Dan and Wee

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.  

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. 

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)  

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

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.

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. 

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. 

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

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 !!

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
 
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
 
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".
 
"0"
 
Good luck!
 

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)

Right,  yes if there is a separate field for maiden name,  then the married name goes in the name field. That's what I meant, yours does have separate fields. Where I live, (TX), there is only one name field, which is then current name (maiden), and the fact that you are married to the other person with the last name you might use,  gives you the right to use it. So for me,  I could then just choose to start using it and fill in the AOS papers with the married name. I know it doesn't help you, but it is an explanation for some of the confusion around this. It doesn't excuse the clerk though - amazing that they gave that answer,  the one place you would expect to get the answer specific to your circumstances... so sorry about that...
 
If I remember correctly, you can't change anything in the court here, before becoming an lpr - But don't quote me on that... have you tried just correcting it as an admin error with the county clerk's?

You are welcome  Good luck guys

Check that box and write K-1 Fiancee..no need to write any name 
You don't need to fill from 5a-9 because you said you don't have children
"0"
 
Additional info
Part 2
Q3 - Receipt Number- is the receipt number on your Approved I-129F, look on NOA1
Q4- Approval date of your I-129F, look on NOA1
 

*~*~*moved from "K-1 fiancé visa process and procedures" to "AOS from K visas"*~*~*

Hi, Yes its required. I also lived in foreign country for more than 12 months and i requested my police clearance in UAE.. its better to be safe than sorry so try to get your fiance' a police clearance once you get a case # in NVC. good luck to both of us! :-) 

Trust me, I 100% understand. I've never seen a clear definition of what qualifies as "living" in a country (Is it physical presence? What breaks count towards it? Is it based on visa type?). Hopefully somebody else who has gone through your embassy can chime in with their experience...I really don't have a clear answer either, sorry. I mean, to be safe, getting one cannot hurt. Worst case is they don't request it and you're out the fee and some time/effort.
 
Best wishes!

It's anywhere she has lived for 6 months or longer, actually. If any single trip was at least 6 months, or she had residency there for at least 6 months, then they may require the police certificates.
 
"Police certificates from your present country of residence and all countries where you have lived for six months or more since age 16 (Police certificates are also required for accompanying children age 16 or older) "
https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/family/fiance-k-1.html

I recall others seeing this as well. Unfortunately I don't have much information on how that embassy works, but embassies do have their own rules that can differ from the DOS guidelines. I'd say go by what it says in packet 3 (that screenshot) as that's from the embassy and they are the ones issuing the visa and the ones that will request/review the police certificates.
 
Was she living in that country for over 12 months? You can live in a foreign country and still only visit other countries (or your home country). For instance, my fiancee is Filipino but worked in KSA for several years. She visited PI a couple times throughout the year, but her residence remained in KSA (until her contract ended and she moved back to Philippines). While she never spent over 12 months consecutively in KSA (or even 6 consecutive months), she did "live" there for over 12 months.

We just got an update to our case today!!!!!  Going to Congress was ABSOLUTELY the BEST move we could have made.  I hope everyone else also gets good news soon.

Thank you Dan and Wee! 
Hope u will have your soon. 
 

Hi guys! 
Just an update we have received an email confirmation from us embassy here in Qatar that our case has been received and gave us the list for packet 3.
Hoping your case will be moving as well. 

To give you all an update, i have waited on the OMBUDSMAN now longer than i care to wait, and i havent heard anything back yet.  their email to me said they will respond sometime within 45 days, which is unacceptable.  so i went to my congressman today, and i just need to provide a note from my doctor for the reason i originally expedited our case...too easy.  After that, they are submitting a congressional inquiry into this.  I'll have that note to them by tomorrow.  
 
If anyoneeelse sees this after this thread is old and forgotten, what i would do is not wait like i have and dont even bother with other avenues of redress...go straight to your congressman for your district.  You can find them online with a simple google search.  Call them, fill ou amd submit the privacy release form, and let them handle it.  I tried to do it the proper way and all i got was more grief.  

Hey JahRyl, I hope that everything starts moving along for you soon! We still have a few more weeks to wait while they do the testing on the sputum samples. Hopefully nothing will go wrong again because I don't think I could handle finding out I have to wait an additional six months, lol. Anyways, best of luck and really hope to see good news for you soon!