Name without hyphen on the Green Card

[nrturner 0]

Hello guys,

When I got married I decided to keep my last name and hyphanated with my husband last name, so I have two last names. ie: Jane Doe-Smith

So, I updated my DL, my passport and I completed all the AOS forms with this name.

My combo card also has the name hyphanated and my GC just arrived and I noticed that is not hyphanated there.

My question is: if I leave the card how it is now, will I have any problem when I tried to return to the US when I leave the country?

I going to my homecountry on the 22nd, I already booked my flight and I am afraid if ask to change my name it will take too long to arrive.

I tried to call the national costumer service but I haven't get an representative to speak to me.

Thank you so much!

[Morganalmonshid94 84]

My husband (and myself) have a hyphenated last name immigration has picked and chosen when they want to use it or not . Why I'm not sure but I don't think it will be too much of an issue my credits cards wouldn't put it and so on so we just leave a space instead never caused us issues .

[nrturner 0]

My husband (and myself) have a hyphenated last name immigration has picked and chosen when they want to use it or not . Why I'm not sure but I don't think it will be too much of an issue my credits cards wouldn't put it and so on so we just leave a space instead never caused us issues .

Morgana,

Have you ever had problem trying to re-enter the country?

Thank you so much! =)

[Morganalmonshid94 84]

I'm the usc but I've never had problems with anything in regards with them checking Ids vs credit cards and so on a lot of times the U.S. Just ignores hyphens they can put two and two together, it's not hyphenated on my husbands passport and we've traveled to other countries with no questions .

[V8-tomato 0]

Hello,

So..., GC without hyphen does not cause any trouble at the re-entry point with immigration, correct?

I just received my GC back after claiming "Renewal (Re-issue)" and months of waiting for the new card, because the card given to me in January had no hyphen in my married last name (between my old last name and husband's last name) and, instead they put a space.

They sent me a piece of paper saying that because USCIS system does not allow hyphens in names, they put a space and therefore it was not their error. They simply returned my card back as is.

O-K-...

Well... I had my Japan passport display my legal US name which has "hyphened" last name added next to my JP original name in parenthesis() for the re-entry purposes. like.. Kimiko Yamamoto (Kimiko Yamamoto-Howard)

So, I want to know, my new GC with no hyphen won't cause any problem at re-entry...

[purple-rose 1]

Hi guys! Re-opening this topic since I have the same concern.

Had my AOS interview yesterday and it turned out great! GC has been approved and just waiting for it in the mail. I'll put some info in bullets so it's easier.

• August 2017 - got married and marriage certificate has my full name as "Andrea Jane Doe-Smith"
• August 16, 2017 - submitted paperwork for AOS with "Andrea Jane Doe-Smith" on the application 
• July & September 207 - received NOAs but they reflected "Andrea Jane Doe Smith" 
• Spoke to our lawyer and was informed USCIS generally overlooks hyphens; was told it wasn't a big issue but to bring it up when we have our interview
• November 2017 - received EAD with *incorrect sex* + "Andrea Jane Doe Smith" (no hyphen, still!)
• December 2017 - acquired SSN with "Andrea Jane Doe-Smith". The lady at SSA asked whether they should follow what's on my EAD or my Marriage Certificate; decided to follow what's on my Marriage Cert.
• August 2018 - Got CA driver's license with hyphenated surname (Doe-Smith); at this point, I also have credit cards and bank accounts with hyphenated surname
• November 19, 2018 - finally had the AOS interview! IO was super friendly. Asked me to state my name and I did... But forgot to specify that it has a HYPHEN (because honestly, I had forgotten it was even an issue)... We did bring up that they mistakenly put MALE as my sex on the EAD.

I have yet to receive my Green Card in the mail, but now I'm getting so worried that they might not put the HYPHENATED surname on my green card. If I travel out of the country and my Green Card and Marriage Cert don't match due to a missing hyphen, would that possibly be an issue?
 

What should I do? I talked to our lawyer and he doesn't really think it's an issue... Should I get my GC changed in case they print it out without a hyphen?

[cathers 2]

@purple-rose I am curious. What ended up happening with your Green Card? Did it contain a hyphen?

[payxibka 10,044]

1 hour ago, cathers said:

@purple-rose I am curious. What ended up happening with your Green Card? Did it contain a hyphen?

They do not print non pronounced punctuation or diacritics.

[cathers 2]

16 hours ago, payxibka said:

They do not print non pronounced punctuation or diacritics.

@payxibka I keep coming across conflicting information. Some people say they were able to hyphenate their two last names on their green card, whereas others say it isn't doable. 

 

I want to know which it is so I can determine how far I want to pursue fixing this headache, haha.