Information on Name Change During Naturalization

[Harmonia 211]

Hi again Jimmy! I was going to go with a hyphenated version of my surname with my husband's for official documents but I was thinking for all stuff - bank cards and other things that need names, I'd just write my first name and husband's name.

In your example, I would be "Anita Mary Wilkinson-Leibowitz". I was thinking of using that for my naturalization application but then just identify myself as "Anita Leibowitz later". I was initially thinking of dropping my maiden surname but I'm just afraid that if I do that, it would be harder to identify myself later on for whatever processes I may still need to do for my country of origin. I'm still in the process of wrapping up my father's affairs. He passed away and I imagine having a totally different surname may add more complications to the process.

Do you think that's okay? I don't know why I'm having so much trouble with this! My forms are all ready, if I can just decide on how to write my name. I imagine that's how most women have done it for generations anyway.

Again, thank you for your invaluable insight!

In the US, you can call yourself whatever you want as long as its not for fraudulent purposes. You don't need a legal name change to call yourself a different name. For instance, my husband has 2 last names as is common in many countries. Say for instance, John Smith Jones. Here, he has a variety of combinations. John Smith-Jones on his license because our state RMV requires a hyphen instead of a space.

John Smith Jones on his SSN, green card, and foreign passport.

John Smith on a few credit/debit cards.

John Jones on a few others. John Jones on most medical paperwork. John Jones on his paperwork with his employer.

None of this is illegal. He could put John Smith, or John Jones, or John Smith Jones, or John Smith-Jones to apply to jobs, open a bank account, check into a hotel, register a car...whatever.

Businesses, employers, hotels etc can always ask for an ID, be it government issued or otherwise, too. But there's nothing illegal about using aliases or variations of your name. You'll find you can do many things without showing an ID. The reason my husband has 2 different versions of his name on credit cards is because he got pre-authorized offers mailed to the house. Some made out to John Jones, others John Smith. He filled out the applications online, and the companies never asked for any "proof" of his name.

If you want to be Anita Mary Wilkinson-Leibowitz on your naturalization so that you have a government document to show in Germany, go for it. If you want to then put Anita Leibowitz on all records in the US, go for it.

My mom has a hyphenated last name (Mary James-Smith) but always goes by Mary James. At work, at the doctor, on her cards. I think only her license says Mary James-Smith.

One last funny anecdote about names. A friend of mine, "Ryan Roberts", is a US citizen who applied for a passport at age 25. He had gone to college, taken out student loans, had a driver's license, had a SSN card, bank accounts, everything, under "Ryan Roberts". He needed his birth certificate for the passport...and he was horrified to discover that his parents hadn't named him in the hospital. This was before people had ultrasounds or gender reveal parties, so his gender was a surprise and they hadn't picked a name. In the hospital, they put "Baby Boy" on the birth certificate! His legal first name was "Baby Boy".

He had to pay for a name change, at 25, from "Baby Boy Roberts" to "Ryan Roberts" before he could get his passport, and he had to delay his international travel because this took time. He was amazed and surprised he was able to get so far in life with no one realizing his parents hadn't correctly registered his first name when he was born! He probably could have gone through life without even knowing it unless he needed his passport.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Harmonia

[Iwo_Jima 119]

San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Chula Vista (San Diego) only do administrative oaths as per USCIS website

True.

[sugarfly 0]

I filed for name change with Form N-400 and became a naturalized citizen. Now if I want to change my name again, do I have to do it through the local court procedures?

[JimmyHou 610]

I filed for name change with Form N-400 and became a naturalized citizen. Now if I want to change my name again, do I have to do it through the local court procedures?

Yes. You are no longer legally known by your old name, so you have to go through a legal name change to reacquire it. It's the same process whether you want to go back to your old name or to a completely new name. Follow the court procedure in your town.

[atarekvw 0]

I'm Egyptian, i came to US on H1-B visa and then i got my GC, i Changed my name from Ahmed Tarek Mostafa Abdulmajeed to Ahmed Tarek legally through the courthouse few months after the GC.

Now that i want to go to visit Egypt, whats the right procedure that doesnt get me stuck in either countries on this trip?? i haven't changed my GC yet btw

Also if its better to somehow cancel this name change and wait till filling for citizenship after two years? and how to do so? Please help

[JimmyHou 610]

I'm Egyptian, i came to US on H1-B visa and then i got my GC, i Changed my name from Ahmed Tarek Mostafa Abdulmajeed to Ahmed Tarek legally through the courthouse few months after the GC.

Now that i want to go to visit Egypt, whats the right procedure that doesnt get me stuck in either countries on this trip?? i haven't changed my GC yet btw

Also if its better to somehow cancel this name change and wait till filling for citizenship after two years? and how to do so? Please help

1- You can't cancel a name change, but you can get a new name change to go back to your old name.

2- Egypt doesn't care what your green card says; they will only recognize your birth name unless it is changed by an Egyptian court.

3- The US only cares that you have a valid green card and a valid passport. If you do change your green card at some point, carry your name change order with you when you travel.

4- The tricky part is usually in dealing with the airline. They need your ID and ticket names to match and they need to see both your green card and your passport. Since you haven't changed your name on green card, you shouldn't have any trouble. Your passport and green card names match and hopefully your ticket matches too (there's some flexibility here).

5- When you apply for naturalization, just take your name change order with you to the interview so they can issue your naturalization certificate in your legal name.

6- Once you do that, you'll have to deal with the issue of having two different names on your two passports; this is sometimes a problem, but Egypt won't care since you've basically just shortened your name. Problems arise when Egyptian citizens change their names altogether, but still want to enter the country with their Egyptian passports.

7- Don't post your full name or any personal identifying information on public forums.

So to make a long story short, you should be fine on this trip.

[atarekvw 0]

1- You can't cancel a name change, but you can get a new name change to go back to your old name.

2- Egypt doesn't care what your green card says; they will only recognize your birth name unless it is changed by an Egyptian court.

3- The US only cares that you have a valid green card and a valid passport. If you do change your green card at some point, carry your name change order with you when you travel.

4- The tricky part is usually in dealing with the airline. They need your ID and ticket names to match and they need to see both your green card and your passport. Since you haven't changed your name on green card, you shouldn't have any trouble. Your passport and green card names match and hopefully your ticket matches too (there's some flexibility here).

5- When you apply for naturalization, just take your name change order with you to the interview so they can issue your naturalization certificate in your legal name.

6- Once you do that, you'll have to deal with the issue of having two different names on your two passports; this is sometimes a problem, but Egypt won't care since you've basically just shortened your name. Problems arise when Egyptian citizens change their names altogether, but still want to enter the country with their Egyptian passports.

7- Don't post your full name or any personal identifying information on public forums.

So to make a long story short, you should be fine on this trip.

Thank you so much for your fast and helpful reply,

Yesterday after posting my question, i called the Embassy and they said i can make an appointment to go and change my passport to the new name, and that they'll give me a document stating that i'm the same person, that's good but i prefer to keep things as is for this trip and i shouldn't have a problem as you said (only if they asked why didn't i change the GC to the new name yet, but i think it's no biggie. It's $450 btw!!!!). After coming back, ill change the Egyptian passport, driving license, GC, and book airline tickets under the new name so everything matches. What do you think?

Thanks again

[JimmyHou 610]

Thank you so much for your fast and helpful reply,

Yesterday after posting my question, i called the Embassy and they said i can make an appointment to go and change my passport to the new name, and that they'll give me a document stating that i'm the same person, that's good but i prefer to keep things as is for this trip and i shouldn't have a problem as you said (only if they asked why didn't i change the GC to the new name yet, but i think it's no biggie. It's $450 btw!!!!). After coming back, ill change the Egyptian passport, driving license, GC, and book airline tickets under the new name so everything matches. What do you think?

Thanks again

I think changing your name on the Egyptian passport will be quite difficult.

The passport has to match the name on your National ID card.

The National ID card can't be issued by the embassy; it has to be done by the Ministry of Interior.

What they can do, is give you something that says that you are Also Known As your new name. They would probably write this information into your passport as an endorsement at the back of the passport.

I've never tried this so I could be wrong, but the embassy staff really aren't particularly reliable.

I don't think the shortening of your name will matter much. I would just carry your US passport (when you get it) in your short-form name and your Egyptian passport in your long-form name. Book your tickets in the name of the passport you will show the airline; in almost all cases this will be the US passport. That's what I'd do.

For this trip, as we already agreed, you'll have no issues except for a possible delay because of a last name mismatch between the passport and the reservation if you made the reservation in your shortened name.

I think others from other countries could face similar issues... this is always something to consider when changing your name, but wanting to continue using your old passport.

[atarekvw 0]

I think changing your name on the Egyptian passport will be quite difficult.

The passport has to match the name on your National ID card.

The National ID card can't be issued by the embassy; it has to be done by the Ministry of Interior.

What they can do, is give you something that says that you are Also Known As your new name. They would probably write this information into your passport as an endorsement at the back of the passport.

I've never tried this so I could be wrong, but the embassy staff really aren't particularly reliable.

I don't think the shortening of your name will matter much. I would just carry your US passport (when you get it) in your short-form name and your Egyptian passport in your long-form name. Book your tickets in the name of the passport you will show the airline; in almost all cases this will be the US passport. That's what I'd do.

For this trip, as we already agreed, you'll have no issues except for a possible delay because of a last name mismatch between the passport and the reservation if you made the reservation in your shortened name.

I think others from other countries could face similar issues... this is always something to consider when changing your name, but wanting to continue using your old passport.

Yeah you're absolutely right, also i will have hard time with my travel permit from the military there too!

Thank you so much...

[Kruger 0]

Hi everyone, I was changing my name on n-400, whole process is much longer than usual

[Kruger 0]

Hi everyone, I was changing my name on n-400, whole process is much longer than usual

[JimmyHou 610]

Hi everyone, I was changing my name on n-400, whole process is much longer than usual

What do you mean "usual"?

Do you mean it would have been faster to naturalize without changing your name (this is true only if you live in cities that don't offer regular judicial ceremonies).

Or do you mean that it would have been faster to change your name at some other time (this depends on local laws).

[chicagoan23 0]

Hi, my wife's citizenship/name change oath ceremony is in Chicago at the Dirksen federal courthouse this Thursday. Which order would you suggest I do the below in? Check-in is at noon and the ceremony starts at 1pm. The social security office closes at 4pm and usually there's always a long line. Passport office closes at 4:30pm and the office to get a updated IL State ID with the new legal name closes at 5pm. All offices are walking distance from the courthouse. I know it says to wait 10 days before going to update your SSN record but I read on these threads of other folks who went in after the ceremony with their certificate, it just takes longer like 2+ weeks as opposed to walking in to social security office with your new passport.

Our plan is after the ceremony go to the social security office which might be 2pm depending on how long or how many people are at the ceremony, it should be less since these are folks that want to change their name. If the line looks crazy we may just walk out and save this for another day but I would rather get this over with since we are taking a day off from work and the office is very close to the courthouse. Or if ceremony is super long we may have no choice but to skip SSN since they close at 4pm.

Next walk over to get a new/updated IL State ID. Hopefully they don't ask to show a new SSN card with the new name. Her SSN is not changing so I think showing the current State ID with the old name and showing the certificate of naturalization and court document of name change is enough.

Lastly go apply for a new passport. If time runs out for us by 4:30pm we can always go on Friday to apply for a new passport. Or if social security line is crazy long then we save this until we receive the new passport. Please let me know your thoughts and thank you!

[JimmyHou 610]

Hi, my wife's citizenship/name change oath ceremony is in Chicago at the Dirksen federal courthouse this Thursday. Which order would you suggest I do the below in? Check-in is at noon and the ceremony starts at 1pm. The social security office closes at 4pm and usually there's always a long line. Passport office closes at 4:30pm and the office to get a updated IL State ID with the new legal name closes at 5pm. All offices are walking distance from the courthouse. I know it says to wait 10 days before going to update your SSN record but I read on these threads of other folks who went in after the ceremony with their certificate, it just takes longer like 2+ weeks as opposed to walking in to social security office with your new passport.

Our plan is after the ceremony go to the social security office which might be 2pm depending on how long or how many people are at the ceremony, it should be less since these are folks that want to change their name. If the line looks crazy we may just walk out and save this for another day but I would rather get this over with since we are taking a day off from work and the office is very close to the courthouse. Or if ceremony is super long we may have no choice but to skip SSN since they close at 4pm.

Next walk over to get a new/updated IL State ID. Hopefully they don't ask to show a new SSN card with the new name. Her SSN is not changing so I think showing the current State ID with the old name and showing the certificate of naturalization and court document of name change is enough.

Lastly go apply for a new passport. If time runs out for us by 4:30pm we can always go on Friday to apply for a new passport. Or if social security line is crazy long then we save this until we receive the new passport. Please let me know your thoughts and thank you!

I think you should all go out for a nice meal after the ceremony and do all that stuff some other time.

I didn't do any of that on the first day or during the first week.

I would definitely wait 10 business days before going to the social security office.

The only time sensitive issue in the next few weeks is voter registration; so check your deadlines... Other than that, there's only a hurry if you need these other documents in a hurry.

Edited September 13, 2016 by JimmyHou

[Pennywise 8]

HI guys first time poster, long time reader. I have a question regarding name change and I would like to get everyone's input on it.

In march of next year I'll be able to apply to become a citizen. My wife and I have been married for about 10 years and have 2 kids in elementary school. I happen to have a rather weird sounding last name when pronounced in English. It's meaning and pronunciation have caused people to give me second looks and in some instances weird reactions. To be honest, I would like to just change one letter in order to make it sound "normal". I have never been made fun of since I came here almost 12 years ago, but my kids have gotten some teasing in school because of it. Looking into the future and the possibility of my kids playing sports (name on jersey) , graduating and even some day in the workplace. I can't help but to feel bad for them trying to deal with such peculiar last name.

My questions, which I haven't seen anyone address are this:

1. If I do decide to change that one letter while applying for citizenship, will my wife be able to just walk in the social security and DMV offices with a copy of my court order and update her last name just like she did when she took my original last name?

2. What about changing the kids' last names on their birth certificates and shot records to reflect the new updated one?

If anyone has any info, or has done something similar please do share how to go about it. I live in Texas.

Thanks.