name. It was the pastor that married us who asked what name i`m taking and said i should sign the marriage certificate accordingly. I think it works the same way with the male taking his spouse`s name, because that`s what my husband wanted to do, but we decided otherwise because of the peculiarities of Russian grammar

If you want to change your first name you`ll need a court decision. I gave up on that idea... didn`t think it was worth it.

Thanks for the reply! So, if he signs the marriage certificate with my last name then on the AOS papers I assume he puts his "given" name? How does the social security office, etc... know that he wants the name that is on the marriage certificate? Perhaps I should ask our lawyer this question... lol.

[Septembergold 0]

I wasn`t asked if i wanted to change my last name at the clerk`s office. The form only had a line for maiden name. It was the pastor that married us who asked what name i`m taking and said i should sign the marriage certificate accordingly. I think it works the same way with the male taking his spouse`s name, because that`s what my husband wanted to do, but we decided otherwise because of the peculiarities of Russian grammar

If you want to change your first name you`ll need a court decision. I gave up on that idea... didn`t think it was worth it.

Thanks for the reply! So, if he signs the marriage certificate with my last name then on the AOS papers I assume he puts his "given" name? How does the social security office, etc... know that he wants the name that is on the marriage certificate? Perhaps I should ask our lawyer this question... lol.

You can ask your lawyer, just to be sure. But really, when filling out your AOS applications, you use the name you want to be known by (i.e. married name) on some applications there is a line "other names used" - this is where you put his "maiden" name.

Does he already have a SSN? I had mine issued in my maiden name and then, when we got married, i took our marriage certificate to the SSO and had it changed to my married name. OR you can wait till he gets his EAD card (which will be in his married name) and then get a SSN or have it changed.

You can always call Social Security Office and find out for sure

Edited May 21, 2009 by Septembergold