i-485 questions on how to fill out

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

2 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

I contacted them this morning, and I was informed that no matter what, she would not have been able to change her name to my last name until after she got her green card.  This is in contrast to EVERYTHING I have seen online, but it is in line with what the people at the courts and the notary that married us said in that it is done later.  This is so very confusing, but I will just go with what the courts told me today in that because she is not an American citizen yet, the court system in America has no legal right to change her name.  

 

 

When you get married you are allowed to just start using the last name of your spouse - the courts can't change it but the marriage certificate would have given her that right. No one that changes name based on marriage needs to go through the courts for their name change. The marriage certificate is the legal name change document. I don't know why your clerk informed you otherwise.

 

(it is also the entire point of the "name" field on those certificates that have it - otherwise there would be no need/use/purpose to have it)

Edited October 27, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[audacieux89 256]

 

20 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

Should we hold off on filling out and filing the documents until we get her name changed, so that her green card and passport and all these forms we have to file have her desired/new last name on it?  How should we go about fixing this to minimize the damage done by this oversight?

I think it will be a long and arduous process to have a name change....In my opinion, not changing the name is very, very convenient (from personal experience). The immigrant will not have any problem with social security (they will only accept a name change once the person has a green card...in California anyway). Having the same name as reflected in passport used coming in the US and same name in I-94 will not give any problem with applying for a bank account and driver's license/state ID. So I would suggest that your spouse put off the name change until he/she has everything settled (after getting green card). This is my personal opinion

 

20 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

Q22A: What do I put here? firstly, it wont let me type anything, but I can work around that.  Do I put K-1 Visa Holder? Fiancee of (my name)? nonimmigrant?

Use Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill out the form. Don't open it via your browser or any other program because you will definitely have problems with saving it etc.

 

Answer:  NONIMMIGRANT FIANCE VISA HOLDER

 

20 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

Part 2:

 

Q5: Derivative applicant for the Principal applicant.  

      Is that me?  (i know this seems like a silly question with a ####### answer...)

Are you the applicant or the USC?

 

If you had anyone else petitioned (like K2 children) this is where you put their name. But if you are the only one who was petitioned, you leave this blank or put "NA".

 

20 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

Part 6:

Q1: No children, so do I leave it blank? N/A? or put "0"?

"0"

 

Good luck!

 

Edited October 27, 2017 by audacieux89

[Ray&Ash 271]

21 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

I found a couple answers to my questions by searching here, and THANK YOU to those that asked the same questions that I was about to (about 5 of 'em).

 

Firstly: we made a mistake and didn't update her last name on the marriage license to my last name (which we asked many many times about and EVERYONE...not on VJ...just kept saying you do that later...well...no...you don't...and we missed it, and I'm a dummy for not just googling it), and that creates an issue with A LOT of things...so tomorrow morning we are going to the court to try to fix it.  Should we hold off on filling out and filing the documents until we get her name changed, so that her green card and passport and all these forms we have to file have her desired/new last name on it?  How should we go about fixing this to minimize the damage done by this oversight?

 

Anyways, here are the questions: 

 

Part1:

 

Q22A: What do I put here? firstly, it wont let me type anything, but I can work around that.  Do I put K-1 Visa Holder? Fiancee of (my name)? nonimmigrant?

 

Part 2:

 

Q5: Derivative applicant for the Principal applicant.  

      Is that me?  (i know this seems like a silly question with a ####### answer...)

 

Part 6:

Q1: No children, so do I leave it blank? N/A? or put "0"?

 

 

 

As always...thank you all in advance.  Without all your guy's help up to this point, this would have been a much more difficult journey.

 

Dan and Wee.

Hey! firstly congrats on the wedding  and after talking to some lawyers and other experienced people in this field, I have concluded that its really not necessary to change the name at the time of marriage. (many girls dont do it, and its absolutely ok and understandable) 

is the wife in your case wanting to chnage her name or only wanna do it cos of the filing? if so you can choose to delay it later and change the name based on the marriage certificate later anytime and get a new SSN (SSN num remains same, theyll just chnage the name on it) 

 

And just a clarification - the name on the marriage certificate IS ALWAYS the MAIDEN name. NOT the married name. So dont worry. Just use the married name by default whatever name you wanna have after marriage in your forms. 

You marriage certificate will act as a proof of all that. If the girl puts husbands last name as hers, officers just look at marriage certificate to confirm. 

Thats about it. 

 

Meanwhile you can go to SSN office to change it. Thats better than court  

 

Good luck !!

[Dan and Wee 9]

17 hours ago, Ray&Ash said:

Hey! firstly congrats on the wedding  and after talking to some lawyers and other experienced people in this field, I have concluded that its really not necessary to change the name at the time of marriage. (many girls dont do it, and its absolutely ok and understandable) 

is the wife in your case wanting to chnage her name or only wanna do it cos of the filing? if so you can choose to delay it later and change the name based on the marriage certificate later anytime and get a new SSN (SSN num remains same, theyll just chnage the name on it) 

 

And just a clarification - the name on the marriage certificate IS ALWAYS the MAIDEN name. NOT the married name. So dont worry. Just use the married name by default whatever name you wanna have after marriage in your forms. 

You marriage certificate will act as a proof of all that. If the girl puts husbands last name as hers, officers just look at marriage certificate to confirm. 

Thats about it. 

 

Meanwhile you can go to SSN office to change it. Thats better than court  

 

Good luck !!

She wanted to change it because she wants my last name, not just because of the filing.

 

So are you saying that she can legally use my last name no matter what on forms like the i-485, even though the marriage certificate only says her maiden name?  

I have seen some documentation here on (http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos) where it states: 

 

3.

Form I-485: Petition for Alien Relative (note: use the non US Citizen spouse's married name on this form and list previous name/names)   and I just want to make sure that this is something we can do.  she wants her green card, new US passport, basically everything from here on out to be my last name, and being able to put it on the i-485 would be much easier so that it starts the documented name change at all the US gov offices.  is that what this is saying???

[trudi 1,317]

When filling out the AOS paperwork just put the last name she wants to use following your marriage. I did and had no problem, my EAD & Greencard arrived in my new married name.

 

Drivers license etc all updated when they were renewed.

Sure I had to change my passport but that was no big deal

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

19 hours ago, Ray&Ash said:

And just a clarification - the name on the marriage certificate IS ALWAYS the MAIDEN name. NOT the married name. So dont worry.

Not entirely true.

The maiden name is always on the marriage certificate, yes. However the marriage certificates that have 2 name fields have either a field for just name or married name - both of in which you enter the name that you will be using. This varies by state. 

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

7 minutes ago, trudi said:

When filling out the AOS paperwork just put the last name she wants to use following your marriage. I did and had no problem, my EAD & Greencard arrived in my new married name.

 

Drivers license etc all updated when they were renewed.

Sure I had to change my passport but that was no big deal

If there will be an issue varies by type of certificate and as always also IO. That fact that you had no problem could be related to either but doesn't mean others won't have issues. Many AOS filers here on VJ have also experienced the opposite. If I were the OP, I would still try it though. If it doesn't work the worst that will happen is an rfe and the documents still being issued in the maiden name. 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Suss&Camm

[trudi 1,317]

2 minutes ago, Suss&Camm said:

If there will be an issue varies by type of certificate and as always also IO. That fact that you had no problem could be related to either but doesn't mean others won't have issues. Many AOS filers here on VJ have also experienced the opposite. If I were the OP, I would still try it though. If it doesn't work the worst that will happen is an rfe and the documents still being issued in the maiden name. 

Yup, also when I had my biometrics they took my marriage certificate (which wasn't on the list of requirements) to a IO who approved the name change.

[Suss&Camm 2,213]

11 minutes ago, trudi said:

Yup, also when I had my biometrics they took my marriage certificate (which wasn't on the list of requirements) to a IO who approved the name change.

This has worked for some ppl and some have been denied - again also an option to try

[Ray&Ash 271]

6 hours ago, Dan and Wee said:

She wanted to change it because she wants my last name, not just because of the filing.

 

So are you saying that she can legally use my last name no matter what on forms like the i-485, even though the marriage certificate only says her maiden name?  

I have seen some documentation here on (http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos) where it states: 

 

3.

Form I-485: Petition for Alien Relative (note: use the non US Citizen spouse's married name on this form and list previous name/names)   and I just want to make sure that this is something we can do.  she wants her green card, new US passport, basically everything from here on out to be my last name, and being able to put it on the i-485 would be much easier so that it starts the documented name change at all the US gov offices.  is that what this is saying???

Yes thats what its saying. So im suggesting thats there's no need for the court name change etc.. just use whatever name she likes (FN MN LN or just FN LN) on these forms. The marriage certificate will act as a proof of this. 

Note : This essentially means that the married name appears for the first time ever on these forms itself written by you. These are the first documents with the married name. In addition, she can also get a name change on the SSN meanwhile. (This will take 7-10 days max)  

[Ray&Ash 271]

4 hours ago, Suss&Camm said:

Not entirely true.

The maiden name is always on the marriage certificate, yes. However the marriage certificates that have 2 name fields have either a field for just name or married name - both of in which you enter the name that you will be using. This varies by state. 

It might vary by state - but i asked the officer in the courthouse at the time of marriage registration as well as time of getting the marriage certificate. 

I was told that this will always have the maiden name since that is the original identity of the person who got married that day. the name change technically and logically happens AFTER the marriage certificate is issued. (This is in Illinois)

 

Couples can check their marriage certificates for these options if any - such as putting the name after marriage on the marriage certificate itself if their state has it. 

[Dan and Wee 9]

This is ALL very good information.  Thank you all.  We are going to be using her married name on all the documents, and just see what happens.  I am so happy that this community exists.