N-400 January 2020 Filers

[krylonblue 32]

@Undecided, did you get your picture taken at your oath ceremony? Just wondering how long it will take before it's emailed. 

[Shaniqua 8]

11 hours ago, Rick & Apple said:

When I called USCIS, I was hoping to get an appointment at the Memphis Field office to try to get the certificate corrected, but they said that her case was closed, so they are unable to give her an appointment. So, Friday morning, I called the offices of both my Senator and Congressman. Both offices are working remotely. I didn't know how soon they would return my calls, so we decided to go back to Memphis and try to get in and speak to someone. We had been on the road for about 45 minutes when someone from our Senator's office in Washington D.C. called. I told her we were headed to Memphis. She said if they were not able to help us, to call her back.

 

We got to the office and explained to the security guard why we were there an he called for a supervisor. We explained to the supervise that there was a mistake on the certificate. He then called for an officer to bring her case file. The supervisor then explained why the name on the certificate had to be the way it was.  Apple's maiden name was   First Name (Apple) Middle Name (Mother's Maiden Last Name) Last name (Father's Last Name.)  When we did her adjustment of status (and everything else since we got married), we put Apple (her Maiden Last Name) (My Last Name.) This is the name on her green card and every document she received from USCIS.

 

At the interview, Apple was asked if she wanted a name change. Well, she assumed that the name on the green card would be the name used. The supervisor told us that legally, they have to use the middle name that is on her birth certificate. He also said that he is not able to perform the oath ceremony for someone with a name change. Those have to be done by a judge. If you do a name change before the oath, it is free. After the oath, you can still do a name change, but it costs $120.

 

Apple decided to leave the name as it is on the certificate. She needed to renew her driver's license. It was going to expire Sep. 1, and she wanted to register to vote. She has an appointment to apply for her passport Wednesday.

When interview do we have to sign paper Or not what name will be In our certificate? I heard we have to sign paper what name will be in our certificate. 

[Undecided 78]

7 hours ago, Rick & Apple said:

We went and got her Real ID license yesterday. We will work on Social Security Card next week. 

For the required documents, it was Social Security Card, W-2 or 1099 or Paystub with full SSN.

 

She took her Social Security Card, W-2, Work Photo ID, Car Loan Statement and Car Insurance with her name, Birth Certificate, Marriage License, Philippine Passport, and Naturalization Certificate.

What didn't make sense to me was that we had the appointment letter for her oath, and they would not accept it as proof of current address. 

Ah my state requires the social security card. So I need to get that fixed.

[Undecided 78]

5 hours ago, krylonblue said:

@Undecided, did you get your picture taken at your oath ceremony? Just wondering how long it will take before it's emailed. 

I did. I got it the next day. But then my ceremony was first thing in the morning on Monday.

[Undecided 78]

3 hours ago, Shaniqua said:

When interview do we have to sign paper Or not what name will be In our certificate? I heard we have to sign paper what name will be in our certificate. 

You are correct. One of the documents you sign you sign as whatever your name will be. I have no idea what use they put that to, and since it was signing on a screen, it really didn’t look like my normal signature.

[Dzuliana 216]

I'm starting to think that all this is not quite the same for different states. Some states changed their protocolS somewhat due to COCID19. I changed my name (added middle name) and in Texas I was suppose to have oath through the court. But due to COVID19 I was able to have my Oath on the same day of the interview at the USCIS.

[Undecided 78]

30 minutes ago, Dzuliana said:

I'm starting to think that all this is not quite the same for different states. Some states changed their protocolS somewhat due to COCID19. I changed my name (added middle name) and in Texas I was suppose to have oath through the court. But due to COVID19 I was able to have my Oath on the same day of the interview at the USCIS.

You were fortunate. I suspect it’s down to if your office has a staff member who is also an officer of the court or something similar. 

[Dzuliana 216]

On 8/22/2020 at 11:09 PM, Undecided said:

You were fortunate. I suspect it’s down to if your office has a staff member who is also an officer of the court or something similar. 

You may be quite right, he was repeating, "All is good, everything went through, you are good to go". I guess I'm trying to say that USCIS has a enough time to resolve aplicants name change through the court books prior to the interview and oath.

[marescarcha 43]

I'm gonna change my name. After my ceremony I will have a new first name. What are the places in order I need to go to update my name? I wanna vote this year!! My oath ceremony is on 9/23. My last day to register is 10/7

[Winterbeard 74]

Out of interest why do people change their first names? I have no malice in my question, just genuinely curious. 

[MrGeorgeMonopoly 19]

Just now, Winterbeard said:

Out of interest why do people change their first names? I have no malice in my question, just genuinely curious. 

In my case, my country use the following pattern [First Name - Second Name - Father Last Name - Mother Last Name] which make it extremely long for legal documents here in the US, because of the characters allowed in their systems. I'm keeping my first name and the initial letter for the second name and only the first last name. Not a big change, but for legal documents it will make a difference.

[Winterbeard 74]

Just now, MrGeorgeMonopoly said:

In my case, my country use the following pattern [First Name - Second Name - Father Last Name - Mother Last Name] which make it extremely long for legal documents here in the US, because of the characters allowed in their systems. I'm keeping my first name and the initial letter for the second name and only the first last name. Not a big change, but for legal documents it will make a difference.

Yes, I've seen that before with some colleagues in Costa Rica also. Very interesting. 

 

Personally, is there any sadness that you felt that that was the best course of action? Any loss of "identity"? 

[MrGeorgeMonopoly 19]

30 minutes ago, Winterbeard said:

Yes, I've seen that before with some colleagues in Costa Rica also. Very interesting. 

 

Personally, is there any sadness that you felt that that was the best course of action? Any loss of "identity"? 

No to be honest,  i think identity goes more with my beliefs and personality.

But it was a little bittersweet to remove my mother last name, in Latin American countries usually Mom is the one who takes care of the kids, Dad is the worker who bring the food and money to the house.

I talked about it with her and she understood my situation. I think that was the difficult part, but glad she was on my side.

[Winterbeard 74]

18 minutes ago, MrGeorgeMonopoly said:

No to be honest,  i think identity goes more with my beliefs and personality.

But it was a little bittersweet to remove my mother last name, in Latin American countries usually Mom is the one who takes care of the kids, Dad is the worker who bring the food and money to the house.

I talked about it with her and she understood my situation. I think that was the difficult part, but glad she was on my side.

Yes, I imagine that would be hard. 

 

Thanks for getting back to me!

[MrGeorgeMonopoly 19]

15 minutes ago, Winterbeard said:

Yes, I imagine that would be hard. 

 

Thanks for getting back to me!

Anytime!!! 👍