Name change/civil wedding

[Archangelmiko 0]

My fiancee and I intend to have a civil marriage in order to file a CR1 ASAP. We will get married in our Church in August. I'm wondering if, for the sake of Loans and other legal documents that we will need to fill out together, she should change her name when we marry civilly. If we go that route, she will have to change the name on her passport, etc before we can submit our application, right? What would our other options be? can we change her name at the time of the religious ceremony (or even later?) and then when the actual green card is being prepared can it be changed over? Thanks for any insights!

[antoneya 9]

My fiancee and I intend to have a civil marriage in order to file a CR1 ASAP. We will get married in our Church in August. I'm wondering if, for the sake of Loans and other legal documents that we will need to fill out together, she should change her name when we marry civilly. If we go that route, she will have to change the name on her passport, etc before we can submit our application, right? What would our other options be? can we change her name at the time of the religious ceremony (or even later?) and then when the actual green card is being prepared can it be changed over? Thanks for any insights!

I only had a civil marriage last year and we plan on doing the church wedding in August also. I filled out my I-130 in her maiden name as she has all her documents and passport is in that name and it would cost way to much money and headache, also I think less explanation will be required on why name is some docs don't match the others (i.e. Birth Cert. and Marriage Cert.) I got my NOA2 last week, so far no issues. I have a feeling I maybe asked at the interview why we haven't changed her name but I'm prepared to answer that if need be. I plan on waiting until she is here and has gotten all her documents then we will do a name change. I think it will cost less and less paper work.

[Archangelmiko 0]

Thank you!

So, you intend for her to change her name at the religious ceremony? I assume you will have her green card already by then.... Please keep us up to date if you find anything else out!

[Scott and Mhay 57]

You dont have to change the passport right away...just before the medical when they take it. Mhay changed her passport after we got NOA2.

[Archangelmiko 0]

You dont have to change the passport right away...just before the medical when they take it. Mhay changed her passport after we got NOA2.

But did she change her name before submitting her application? didn;t the copy of her passport that was submitted need to be the same as the name on the application?

[antoneya 9]

Thank you!

So, you intend for her to change her name at the religious ceremony? I assume you will have her green card already by then.... Please keep us up to date if you find anything else out!

My ceremony will be in Sri Lanka and I hope to have her fly back with me, I don't plan on changing her name until she is here and we are settled in. My first goal is to have her here with me, so I don't want to do anything to mess/delay that up.

in my case it will take a lot of money and about 3 months for her to get a new passport with a new name - this is the main reason why I'm going to wait.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

But did she change her name before submitting her application? didn;t the copy of her passport that was submitted need to be the same as the name on the application?

I never sent a copy of her passport...it's not required.....I sent a copy of Mine...and yes we put the application in her married name.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Scott and Mhay

[OBX 51]

My fiancee and I intend to have a civil marriage in order to file a CR1 ASAP. We will get married in our Church in August. I'm wondering if, for the sake of Loans and other legal documents that we will need to fill out together, she should change her name when we marry civilly. If we go that route, she will have to change the name on her passport, etc before we can submit our application, right? What would our other options be? can we change her name at the time of the religious ceremony (or even later?) and then when the actual green card is being prepared can it be changed over? Thanks for any insights!

As long as she has changed her passport by the time she submits her documents to NVC (and following that the interview) she will be fine. Her visa will be issued in the name on her passport.

We submitted our I-130 petition immediately following our marriage (in my married name) and then I proceeded to change all of my identification.

BTW, in Ontario, when I changed my passport I was required to have two pieces of identification in my married name. I would suggest your wife change her driver's license and health card first, then apply for the new passport. In fact the passport office did not even want to look at my marriage certificate jut the ID.

Good luck.

Edited April 8, 2010 by OBX

[trailmix 77]

Just so you know - she doesn't have to change her name at all if she doesn't want to. If she is going to use her married name, have her use it from the beginning, right from the I-130, note her maiden name under 'other names used'.

The visa will be issued in whatever name appears in the passport at the time of her interview.

You cannot change a name - only - on a Canadian passport, she will have to apply for a brand new passport to make a name change.

Edited April 8, 2010 by trailmix

[AlannaMike 0]

We did the exact same thing except for a K-1 and the Adjustment of Status.

Fiancee came down from Canada on a K-1 and we had a civil marriage the next day to get the paperwork going. We'll have a regular family wedding later.

She is still using her maiden name with no issue.

With the way things are these days I don't believe the name change is too big of a deal.

For example, we were informed that it is now legal for the man to take the woman's last name or you can also legally combine both of your last names into a single super transformed last name...which seems ridiculous.

(This was all just to prove the point that the "official" last name change is really not that big of a deal and can happen anytime.)

[OBX 51]

As others have posted the choice is hers; she can keep her maiden name or change to her married name. The important thing to remember is that her visa will match the name in her passport. So if she is planning on using her married name it seems to be easier to do before the interview so the visa and subsequent green card is in that name. You can always change it after the fact but the charge for changing the name on the green card is a bit pricey (about $370 I believe.)

Good luck on your journey.

Edited April 8, 2010 by OBX