When to change the name: before or after

[philly777 0]

Hello,

Could you please advise when is the best time to change the name before or after application to citizenship?

Shall we change the name now and then apply for citizenship or after? If it's before then will it delay the process?

Please advise, Thank you!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

The best - and cheapest- way to change you name if you plan to change it is with the Naturalization petition. Fill out the petition with the name that you wish to use. As part of the Naturalization process,the name change request will be reviewed by a Judge and the name officially changed to what you want it to be. The Naturalization Certificate will then be issued in that name. It can add a few weeks onto the overall process as the act of getting the name legally changed has to be taken care of with a judge first, but you won't have to pay anything more in order to do it.

If you changed your name prior to the Citizenship process, then you need to pay a legal fee to change the name (and it would go through exactly the same process of approval before a judge) and then you would have to change the green card to correspond with the name - and then file for Naturalization.

If you changed your name after Naturalization, you would again have to go through all of the legal process and then make arrangements to change your identification - but your Naturalization Certificate would still be in the original name as that was the name with which you naturalized.

So - as I said - the best and cheapest way to change you name is during the Naturalization process itself. You will find the necessary steps shown in the Instructions and with the Petition.

[philly777 0]

The best - and cheapest- way to change you name if you plan to change it is with the Naturalization petition. Fill out the petition with the name that you wish to use. As part of the Naturalization process,the name change request will be reviewed by a Judge and the name officially changed to what you want it to be. The Naturalization Certificate will then be issued in that name. It can add a few weeks onto the overall process as the act of getting the name legally changed has to be taken care of with a judge first, but you won't have to pay anything more in order to do it.

If you changed your name prior to the Citizenship process, then you need to pay a legal fee to change the name (and it would go through exactly the same process of approval before a judge) and then you would have to change the green card to correspond with the name - and then file for Naturalization.

If you changed your name after Naturalization, you would again have to go through all of the legal process and then make arrangements to change your identification - but your Naturalization Certificate would still be in the original name as that was the name with which you naturalized.

So - as I said - the best and cheapest way to change you name is during the Naturalization process itself. You will find the necessary steps shown in the Instructions and with the Petition.

Thank you very much!!! Just curious if it would be easy to change the last name after Naturalization just showing Marriage certificate to the SS office?

Edited October 26, 2012 by philly777