Vietnamese name-swapping

[Nick126 0]

Hi all,

Things are going well! My wife arrived stateside from Vietnam on May 1st as a K-1 Visa holder. We had our marriage solemnized on May 8. We are now almost ready to submit the I-485 AOS package to the Chicago Lockbox. I do have one concern though with her name...as is typical with many Vietnamese names, she has a double last name from her mother and father, and a double first/given name.

In the process of getting her here and preparing for the AOS package, her name order has been switched several times. If you look at her passport ID page and national identity card, her name flows LAST1 LAST2 GIVEN1 GIVEN2. Her K-1 petition and visa have one name order, which I am using to prepare the 485 and accompanying forms. Her Social Security card and new bank account are based off of her name on the I-94 Arrival card as Given2Given 1, Last1Last2. Her medical exam by the civil surgeon, I believe, is just truncated to Last1, First2.

It was never our intention to mix things up like this. Hopefully it doesn't lead to any confusion in the review process. I'd love to hear if anyone has any thoughts on our situation.

-Nick

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

If she is taking your last name, then use it when filling out the forms for AOS. If she is keeping her names as is, then fill out the forms that way, like the LAST1 LAST2 GIVEN1 GIVEN2 you used for her K-1 visa. Whatever you put on the AOS forms is what will appear on the green card.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hi all,

Things are going well! My wife arrived stateside from Vietnam on May 1st as a K-1 Visa holder. We had our marriage solemnized on May 8. We are now almost ready to submit the I-485 AOS package to the Chicago Lockbox. I do have one concern though with her name...as is typical with many Vietnamese names, she has a double last name from her mother and father, and a double first/given name.

In the process of getting her here and preparing for the AOS package, her name order has been switched several times. If you look at her passport ID page and national identity card, her name flows LAST1 LAST2 GIVEN1 GIVEN2. Her K-1 petition and visa have one name order, which I am using to prepare the 485 and accompanying forms. Her Social Security card and new bank account are based off of her name on the I-94 Arrival card as Given2Given 1, Last1Last2. Her medical exam by the civil surgeon, I believe, is just truncated to Last1, First2.

It was never our intention to mix things up like this. Hopefully it doesn't lead to any confusion in the review process. I'd love to hear if anyone has any thoughts on our situation.

-Nick

It's actually not common in Vietnam for people to have both their mother's and father's family name. Most people receive their father's family name at birth, but women usually do not change their surname after marriage.

Most Vietnamese do have two given names, but one is considered to be their middle name. The typical order is:

family middle given; e.g., Nguyen Thi Thuy

Their name in English would be:

given middle family; e.g., Thuy Thi Nguyen

Whatever name she prefers to be called should be listed as her given, or "first" name. List the other given name as her middle name. If you intend to change her name at marriage then list your surname as her "last name". Otherwise, list them as a hyphenated pair; last1-last2.

[Nick126 0]

Things might not be so straightforward...her name as it appears on her Vietnamese IDs should be read as Last1 Last2, First 1 First 2, but last August when I filed the I-129 and January when we responded to the NOA2 for the visa interview, I mistakenly had her name on the paperwork as Last1, First2 (Middle: Last2 First1). Consequently, this is how her name on the K-1 appeared.

When she arrived in the US, she filled out her I-94 as Last1Last2,First2First1 (swapping the given name order). Because of that, this is the name that was in the DHS system when social security looked her up during our social security card application. Now her social security card, state ID, and bank account are also Last1Last2, First2First1.

Still, wouldn't it be best to keep all of her AOS forms consistent with the name on her I-129F and K-1 Visa...Last1, First2 (Middle: Last2 First1)? If I were to make a change on the AOS documents, it's one thing to re-print the relevant pages, but we recently moved back to our permanent address and the civil surgeon who prepared the I-693 (with my wife signing her name in his presence) is almost 200 miles away.

Even with three minor order variations of her name, I'm hoping that there is enough supporting evidence that USCIS will look past all this and things will keep progressing as they have. Thoughts anyone?