Name change and work history for I130

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

Hi everyone,

My USC husband and I are trying to finalize the I130 to submit, and I've been scanning the forums here trying to ensure that we have done everything right and won't get a RFE.

I have two questions, the first is fairly simple, my husband can't remember the exact dates of one job he had, if he's off by a month will that matter?

Second question, when we got married in California, the marriage certificate had a line for new last name, being my married name, I chose not to change my name as I didn't want to have to come back home and change all my documents at the time and figured I'd do it after we were living in the same country. But this morning I was reading an older post, and the replies seemed to be that the non-USC wife should fill out the I130 with the husband's name that she wants to use in the states as the social security number will be issued in this name. So I guess I've really got a few questions about this,

1. should I fill out the I130 under my married name?

2. will I need to change my passport in Canada before the interview/visa completion process?

3. if I chose to do the visa process under my maiden name is it fairly easy to change the documents to my married name once in California?

Thanks in advance

[Barbara J 115]

Hi everyone,

My USC husband and I are trying to finalize the I130 to submit, and I've been scanning the forums here trying to ensure that we have done everything right and won't get a RFE.

I have two questions, the first is fairly simple, my husband can't remember the exact dates of one job he had, if he's off by a month will that matter?

Second question, when we got married in California, the marriage certificate had a line for new last name, being my married name, I chose not to change my name as I didn't want to have to come back home and change all my documents at the time and figured I'd do it after we were living in the same country. But this morning I was reading an older post, and the replies seemed to be that the non-USC wife should fill out the I130 with the husband's name that she wants to use in the states as the social security number will be issued in this name. So I guess I've really got a few questions about this,

1. should I fill out the I130 under my married name?

2. will I need to change my passport in Canada before the interview/visa completion process?

3. if I chose to do the visa process under my maiden name is it fairly easy to change the documents to my married name once in California?

Thanks in advance

Q1 a month off not a problem

It's a given that you are now Mrs------- yes? You aren't called by your previous name? You can change your name once you are here in the states as you will just have to show your marriage certificate. It's not a big deal to change names.

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

Yeah I'm a Mrs--- but I've never used that name since getting married and all my ID is still under my maiden name, including my passport. So I'm worried that if I apply under Mrs--- that I'll have to change my passport before the interview, would this be the case?

[bigbigblake 2]

We are having the same problem. I submitted all our paperwork under my wifes new name, intending to change it once she got to the states.

When she did her Choice of Agent online it very clearly states "You must use the name on your passport".

So, a bunch of frantic calls and I was presented with two options - legally change her name in Canada to the new name (new passports take about 6-8 weeks) or revert back to her maiden name on all new paperwork.

I choose to revert back to her maiden name and am now praying we have no issues.

The second or third person I talked to at NVC said it shouldn't be an issue.

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

bigbigblake, did you and your wife get married in California?

[bigbigblake 2]

No, Texas. Went thru CSC for filing is all.

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

Oh ok, the reason I asked was I wondered if you maybe knew something about the Name Equality Act that California has. From what I've read some states just require the marriage licence for a name change, but in California you're supposed to decide this at the time you apply for a marriage licence....didn't realize this would be a problem for the visa

If your wife is from Ontario she can go into a passport office and request a rush, she could pick up the passport the next day.

[bigbigblake 2]

Oh ok, the reason I asked was I wondered if you maybe knew something about the Name Equality Act that California has. From what I've read some states just require the marriage licence for a name change, but in California you're supposed to decide this at the time you apply for a marriage licence....didn't realize this would be a problem for the visa

If your wife is from Ontario she can go into a passport office and request a rush, she could pick up the passport the next day.

Yeah, here all we have to do is take the marriage certificate to the SSN office and then get DL updated. Just never felt the need to do it until she could move here.

[Nuke and Tsy 1]

Yeah, here all we have to do is take the marriage certificate to the SSN office and then get DL updated. Just never felt the need to do it until she could move here.

Your wife and I are in the exact same position then. As long as she can take the marriage certificate into the SSN office then hopefully hers will be fairly easy to change after she moves.

According the name change act, I guess I should've put my married name on the marriage certificate, but I wasn't planning on using it until I'd moved, and now looks like I might have to do a legal name change at the california courts, but I can't do that without being there.....so, do I wait and change it after the visa process, when I'll have to change SSN, GC, whatever else....or can I apply for that to be in married name when submitting the petition, and then just do the court name change once I'm living there....

[Wayne and Claudia 40]

My wife changed her name at POE. We simply asked the customs officer at the secondary screening interview and he filled in one form and she signed it. Her GC, SSN and all other documents now use her married name. Her passport is still in her maiden name so she has to carry a copy of our marriage license if she leaves the country. It's a little harder to change the passport name in Colombia than here and Canada. Just wanted to throw that out at you as an option.