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So, I did some digging into this today and called the town clerk who issued our marriage certificate, along with NY Vital Statistics. It looks like there is no option to amend the marriage certificate to remove the middle name change. I was told that I could go through the NY State courts to do a name change, but I feel like that is another can of worms entirely, I don't even live there yet 😅 As it stands now, I could: Assume my husband's last name here in British Columbia, but my ID won't match the marriage certificate without further legal adjustments to my name somewhere down the line. Do the legal name change (which currently has a processing wait time of 24 weeks, and our vital statistics and postal services are on strike right now). All my documentation would match, and my birth certificate would change, but I'd be issued a certificate of name change which lists my prior name along with the new name. I believe I can also obtain a certified copy of my birth registration, which while not used as an identifying document, would still list my name at birth, matching the certificate of name change. Based on the current I-130 processing times, this could still be completed well before I reach the NVC stage. I also looked more into the name change during naturalization in the US, which I know is also a legal change of name, but it was difficult for me to find straightforward answers on if that would necessitate me changing my Canadian birth certificate after doing so. And I would still be updating all my ID, etc. across the board to match the name change after that was completed. One thing I am still uncertain about is how much the listed name on the marriage certificate matters, or if it's going to cause problems down the line for me if documentation doesn't match the marriage certificate in either Canada or the US. Especially with NY Vital Statistics telling me I'd need a court name change to fix that. It seems I still have some thinking to do on the matter. Thank you to everyone who has commented or shared their experiences with me so far, it's truly appreciated!

It's looking like that is the way I will approach this, drop the middle name adjustment entirely and just assume my married last name instead. When I amend the marriage certificate to remove the middle name adjustment, should I still list my married last name on it where it says 'new surname', or would I need to revert it to my maiden name if I am going with the assuming route? (Just trying to make sure I'm not doing something that requires me to make a legal name change again, I've had enough for one lifetime 😂😂)

Interesting, thank you for the information you provided! I'll look into the process of changing the marriage certificate, that might be viable as long as I can do it from outside of New York State. It certainly seems like the easiest path forward 🙂

Indeed, I am curious about this as well. I don't mind waiting until naturalization, if that is the best course of action. In the meantime, at least it's easy enough to explain that the reason I haven't changed my name legally in Canada is that it would alter the birth certificate.

Not exactly the same situation, but similar in some ways! Now I just have two middle names instead of one. If you don't mind my asking, how did your wife go about changing her documentation in the US? Was she able to do this at the consulate during the interview, or did she change everything after arriving in the US on the green card with a legal name change process? I'd be curious to learn more about what that process looked like and how to go about it 🙂 I wonder if I could do the same thing, and leave all my documentation in Canada as is. I was a bit worried that the discrepancy would cause problems if I wanted to travel back and forth, since I would use my Canadian passport to enter Canada, and airlines may take issue with mismatching names on tickets and such. On a side note, it's interesting to learn about the differences in names and name changes across the world!

The marriage certificate does say my new married name. It says Sarah (first) Jane Doe (Middle) Smith (last) is the name after marriage. The I-130 lists my name as Sarah Jane Doe Smith, with Sarah Jane Doe as a previous name used. I do like the middle name format, and I thought it would be a neat way to honor both family names, since the option was provided when we applied for the marriage license. It's just turning out to be a bit more complex than I expected to change it in Canada 😂 If I change it in Canada, my birth certificate will reflect my married name, but I get a change of name certificate listing my prior name. I'm just unsure if it makes more sense to leave it unchanged in Canada, and just change it later in the US so that my birth certificate remains in my maiden name.

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!