CHANGING NAME(S) THROUGH US CITIZENSHIP PROCESSING

[MamaLove 0]

Hello fellow VJ members.

I just want to ask anybody here who can elighten me about changing name during the citizenship process. I am applying in the next couple of months.

Note: The names used here are just sample names.

Maiden name >> Sherly Davis Carlos

Married name >> Sherly Carlos Donald

When i apply for US citizenship, can i change my name to SHERLY DAVIS DONALD, (Omitting my father's last name CARLOS and put in my mother's last name DAVIS instead)?

next question, my 10 yrs old son who is also LPR, i read in some immig sites that he'll automatically become a US citizen, because he is under 18 yrs old. Can i also change his first name to another name because his stranged dad (we were never married) give him his name and nobody can really pronounce it.

I want to change it >> From KHRALGRUEHS JOHN >> To CHARLIE JOHN

And one more thing, my husband (his stepdad) wants my son to use his surname, DONALD and totally remove the DANTES. Can we do that? Can we change it through the process of citizenship or my husband needs to go to the court to adopt my son?

Here,

Son's current name: KHRALGRUEHS JOHN DANTES (Dantes is his dad's last name. He let our son use his last name since birth eventhough we are never married)

I want to change it to: CHARLIE JOHN DONALD (if they will allow us and no need to go to the court for formal adoption)

Thankyou very much. I appreciate all your help. I hope i did not confuse you all.

Thank you.

[JimmyHou 610]

Hello fellow VJ members.

I just want to ask anybody here who can elighten me about changing name during the citizenship process. I am applying in the next couple of months.

Note: The names used here are just sample names.

Maiden name >> Sherly Davis Carlos

Married name >> Sherly Carlos Donald

When i apply for US citizenship, can i change my name to SHERLY DAVIS DONALD, (Omitting my father's last name CARLOS and put in my mother's last name DAVIS instead)?

next question, my 10 yrs old son who is also LPR, i read in some immig sites that he'll automatically become a US citizen, because he is under 18 yrs old. Can i also change his first name to another name because his stranged dad (we were never married) give him his name and nobody can really pronounce it.

I want to change it >> From KHRALGRUEHS JOHN >> To CHARLIE JOHN

And one more thing, my husband (his stepdad) wants my son to use his surname, DONALD and totally remove the DANTES. Can we do that? Can we change it through the process of citizenship or my husband needs to go to the court to adopt my son?

Here,

Son's current name: KHRALGRUEHS JOHN DANTES (Dantes is his dad's last name. He let our son use his last name since birth eventhough we are never married)

I want to change it to: CHARLIE JOHN DONALD (if they will allow us and no need to go to the court for formal adoption)

Thankyou very much. I appreciate all your help. I hope i did not confuse you all.

Thank you.

As long as your local USCIS office offers judicial ceremonies (see below), you can change your name to almost anything you want during your naturalization process. Just fill out the relevant part of the N-400 application. You'll be given a naturalization certificate in your new name and a name change document issued by the district court showing your old and new names. You can change your name from Sherly Davis Carlos to Monique Myrna Montague if you want.

You can't change your son's name as part of your naturalization process because he isn't applying for naturalization (you won't be filling out an N-400 form for him). You will have to go to your local courthouse and file a name change petition for him according to state and local laws. In Houston that costs $400 and in NYC it costs about $65... you'll have to check with your local court for the appropriate fees. You'll also have to see what your lcoal laws say about changing a minor's last name (there may be limitations).

There are two kinds of citizenship oath ceremonies; Judicial and Administrative. A judicial ceremony is required for a name change. Most, but not all USCIS offices offer judicial ceremonies, so unless you live in an area where this type of ceremony is not offered, you should be able to do it.

Use the map on this link to find your local office and see what it says under Naturalization Ceremonies.

http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices

If it says that judicial ceremonies are offered, then you're ok. If they are not offered, you'll have to change your name in local court and pay the appropriate fees. If you change your name through naturalization, there is no additional cost, but it could cause a delay in your application.

[MamaLove 0]

Wow. Thank you so much jimmyHou for that. That's gonna be a big help for me.

Last question, in the future, if i plan to petition my mother, i know that the proof that USCIS will be asking is my birth certificate that bears my mom's name as my mother, my question is, my middle name on my BC is mispelled (typo error) like SHERLY DAIS CARLOS instead of DAVIS. But the rest of the entry are correct spelled like mother's name JANE DOE DAVIS etc.. my question is, will it affect the processing if ever i petition her here in the future?

Im so sorry, i know this is a different topic. I just cant find any answer online about this or any idea what web site i should look at. Thank you very much again.

[JimmyHou 610]

Wow. Thank you so much jimmyHou for that. That's gonna be a big help for me.

Last question, in the future, if i plan to petition my mother, i know that the proof that USCIS will be asking is my birth certificate that bears my mom's name as my mother, my question is, my middle name on my BC is mispelled (typo error) like SHERLY DAIS CARLOS instead of DAVIS. But the rest of the entry are correct spelled like mother's name JANE DOE DAVIS etc.. my question is, will it affect the processing if ever i petition her here in the future?

Im so sorry, i know this is a different topic. I just cant find any answer online about this or any idea what web site i should look at. Thank you very much again.

At your interview, the interviewer will check your current legal name. Notice that the N-400 form asks you to list your current legal name, the name on your green card, any other names you have used, and the name you want to use after naturalization. If you have different versions of your name on your passport, green card, birth certificate, and green card, the interviewer is supposed to use what is on your birth certificate as your current legal name, unless it was changed through a court order or by marriage. In this case, he will use DAIS for your middle name and your name change certificate will have Sherly Dais Carlos listed as your old name (and whatever you want as your new name). If this is what happens, then you won't have any trouble sponsoring your mom, because you will submit copies of your naturalization certificate (new name), birth certificate (old name with typo), and name change form (new name and old name with typo). All the names will line up in the three documents. However, you may have some trouble updating your drivers license, bank info, etc. because those documents probably say Davis on them.

Strictly speaking, even if you didn't want to use a new name, the interviewer should make you do a name change to change from DAIS on your birth certificate to DAVIS on your naturalization certificate.

However, some interviewers go by what's on the passport instead of the birth certificate (which they are not supposed to do)... in this case your old name on your name change document will be DAVIS and it won't match your birth certificate. I don't know if this will be a problem or not down the road, but I imagine that you'll have to write a letter explaining the typo.

Basically the name change document is the key: you want all your current documents to match the old name on your name change document and you want all your future documents to match the new name. Sometimes that just isn't possible because you have different versions of your name on different documents.