K1 spouse adjusting status. NRA even though SS is under previous name?

[Kp8521 9]

Hello, apologies if this is answered in an FAQ somewhere. My spouse (arrived on K-1) and I were married in Dec. 2018 and are planning to file married jointly as she has no income to report for 2018.
She has a social security number from a previous J-1 visa, but it is in her maiden name. For her I-485  application we filed everything under her new married name.

Does anyone have experience with filing MFJ with a new married name, but SS # still in a maiden name?

[Khallaf 648]

2 minutes ago, Kp8521 said:

Hello, apologies if this is answered in an FAQ somewhere. My spouse (arrived on K-1) and I were married in Dec. 2018 and are planning to file married jointly as she has no income to report for 2018.
She has a social security number from a previous J-1 visa, but it is in her maiden name. For her I-485  application we filed everything under her new married name.

Does anyone have experience with filing MFJ with a new married name, but SS # still in a maiden name?

you can go to the SS office to get her name updated that appears on the card, if you don't have time to do that file married filing joint but list her name on the ss card, not her married name, they need to be able to link them.

[HonoraryCitizen 179]

To add to what @Khallaf wrote, remember to carry along the documents providing evidence of the name change, i.e. marriage license and/or court documents. Should not be a problem, they handle such all the time.

[C90 376]

28 minutes ago, Kp8521 said:

Hello, apologies if this is answered in an FAQ somewhere. My spouse (arrived on K-1) and I were married in Dec. 2018 and are planning to file married jointly as she has no income to report for 2018.
She has a social security number from a previous J-1 visa, but it is in her maiden name. For her I-485  application we filed everything under her new married name.

Does anyone have experience with filing MFJ with a new married name, but SS # still in a maiden name?

I had some hick-ups with the SSO, so while they were waiting to hear back from USCIS I sent in my AOS papers in my married name. SSN in my married name came after I already filed. SSN and AOS are 2 separate things, they don't even talk to each other so you can go ahead an file the AOS in her married name. 

Keep in mind that, to change the last name on her SSN, her K1 or I-94 has to be valid for at least another 2-3 weeks. K1 is officially invalid once your cross the border, but SSN works with the end date on the K1 or, if it's too late, the end date of the I-94. Once she's going to look for a job her SSN and GC have to be in the same name, but even if she doesn't have enough time, she can change it once she has EAD or GC and she can start looking for a job.