i-864 Joint Sponsor First Name Different on Birth Certificate

[headedhome 0]

Hi everyone,

I have a question that I haven't been able to find any information on online and I am wondering if anyone else has had to deal with such a problem.

My grandparents are going to be the joint sponsors for my wife. When gathering information for the forms, we discovered that my grandmother's first name is different on her birth certificate (Maria) than on any other form of identification that she has (Mary), such as her Social Security card, California ID, school records, etc. She was born in the 1920s in Texas and she has been in California since she was a young child. She has only ever gone by Mary so this was a shock to all of us, including her.

I have to submit this birth certificate as proof of citizenship, as she has no passport. I'm terrified of the problem this is going to create, since the name on the birth certificate is not going to match her SSN and there is no documentation that links my grandmother to the name Maria.

I have sent an e-mail inquiry to the Frankfurt Consulate but it say they have 5-7 business days to answer.

I was just hoping someone else may have gone through something similar.

Thanks for any help!

[headedhome 0]

Has no one ever heard of such a problem? Or maybe I should post it in another place?

I called USCIS and the man I spoke with was very dismissive. He didn't seem to understand the problem and didn't seem to want to comprehend it. He told me to take my grandmother's documents to my local office and maybe they can tell me what to do about the different names. I told him my local office is in Frankfurt and my grandmother's documents are in California. He then told me that taking them into the California office would probably be better. Ok... but I am in Frankfurt and my grandmother is 85 years old and probably shouldn't be driving 2 hours away to go to an office where they may not be able to help her. I asked if there was any other way of going about this or any office that might be able to give me a definitive answer vs. a "maybe they can help"? He said he couldn't think of any.

I am so frustrated and confused about what to do.

If anyone has heard of such a thing and can offer any assistance, please let me know.

Thanks so much.

[Ryan H 3,907]

USCIS won't be of any help to you at this juncture since it's a CO at the Consulate that will make a determination on the Affidavit of Support. I suggest contacting the Immigrant Visa Unit at the Consulate in Frankfurt and explain this issue to them.