Advice on Name Change

[mcs 686]

Hi everyone,

It's been a long road but my fiancée’s uncontested annulment in the Philippines is now just waiting on the judge's decision... we're hoping for good news in the next week or two.

She is living and working in Thailand and will go back to the Philippines to get the annotated Certificate of Finality before her eventual K-1 Visa interview when it is available.

In the meantime, we plan to start the K-1 Visa process with a certified copy of the Judge's decision.

What we are wondering about is whether we should worry about her changing her name before or during the K-1 application process or whether that would just complicate matters.

She needs to renew her Philippine passport very soon; I'm thinking that it might be a good idea if she does that now with her married name so that everything is consistent with her Passport, her Thai Work Visa, her Thai Work Permit, police clearances from Thailand and the Philippines, etc.  Also, all of the K-1 application documents would match, too.

We would appreciate any advice on this matter that anyone might be able to provide from their experiences...

Thanks so much!

Mike

[mcs 686]

Sorry that no one had an answer here for me... I ended up calling USCIS and spoke with someone there so, now, I can provide this information for any others who may have the same question.

 

USCIS advised that my fiancee does not change her name and goes ahead with renewing her passport in her married name so that all the documents match.  She can then change it here in the US after we get married.

[Amazing_journey 5]

20 hours ago, mcs said:

Sorry that no one had an answer here for me... I ended up calling USCIS and spoke with someone there so, now, I can provide this information for any others who may have the same question.

 

USCIS advised that my fiancee does not change her name and goes ahead with renewing her passport in her married name so that all the documents match.  She can then change it here in the US after we get married.

Hey Thanks so much for the info. I was thinking the same thing. I had my married name on my passport though we got annulled 2 years ago. its just that my passport has not expired yet. so its better not to have my passport name changed huh? will i get in trouble if i do that?

[mcs 686]

I would say that the most important thing is that your name is consistent on all of the documents.  After your annulment, did you keep your married name or did you do an official name change back to your maiden name?

If you kept your married name and that's what your passport shows, I wouldn't change a thing.  Hope that helps!