Hi everyone,
I’m from Canada and got married in New York State. When we applied for the marriage license, I had the option to change both my surname and middle name. I chose to take my husband’s last name and move my maiden name to a second middle name. So I went from Sarah Jane Doe to Sarah Jane Doe Smith.
All of our I-130 paperwork is under that name. I thought I’d just update my documents once I got home while we wait on consular processing, but it turns out in my province you can only assume a new last name after marriage. To change a middle name, you need a full legal name change, which also alters your birth certificate to show the new name as if it were your birth name. That feels odd to me, since I wasn’t born with my husband’s last name, and I'm not sure if it would cause any problems. You do get a certificate of name change, but that would be the only record of my actual birth name.
If I don’t go through with a legal name change in Canada, all my ID will stay in my maiden name (unless I assume only the last name, which still won't match our marriage certificate). My lawyer said I might be able to adjust my name at the consulate interview, but usually they only allow last name changes. Now I’m not sure if I should try to change it in the US after I get my green card, just do the legal name change in Canada, or if there is any other option available. The legal name change process takes quite a while in my province, so I need to make a decision sooner rather than later.
I feel pretty overwhelmed and honestly a bit foolish. Has anyone else dealt with something like this? I’d really love to go by Sarah Jane Doe Smith, but I’m not sure what the smartest path forward is, or if I should just go ahead and do the legal name change.
Appreciate any advice or words of wisdom!
