N-400 Name Change Question

[joshbola 0]

Hello there guys, I wanted to get your thoughts because me and the wife are banging our heads with this problem. I will do my best to explain the problem. We have already called USCIS and we got no where. So please look over and share your thoughts on this. When me and the wife got married in India, our marriage certificate the wife does not have my last name. The reason for this was because she already had her passport and it was used as her ID Proof to create the Marriage Certificate. So currently on the marriage certificate the wife does not have my last name. We are at the beginning process of filling out N-400 form and of course there is the Name Change Section. We currently live in San Jose, California and I called USCIS. If we were to use the Name Change section on the N-400 Form and add my last name to my wife's name we would run into future issues with this. When I called USCIS and shared my problem we were told that we will not receive any Name Change Proof document. All the other states give proof, except California.

Part two to this problem is that when my wife becomes US Citizen, she will need to surrender her Indian Passport. If we were to go through this name change process through N-400, we won't get any proof for the name change. And when you surrender your passport, they will ask for name change proof.

I hope I haven't confused too much, but please read over and let me know if there is a way for me and wife to tackle this issue. Its really a big problem and I would like to get some help on this. If any Indian Couples when through this process, please share your thoughts and help us out. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone in advance for your comments and help.

Josh

[Ian H. 207]

I'm not sure about India, but in order for your wife to change most docs here, the marriage certificate doesn't need to reflect the new name. They assume that because it's a marriage cert, that you are using your married name. Here is an example:

In the DR, the marriage certificate has no indication whatsoever about the use of a new name. It strictly says the maiden name. However, when you go to the SSA, USCIS, and the US passport office, they all accept this as proof of a married name. So your wife can use her marriage certificate to change her docs.

Some places like the DMV, here anyway, don't accept foreign marriage certificates as proof of name change. But they do let you change your docs once you have other docs with the new name like SSN and passport. We did it this way for my wife.

Another example is my cousin's wife. She had everything in her maiden name. Then when she petitioned my cousin she put her married name on all the forms, even though she hadn't change the name on any of her docs. This is because she was already married and could use her married name. She later changed her SSN card and passport and everything else and had no issues.

Therefore, your wife can use her Indian marriage cert to change her SSN and when she submits the N400 she can put her married name where it says current legal name and the naturalization cert will reflect this. It's possible that the CA dmv accepts foreign marriage certs as well if she has a DL.

As for surrendering your Indian passport, I'm not sure. Personally, if I'm no longer a citizen of another country I need not go by their rules, so this may not even be necessary. If they don't accept the surrender of your passport, that's their issue not yours. You will be traveling on a US passport so your Indian passport would be irrelevant, unless India is one of those countries that require you enter and exit the country on their passport even after you are a USC.

[joshbola 0]

Thanks for your comments Ian H. There is no problem between us and the USCIS. The biggest problem is when we need to surrender the Wife's Indian Passport to the CKGS. They will for sure ask us for name change doc proof. I know this because I called CKSG Agency and ask if we can use Wife's Citizenship Certificate as proof for Name Change and they said no. It really frustrating when we I want to use this opportunity to add my last name to my wife, but the whole surrender process is crazy.

This is what the CKGS Agency wants when it come so surrender your Indian Passport With Name Change:

Name Change Documentation:
For former Indian nationals, if your name in your Indian passport or Indian government issued document is different in any way from the name in your United States passport, a copy of one of the following documents must be provided.

• Marriage Certificate showing the name change if the name was changed at marriage.
• Official court order for the name change
• Endorsement of name change during naturalization process

[Ian H. 207]

I'm really not sure how it works when it comes to name changes during naturalization. I did the paperwork for my grandmother to change her name when she became a USC and they didn't give her a letter or any documentation stating that she changed her name. It was hell trying to change her docs like SSN and state id. I know when my mother did it, they had given her a letter or something that said she changed her name, I'm not sure why my grandmother didn't receive one.

If it's absolutely necessary that you surrender your Indian passport, then your solution is simple. The easiest way is to get married again. By getting married again she can make sure that her name is changed upon remarriage. Do not worry, this is perfectly legal. You are allowed to marry the same person as many times as you wish. I even heard there is a couple who is legally married in every state and holds a world record for it lol.

You have to find out with the marriage clerk in CA if they allow already married spouse to remarry. It's possible that some states don't allow it, I know here in NY you can get remarried if currently married somewhere else. Most likely CA will let you marry again if you aren't already married in that state. This process costs $91 for license and $25 for ceremony, according to LAX marriage clerk. It may be cheaper in another county, I'm not sure.

If that isn't possible, the next best thing would be to change her name by court. This will also ensure that you have proof of a change of name, although it may be slightly more expensive. I'm not sure in CA, but here in NY you can change your name for less than $100, this includes the petition, serving the papers to certain authorities, and publishing it in the newspaper. You can find out how much the name change by court costs to see if it would be more or less than getting remarried.

If they will not give your wife a letter or other document to change her name, then it's best that she doesn't change her name at naturalization and do it one of the ways I mentioned above to avoid any issues. Also, I would like to ask, is it really necessary to surrender your Indian passport? Will you not be allowed to travel to India with your American passport? The reason I ask is because if it's not absolutely necessary, you can just leave it as is and don't have to spend money or time trying to have your wife's name changed solely for this purpose.

[Ian H. 207]

My mother for example changed her name and the DR didn't want to acknowledge her NYC court order, they wanted her to get a lawyer and change her name in the DR. This was to renew her national identity card. She told them to go f... themselves and left it like that. We travel with our American passports and have no issues because the DR recognizes dual citizenship and they don't require that we use their passport. Again, I'm not sure if India is the same.

[joshbola 0]

I'm really not sure how it works when it comes to name changes during naturalization. I did the paperwork for my grandmother to change her name when she became a USC and they didn't give her a letter or any documentation stating that she changed her name. It was hell trying to change her docs like SSN and state id. I know when my mother did it, they had given her a letter or something that said she changed her name, I'm not sure why my grandmother didn't receive one.

If it's absolutely necessary that you surrender your Indian passport, then your solution is simple. The easiest way is to get married again. By getting married again she can make sure that her name is changed upon remarriage. Do not worry, this is perfectly legal. You are allowed to marry the same person as many times as you wish. I even heard there is a couple who is legally married in every state and holds a world record for it lol.

You have to find out with the marriage clerk in CA if they allow already married spouse to remarry. It's possible that some states don't allow it, I know here in NY you can get remarried if currently married somewhere else. Most likely CA will let you marry again if you aren't already married in that state. This process costs $91 for license and $25 for ceremony, according to LAX marriage clerk. It may be cheaper in another county, I'm not sure.

If that isn't possible, the next best thing would be to change her name by court. This will also ensure that you have proof of a change of name, although it may be slightly more expensive. I'm not sure in CA, but here in NY you can change your name for less than $100, this includes the petition, serving the papers to certain authorities, and publishing it in the newspaper. You can find out how much the name change by court costs to see if it would be more or less than getting remarried.

If they will not give your wife a letter or other document to change her name, then it's best that she doesn't change her name at naturalization and do it one of the ways I mentioned above to avoid any issues. Also, I would like to ask, is it really necessary to surrender your Indian passport? Will you not be allowed to travel to India with your American passport? The reason I ask is because if it's not absolutely necessary, you can just leave it as is and don't have to spend money or time trying to have your wife's name changed solely for this purpose.

Yes it is necessary to surrender the Indian Passport because eventually they will not grant you Visa to visit the country.

[Ian H. 207]

Ok. I see. Then in that case you can proceed with one of the paths I mentioned above. It's better to have a document that says she has a new name like a new MC or court order than the nat. cert. by itself.

[JimmyHou 610]

Hello there guys, I wanted to get your thoughts because me and the wife are banging our heads with this problem. I will do my best to explain the problem. We have already called USCIS and we got no where. So please look over and share your thoughts on this. When me and the wife got married in India, our marriage certificate the wife does not have my last name. The reason for this was because she already had her passport and it was used as her ID Proof to create the Marriage Certificate. So currently on the marriage certificate the wife does not have my last name. We are at the beginning process of filling out N-400 form and of course there is the Name Change Section. We currently live in San Jose, California and I called USCIS. If we were to use the Name Change section on the N-400 Form and add my last name to my wife's name we would run into future issues with this. When I called USCIS and shared my problem we were told that we will not receive any Name Change Proof document. All the other states give proof, except California.

Part two to this problem is that when my wife becomes US Citizen, she will need to surrender her Indian Passport. If we were to go through this name change process through N-400, we won't get any proof for the name change. And when you surrender your passport, they will ask for name change proof.

I hope I haven't confused too much, but please read over and let me know if there is a way for me and wife to tackle this issue. Its really a big problem and I would like to get some help on this. If any Indian Couples when through this process, please share your thoughts and help us out. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you everyone in advance for your comments and help.

Josh

Let me try to clarify what's happening here; it's not that California doesn't give you proof of name change, it's that certain USCIS offices in Northern California, including San Jose and San Francisco, have stopped holding judicial ceremonies.

An "official legal name change" requires you to fill out forms that are then signed by a judge. This isn't necessary if you are just taking your spouse's last name.

So here's what's going on:

-To do an official legal name change through the n400 process, you have to be naturalized at a judicial ceremony.

-Your office does not do judicial oath ceremonies, so you can't do an official legal name change with the n400.

-When you do an official legal name change, you get a name change certificate. That's true anywhere in the country, including California, but you can't do a legal name change at your USCIS office.

-If your n400 was being processed in San Diego or Los Angeles, you would be allowed to do a legal name change and you'd get your proof of name change.

-If the only change you are making is to take your spouse's last name, then you don't need a legal name change - they will just print your naturalization certificate in your new name.

-Since there's no legal name change you don't need a judicial ceremony and an administrative ceremony will suffice. You will also not get proof of the name change.

-The marriage certificate is considered proof of the name change, even if the marriage certificate shows the wife's maiden name as her last name.

-Even though taking your spouse's last name doesn't require a legal name change, you can request one anyway if your USCIS office holds judicial ceremonies.

So what's happening is that San Jose USCIS isn't giving you an official legal name change (because they can't), they're just printing the certificate in the married name. If you ask them to change your first name, they will refuse.

If you were living in Los Angeles and your wife wanted to change her last name to take your name, you would also not necessarily get a name change certificate (unless you asked for a judicial ceremony and insisted on an official legal name change). However, if she wanted to change her first name, she would get a name change certificate.

After naturalization, your wife will be able to change her name on her credit cards, bank accounts, drivers license, etc. using her marriage certificate. This may not be, as you say, good enough for the Indian consulate or the Indian agency where she will surrender her indian passport.

What I advise you to do then, is to not go through a name change as part of the n400. Either before she applies for naturalization or after she is approved and gets her certificate, go to the court house and file for a legal name change there. You will then get a court document showing the old and new names. This will have nothing to do with USCIS and so will not be affected by the USCIS office regulations in San Jose. You will get a county court issued name change certificate.

The only disadvantage of doing this is that it costs money and takes time. In Houston it costs $400. In New York it costs $65, so you need to check with your local court.