Obtain copy of N-662 Petition for Name Change + Apostille

[millefleur 5,037]

Do not contact USCIS for a copy of N-662 Petition for Name Change!!

 

USCIS does not issue this document, the local district court does. Contact your local district court to obtain copies. 

_________________________

 

Has anyone ever gotten an Apostille on the name change document the court issues at naturalization? I found some info on it here, looks like it has to go through Washington, D.C.

 

https://www.nationalapostille.com/2018/04/01/petition-for-name-change-apostille/

 

Just curious if anyone has experience or recommendations for the best way to go about it.

Edited August 11, 2023 by millefleur

[millefleur 5,037]

UPDATE: Figured out how to get a copy of the N-266 form. You need to contact your local court district that is printed on the seal of the court stamp.

 

Once I get this copy, I will submit to DoS for an Apostille. 

[millefleur 5,037]

Just updating that my husband went down to the district court and got 2 copies of the N-662, both with embossed stamp. Only cost us a few dollars and turnaround time wasn't even 30 minutes. We also called the court prior to confirm and got a human on the phone first try. Was very easy and straightfoward.

 

If you need to contact your district court, find the local phone number. Do not call USCIS as they will not be able to help.

 

I will work on getting the Apostille next.

[millefleur 5,037]

Wanted to update this: we finally got around to completing it!

 

So it was actually easier than I thought: you don't need the Apostille from USCIS or any federal government agency relating to immigration, you just need to get the Apostille from the federal district court in your state.

 

We hired an Apostille service for ours and the turnaround time was very fast. Obtaining the Apostille and translation only took 1 week. You can probably do it yourself as well, just contact the district court who did your name change, the same one listed on your N-662.

 

 

[VinnyH 59]

Thanks @millefleur. I am confused though. An apostille does not authenticate the content of a document. It only certifies that the person who signed a document had the authority to do so. At the federal level and for court documents, my understanding was that the only highest-level government body was the Department of Justice, since only they can authenticate that the (federal) district court judge who signed the N-662 had the authority to do so. Am I wrong?

 

In my personal experience, I had to have a certified copy of my Certificate of Naturalization (issued by the local USCIS Field Office – I made a full report on that thread here) translated and apostilled, and it was through the U.S. Department of State, since they were the only authority who could certify that the USCIS Field Office Director was competent to sign my certified copy of the Certificate of Naturalization.

[millefleur 5,037]

1 hour ago, VinnyH said:

At the federal level and for court documents, my understanding was that the only highest-level government body was the Department of Justice, since only they can authenticate that the (federal) district court judge who signed the N-662 had the authority to do so. Am I wrong?

I'm attaching the front cover of the Apostille so you can see what it looks like. I also thought it would have to go to some higher up federal office but apparently that's not the case, it's the local court since the judge is the one who officiated the name change. We also obtained a copy of the N-662 via the local court here, not via USCIS or any federal office.

 

Note: We only got an Apostille on the N-662, not on the Naturalization Certificate itself. Perhaps this is why we didn't need a federal apostille?

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2 by millefleur

[millefleur 5,037]

P.S. I checked the N-662 and the same name appears (Thomas Burton) under "Certification of Name Change" as a stamp where he was supposed to sign it. So everything seems to add up. 

[VinnyH 59]

13 hours ago, millefleur said:

P.S. I checked the N-662 and the same name appears (Thomas Burton) under "Certification of Name Change" as a stamp where he was supposed to sign it. So everything seems to add up. 

Thanks @millefleur! It makes sense that a local (federal) district court judge can issue an apostille, as it seems that this ability was delegated to them by the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal judge is, in principle, very powerful and can certainly certify that he/she had the ability to certify that he/she had the authority to sign a document such as a court order for a name change... 😁

 

In any case, thanks for this information!!!!

 

As for the certified copy of the Certificate of Naturalization, I was explained that the only person (cabinet-level) who could certify a USCIS Field Office director signature is the Secretary of Homeland Security himself, but that Secretary typically would not issue an apostille, the prerogative instead granted to the U.S. Department of State (or, in some case the U.S. Dept. of Justice – which seems to be the judges themselves).

 

For mine, I did it during COVID-19, which was a long and fastidious exercise (7 months), so I hope the process has been made more simple. I followed the guidelines below on the DOS website itself, and it is very well explained.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html

 

Good luck!

[millefleur 5,037]

26 minutes ago, VinnyH said:

As for the certified copy of the Certificate of Naturalization, I was explained that the only person (cabinet-level) who could certify a USCIS Field Office director signature is the Secretary of Homeland Security himself, but that Secretary typically would not issue an apostille, the prerogative instead granted to the U.S. Department of State (or, in some case the U.S. Dept. of Justice – which seems to be the judges themselves).

That makes sense! I made this thread because information specifically about the N-662 name change was very hard to find, so I'm hoping if others need only that one they can get help here.

 

The only other source at all I found for the N-662 was the reddit thread, which thankfully is what altered me to the courts since USCIS would not even let me speak to a person about it. I hope others who search for this specific issue will come to VJ and see my thread.

 

 

[VinnyH 59]

10 minutes ago, millefleur said:

That makes sense! I made this thread because information specifically about the N-662 name change was very hard to find, so I'm hoping if others need only that one they can get help here.

 

The only other source at all I found for the N-662 was the reddit thread, which thankfully is what altered me to the courts since USCIS would not even let me speak to a person about it. I hope others who search for this specific issue will come to VJ and see my thread.

 

 

 

Your thread is greatly appreciated and I am sure it will be helpful to many. Sorry however that you went through so much trouble getting the info.

 

I guess the lesson to learn here is to always look at who signed a document and go up the food chain: for the N-662, despite being a USCIS form, it was signed by a judge, so start from the judge and go up the chain from there for the apostille. No wonder USCIS was so useless...

 

For the Certificate of Naturalization:

- if you present the original (which you never do since you ALWAYS keep the original for yourself), because it was signed by a district judge, only a district judge can issue an apostille.

- if it is a certified copy, because it is signed by the USCIS Field Office Director, the apostille must be issued by the U.S. Dept. of State.

[millefleur 5,037]

1 hour ago, VinnyH said:

I guess the lesson to learn here is to always look at who signed a document and go up the food chain: for the N-662, despite being a USCIS form, it was signed by a judge, so start from the judge and go up the chain from there for the apostille. No wonder USCIS was so useless...

Thank you, it's valuable information! In our case, I don't think we need an Apostille on the certificate since the US passport will be accepted as proof of citizenship. It's good to know for others in case they need both, they might need to get 2 different apostilles for each document.