Name changing questions

[alayne007 0]

My wife, QiuJu, came over from China on a K1 visa and we were married on December 27th. I called the SSN office (BEFORE we were married) and the lady there told me that QiuJu could not apply for a SSN until after she had her green card. My niece researched this on VJ site and informed me that the SSN office was wrong! So, I called the SSN office back now that we are married and they now say that she should have done it before we were married! They said that now that we're married, her name won't match what's at the immigration office when they do their background check and it will stall the SSN process. I guess now QiuJu has to wait until she actually gets her green card... so my question is, how does she go about officially changing her name? When we file for AOS and use her new name, will that be when it's considered official? Is there something else we can do?

Also, does anyone out there know how to get her name changed on her Chinese passport? I looked at the Chinese Embassy site, but they seem to mostly have information about getting visas. I figured someone on here has gone through this before and can advise. I looked through the archives, but didn't find anything about China specifically.

Thanks for any and all info!!

Alan

[YuAndDan 153]

The person at SSA is wrong, K-1 visa holder can apply for SSN withing 76 days after entry. We applied for SSN just after marriage and received SSN card with married name. The SSA officer accepted K-1, valid I-94, birth cert, and marriage cert to show name change.

Yes this comes up quite often on the Chinese Immigrations Board. "A Candle for Love"

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...c=28976&hl=

This is now a walk-in only procedure at the Chinese consulates or embassy.

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=368431