Please help with confusing situation

[bodiboom1628 0]

My Wife and I got married in the US over a year ago while she was on a K-1 visa. After about three months she had to leave the country to go back home to Russia due to a illness in her family. Now we are trying to get her back on an IR-1/CR-1 visa. The problem is that after we got married she got a social security number using her married last name (mine) but her visa and all other documents are still in her maiden name. What name should we file the I-30 under? Can we file it under her maiden name since all her documents have it except her social security, or does she have to get her name changed on all of her documents and visa before we can file? Thank you in advance for any advice.

[canadian_wife 1,831]

Since you are now married, assuming she will (if she hasn't already) take your name, file under her new married name. Make sure she changes her passport in her own country. The Cr-1 visa will be issued with the name in the passport and the green card with the name in the visa. If she intends to take your name, then doing this now will save you time, headaches, additional expenses.

Good luck

[Darnell 8,480]

I suggest the name on SSN, with the caveat -

that she change the name on the current passport. is no real reason to, except for minor headaches on the ds-230.

and

for now, she not need to change name in passport, for you to submit the I-130, at all.

do suggest you get it sorted, though by the time the NOA-2 date arrives.

Good Luck !

[bodiboom1628 0]

Thank you for your responses. I meant to say her maiden name was on her passport and not her Visa. I'm glad that you understood what I meant anyway. That does seem like an easy fix. So, it doesn't really matter that her other documents are in her maiden name if I list it as such on the I-130 as her maiden name? Thanks again!

[Rob_Lesya 4]

Thank you for your responses. I meant to say her maiden name was on her passport and not her Visa. I'm glad that you understood what I meant anyway. That does seem like an easy fix. So, it doesn't really matter that her other documents are in her maiden name if I list it as such on the I-130 as her maiden name? Thanks again!

Hi Freddie,

We're in a similar situation as you-- married on K-1, wife had to return to Russia unexpectedly, and now trying to get her back here on a CR1.

As has been mentioned previously, for all practical purposes it really doesn't matter what name you file under, the visa and green card will be issued in the name that is in the passport. So if you/she wants those to be issued in the new married name, the key is to change the name in the passport.

You can find a lot of information here and in various other forums saying that it is a tremendous hassle and almost impossible to change the name in a Russian passport. For a long time that has been true, but the laws in Russia regarding passport issuance and changes were recently updated -- at least in theory making the process much easier and simpler. But if you've spent any significant time in Russia you should already know that there is very little consistency in how ANYTHING is done in Russia, so your experience may vary greatly depending on what Oblast or City your wife resides in.

In uniquely Russian fashion, changing her name in the passport will actually be a 3 stage process --- she will first need to obtain a document which gives her the RIGHT to change her name, then she will need to change the name in her internal passport, and then she will be able to obtain a new international passport. This was my wife's recent experience with changing her name---

My wife went to the office in Chelyabinsk and filled out a form stating that she wanted to change her name so that it would be consistent with that of her husband. She gave them a certified copy (not even an apostilled copy, just a regular certified copy -- this was a big surprise. I thought for sure they would want an apostilled copy.) of our marriage certificate along with translation. She also gave them a copy of her birth certificate -- this was the document that presented a small problem. The copy she gave them was a simple photocopy, not an actual certified copy. But instead of making her go back and obtain a certified copy of the document, they simply phoned the small city where the document had been issued and verified over the phone that the information was correct. A few days later, she had a document in hand stating that she had the right to change her name to Lesya XXXXXX. With that document in her possession, getting a new internal passport and then international passport was a piece of cake. The whole process took about 6 weeks from start to finish.

CR1s/IR1s through Russia are not very common, so I'm sure my wife would be more than happy to talk with yours and they could help support each other through the process. Just PM me if you're interested.