Hi everyone,

It's been 3 weeks since my interview and I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to log on and report back on how it went, other than to say it went well. However, something's come up and I need some advice. Here goes:

One of the things that came up during the interview was the officer asked me if I wanted to change my name.

I had applied for the N400 in my married name, which I legally changed about 4-5 months before submitting my application. I changed it with social security first, then DMV, etc. So applied in this new married name. The only place my maiden name appeared was on my green card, as well as on the marriage certificate I enclosed with the application.

The officer said that my name doesn't get changed with immigration and that what they have (which was my maiden name) is what counts, yadda yadda, so if I want to be Mrs. C (instead of Miss S) I need to request that on the form. He instructed me to make this change, and entered something to this effect in his computer.

3 weeks later my application still shows I'm in the interview stage, so I was very surprised to receive my notice for an Oath Ceremony in a few weeks.

However, I noticed that this letter came addressed to Miss S - the first correspondence from them addressed to me in my maiden name. I have a feeling that somehow my name "change" now went from my married name to my maiden name.

I don't know how big of a deal this is, but I'd imagined I absolutely need to be sworn in as Mrs. C if I want to have this on my certificate, apply for passport, etc. I really felt uncomfortable about all this during the interview, but how can I argue with the guy, so I didn't.

Does anyone have any advice? similar situation? Is he right how my name change wouldn't have ever been updated with immigration? Have they messed up here? Why on earth would it be addressed to my maiden name now, when nothing else was before. Seems too weird.

Help and advice please!!!

My wife just went through this. The officer at inverview time fills a form that requests the name change, and then, when you take the oath, the form is given back to you with your Naturalization certificate.

The naturalization act/oath happens a court session in which USICS requests to the judge that those present be Naturalized. and the court takes USCIS word, and grants the request.

"Immigration" doesn't do your name change per se, because it is done by the Court that naturalizes you (Confusing reason why you were told USCIS Doesn't do it). That is done by the court that will preside over the naturalization ceremony.

We were afforded an opportunity to proof read the documents that were going to be dealt with by the court session, which for me was just the naturalization Cert, but my wife also had the name change form. If you are lucky you will also be provided such opportunity when you arrive.

At the end of the Ceremony, they give you your "Executed/Certified/Now Valid" Naturalization Certificate, and your change of name form also "stamped/signed" by the court.

Also, at least in Houston, the ceremony can take a long time to get started. (There are MANY applicants, since they do them once per month) You arrive by 7am, may be out as early as 10am and as late as 12:30pm, We knew this ahead of time, so we prepared accordingly, and brought water, snacks and books to read. We also set our expectation that we were going to take to 12:30pm, so we were pleasantly surprised when we were done earlier.

Thanks for the feedback A I. So to confirm, your wife had never requested any name change before this?

The weird part is that I thought I'd already legally changed my name....

That's correct, she had not changed her name before (on purpose, since we were concerned what it could do to our PR process... long unrelated story)

Innocent question:
When you say you legally changed your named.... What leads you to believe this ? (Do you have something from the court from when you married that specifies that you changed your name ?)

I was under the impression that a court had to issue you some paperwork showing the name change, so that you could then update your name everywhere else... What did you Show Social Sec and DPS so they could update your name ?

When a woman gets married in the USA, she can automatically change her name to her husband's family name, without going through court. I think this is what hollywood girl did.

There is an option when you become a USC, to get your name changed through court. My husband did this when he became a USC.

hollywoodgirl...I would just confirm everything when you go for the Oath. They give you a chance to look everything over and make changes if you need to. There is a person directing things on that day, you can double check with her to make sure your naturalization certificate gets printed in the correct name.

Rene

I stand corrected. Never thought it possible, but it says here it's pretty common.

http://family-law.lawyers.com/Name-C...-Marriage.html

and this guy agrees as well

http://www.rocketlawyer.com/free-leg...g+Married.aspx

Yes, this is correct. I did request to change my name. You can only legally change your last name in this manner, I believe. Then when I had my marriage certificate, I took that with me to social security admin, etc, and that was sufficient.

I'll give them a call - don't expect much, but am glad to know that I can correct this on the day off, since I'm already Mrs. C.

Thanks so much for the feedback - I was so worried about this.

Anyways, looks like I'll be a citizen in 3 weeks!

I am just about to complete my N-400 and I am also confused of what to do with regards to my maiden name and married name. I have been married for over ten years and have changed my SS and Drivers licence around the time I got married. However, my British passport and green card are still in my maiden name. So what do I put down as my current legal name. Maiden or married? (according to the form, your legal name is what is on your birth certificate). If I put my maiden name down, should I request for a name change and would that delay the process? Any input would be appreciated.

I don't know about your specific scenario, but just letting you know that if you do request a name change on the N-400, it does not delay the process of naturalization.

Rene

In the US, as long as there is no attempt at fraud, you can call yourself whatever you want. Put down your married name if that is what you want the certificate to show - and, later, your US passport. You will definitely want the passport to reflect your current name.

On the N-400 form... you should put your current name in part 1A, your name as it appears on your GC in part 1B, and your maiden/birth name in part 1C.

Ian

HG, I don't understand why you are insistent on having the naturalization certificate in your married surname. You have the legal right to use both last names, i.e. your maiden name and your married surname.

Unless you so hate your maiden name or want to leave some ugly past behind you, you would be better served to have the naturalization certificate in your maiden name.

[Quote] On the N-400 form... you should put your current name in part 1A, your name as it appears on your GC in part 1B, and your maiden/birth name in part


OK, so if I did what you suggest.
a. married name (even though my passport has my maiden?)
b. maiden name (and whats on my green card)
c. other names used and would be my maiden name.
Then when it comes to d. Name change, do I say yes? It says "would you like to legally change your name?" and in part (a) I have already stated that my legal name does reflect my changed and married name.

The reason I question this is from this original thread "hollywood girl" experience at the interview stage. She was told even if you change you name, you haven't done so with immigration and it was her maiden name that counts to them.
I don't have a problem with my maiden name. It's Smith, very common. When I got married, I didn't think twice about applying for a green card in my maiden name. However, 11 years and 2 children later, I would like to take on my married/family name. I do want to get it right on the form to avoid having to re-do if its not correct for immigration.

What is the issue / problem here is the term "change your name". This is for people who are changing their surnames or even their first names from a very foreign one that is perhaps hard to pronounce and they want to take a more Americanized form of their name.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with a woman using their married surname in real life. You have that lawful right to do so by virtue of marriage.

It is my belief that the naturalization name change for a married woman whose only name change is the surname from maiden to husband's surname based on married is not warranted. She already has that right and since her USCIS file and all documentation bears her maiden name, with reference to her married surname, should stay in the maiden name. There is absolutely no reason to change it. What if you divorce or become widowed and remarry somewhere down the line? You lose the paper trail if your naturalization is in your surname.

Rete

Thanks for the feedback. I don't have any sordid past etc attached to my maiden name and actually prefer it to my married name. However, changing my name has been such a hassle here. I got married in '07 and due to a complication with the paper work I didn't get my marriage certificate until May '09. So I then set about to do all the name change stuff, thinking I needed to do it before I renewed my GC or applied for citizenship. It was just painful and I had a million and one people to call and took so much time and I'm still not done. I travel a lot for work, so I had to call a bunch of airlines and hotels as well, plus I have tons of bank accounts, retirement accounts and on and on....

So it just all seemed easier to just make sure that I got this right from the get go and didn't have any drama to have to go and change my name yet again because I become naturalized with my maiden name and then want to go by my married name and apply for a US passport in my married name.

I guess I am a little confused about some of this stuff. I may have the right to go by either, but surely I need to pick one and can't have passports in both names or passport in one name and drivers license in another? Since I've already spent 6+ months changing everything from my maiden name to my married surname, it just seemed like it would make the most sense.

Can you explain to me a little more about this paper trail I could lose. Obviously i'm not thinking about divorce or being widowed, etc, and maybe I should be, but would it really be a problem that my passport and naturalization are done in my current married name? Surely I could legally change my name at any time?

The only thing of significance that's still in my maiden name is my GC which expires in 14 days.

I'd love a little more info and clarification in case I'm missing something here.

Again, every single document that came to me during this process came address to my married name and now after that interview my oath letter came addressed to my maiden name. Somehow if I hadn't had that exchange with him where he convinced me that I hadn't changed my name, I don't think that would have happened?

Thanks for the great help as always....

Quick question - if I become naturalized as my maiden name, can I ever get a US passport in my married name?