Filling out I-130: Name Change Now or Later?

[cmeeks 5]

Just returned from marrying my spouse in Japan and hoping to have I-130 submitted soon. Is now the time to change her last name? I noticed the I-130 form asks for the beneficiary's current legal name. The marriage certificate still says her maiden name.

Also, what translation company/service do you recommend for translating the marriage certificate.

[top_secret 2,132]

Ultimately the name that appears on the spouses Japanese passport will be the name that appears on the visa, green card, social security card and therefore everything derived from those documents.  Changing the name after all of those are already issued is costly and time consuming in the US.  So, if she wants to and intends to change her name, it will be a huge benefit to change her Japanese passport as soon as it is practical and just start using her married name for everything if that is the name she actually intends to use.

[OldUser 5,203]

Best to change name now, before any paperwork is filed or much further at N-400 stage when she becomes a US citizen.

Anything in between is not as smooth compared to the two options above.

 

If she changes name now, she should get passport in new name, so that everything in her paperwork other than birth certificate will match.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by OldUser

[Chancy 6,233]

3 hours ago, cmeeks said:

hoping to have I-130 submitted soon

 

I recommend you file the I-130 ASAP, whether or not your wife has changed her name in any of her other documents.  In filling out the I-130, make sure to list both the married name and maiden name of your wife.  Either name could be under the "Other Names Used" section.  Then get a new passport listing her married name anytime before her visa interview.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Chancy
typo

[pushbrk 12,294]

11 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

I recommend you file the I-130 ASAP, whether or not your wife has changed her name in any of her other documents.  In filling out the I-130, make sure to list both the married name and maiden name of your wife.  Either name could be under the "Other Names Used" section.  Then get a new passport listing her married name anytime before her visa interview.

 

That advice matches what I always say, except I DO recommend listing the married name as her current name, as long as she intends to change it.  Put the maiden name as the other name used.  If she intends to legally change her name on Passport etc. it will be completed before an actual USCIS officer starts adjudicating the petition.

 

Also, When Jane Doe, marries John Smith, the marriage certificate correctly indicates that.  She wouldn't be "Jane Smith" until AFTER the wedding.  The marriage certificate is all the evidence you need of any name change.  Here's an example.  If an American female divorcee is filing the I-130 for a foreign spouse, her birth certificate says Jane Doe, but her divorce certificate often shows Jane Smith divorcing John Smith, with no mention of the name Jane Doe.  How are we to determine the Jane Smith that divorced John Smith, is the Jane Doe, on the birth certificate?  Answer:  Provide that marriage certificate between Jane Doe and John Smith.  That's why before marriage names are on marriage certificates.

 

If YOU are the foreign spouse of Jane Doe SMITH, you probably married Jane Smith, not Jane Doe.

[cmeeks 5]

Thank you all for the detailed responses. Extremely helpful!