MushyPea

On 11/13/2021 at 12:04 PM, Chancy said:

 

If you enter with your visa after your 2nd wedding anniversary, you will be admitted as IR1.  Volunteer the information about your wedding date to the inspecting CBP officer at POE, to ensure they don't overlook it.  But even if CBP or USCIS make a mistake and you receive a 2-year GC, you may file an I-90 for free (due to DHS error) to replace your GC with a 10-year one.

 

 

I'm in a similar situation.  In my case though, I simply changed my mind about using my married name in the middle of my visa process.  Unfortunately, it was too late by then for me to get a new passport in my married name.  I've learned since then that the best time to change my name was before my visa interview 😢  From my research --

 

Your legal name in the US, as far as SSA and DHS are concerned, is the name on your GC or on your legal name change document that was issued after your GC.  Which means you cannot use your marriage certificate for applying for name change on your SSN card or your GC.  If you are not able to change your name on either of these two documents, you will likely not be able to use your married name for any other federal or state government-issued document, like driver's license.

 

So you have two options to be able to change your name in the US -- request for name change as part of your naturalization, or file a petition for name change with the state court that has jurisdiction over your US residence.  You may then use your certificate of name change or your name change court order to apply for name change with SSA.

 

Thank you so much - very helpful 

4 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Under you circumstances, I think I would probably wait.  At some point, there are going to have to be changes made since the Green Card will be in your maiden name.

 

A Rose by any other name, is just as sweet.  My wife never changed her name.  It has made several things so much smoother.

Thank you 🙏🏼 

I thought as much 🤔 
Just a shame as I quite liked the idea after he brought it up again. I may still use it for unofficial things. 

Hello all,

My visa is approved and I plan to fly to the US just before Christmas. I am entering with CR1 but plan to point out that it is the day after my 2nd wedding anniversary when I arrive at in the hopes they auto change to IR1.

Now to the point: so far during the whole process I have not changed from my maiden name to my married name (double barrelled). The reason is because to me it was either both of us or neither of us. Well now my husband is up for it so we’ll do it

My question is WHEN should I do this? I can’t do it before I get there, as need to travel on current passport (maiden name) with visa in. I’m assuming I can’t do it once I’ve arrived because then my passport won’t match my GC (and I don’t want to pay $400+ for a new GC). So do I need to wait until I start the citizenship process in 3 years time? Does it matter if my GC is my maiden name in terms of getting work etc? 

Any help on the topic would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance for this wonderful community!

Approved pending medical

(I have vaccinations booked in for Friday 15th)

Super simple process as long as you have everything they asked for.

I think it was 3 or 4 questions - but honestly she was so lovely and conversational it didn’t feel like an interview. She asked what my husband currently does, where and when we met and who my sponsor was. We even had a laugh a few times while chatting. 

On 10/5/2021 at 10:10 AM, Saqib-s said:

Good luck with your interviews this week:

 

@pishposhpeshy @Clare and Mike @jadmac @Ariananana @Mia and Scott @RachelUK

@MushyPea

Thank you so much.

The second round trip to London this week after the medical (train straight after work!). It’ll be pretty tiring but worth it in the end.

I’ll let you know how it goes

3 hours ago, jadmac said:

DQd 30th June - interview on the 6th of October! Also scheduled my medical, she said they've just released 400 interviews so they are struggling with capacity.....but she's made it the same day as my interview! 

Also the covid vaccine is required she made clear - both doses. 

I got mine in but it's only 4 days before - I'm assuming from yours being the same day that this wont be seen as a problem?

I understand it's supposed to be min 5 days before but do we think because of the backlog they will allow? (it's not like it's our fault)

15 hours ago, Mia and Scott said:

I know this has been asked before but I don’t know how far back to go to find the answers. I am a US Citzen, my husband UK. What documents of mine does he have to have the originals for, for his interview? He has the original marriage certificate but does he need a certified copy of my birth certificate? Or tax returns? Or is it okay for those to be copies? 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/LND-London.html#pre_interview_checklist

Head down to "Pre-Interview checklist" section for full details 

2 hours ago, juninho10 said:

Looks like I'm a bit too eager. That website says my case isn't ready to register an appointment. CEAC still says I'm at the NVC stage, so I'm assuming it'll take a few days to pass through that for me to to register it.

Same situation here! Hopefully give it a few days and will be good to go

7 hours ago, TGDeano said:

Congrats to all of you!  Can you please tell me when you submitted your documents to NVC?  Thanks!

We submitted back in April but they required different Aussie police cert (we lived there 3 years) so that delayed us significantly.

So we submitted 10/04 then resubmitted around end of May. DQ 29/07, interview 08/10

DQ: 29/07

received notification today of interview 08/10.

so happy / relieved   

Hey

My job is to call international arrivals re: isolation so happy to advise. You do not need to be in the UK for the full 10 days. You could do as you’ve mentioned (4/5 days) then leave again. 
To get in to the UK you will need proof of negative test and to book a mandatory test package for when you arrive (this gives you a test to take on day 2 and day 8 of quarantine). The test results from your day 2 test should be with you within 48 hours which you could then use as proof for the USA entry. 
Please note your isolation must start immediately, but the day after you arrive in the UK is classed as ‘day 1’. So here’s an example: Monday take test in USA, Wednesday fly into UK armed with negative test, Friday take day 2 COVID test as per UK law, Sunday receive negative result and fly back the same or the next day.

It’s tight and relies on fitting in your virtual ceremony and receiving your results on time- but it’s not impossible. 

my biggest tip would be sorting your test package in advance so it’s waiting at your address all ready for you on arrival. 
 

Hope that helps