Name change questions...

[Maeve 2]

Hubby and I got married jsut over a week ago and are working on compling all the AOS paperwork. Ugh.

I'm the USC, and I haven't legally changed my name yet. I intend to do it eventually, but am loathe to go through all the craziness of paperwork that this will entail. I was going to wait until later once he has his EAD and everything, as he plans to join the military and once I'm no longer working the whole name change thing will be a lot easier...(I'm also intending to change my name to something a little more unusual - it will involve my husband's name, but I'll probably be moving my maiden name around and added an third one...It's complicated...)

But as we're starting to fill out the paperwork, I'm beginning to wonder...obviosuly it's more complicated if the non-USC is female, so I'm at least glad for that. But I'm a little worried that, in putting my current non-changed name on all this paperwork that some uptight USCIS person might think our whole marriage is ####### since I haven't bothered to change my name after getitng married like every woman ought to (catch the heavy sarcasm there?)

Plus there's the added complication of what I might need to do if/once I do change my name - do I have to let USICS know? We both have to fill out change of address forms if and when we move as it is...

Bloody Homeland Security....

[KarenCee 3]

Hubby and I got married jsut over a week ago and are working on compling all the AOS paperwork. Ugh.

I'm the USC, and I haven't legally changed my name yet. I intend to do it eventually, but am loathe to go through all the craziness of paperwork that this will entail. I was going to wait until later once he has his EAD and everything, as he plans to join the military and once I'm no longer working the whole name change thing will be a lot easier...(I'm also intending to change my name to something a little more unusual - it will involve my husband's name, but I'll probably be moving my maiden name around and added an third one...It's complicated...)

But as we're starting to fill out the paperwork, I'm beginning to wonder...obviosuly it's more complicated if the non-USC is female, so I'm at least glad for that. But I'm a little worried that, in putting my current non-changed name on all this paperwork that some uptight USCIS person might think our whole marriage is ####### since I haven't bothered to change my name after getitng married like every woman ought to (catch the heavy sarcasm there?)

Plus there's the added complication of what I might need to do if/once I do change my name - do I have to let USICS know? We both have to fill out change of address forms if and when we move as it is...

Bloody Homeland Security....

Maeve...it's not that hard to change your name after marriage. I'm the USC half as well and all I needed was mour marriage certificate. The bank changed my name the same day we went in, no problem. Got new checks ordered the same day...got checks with new name in 10 days. The SSN office looked at the marriage certificate and it was 10 minutes tops for me to get my name changed in their system. Card was in my hand in less than 14 days. For USCIS when my husband filled out the AOS stuff, the marriage certificate is the bridge between your former name and your married name. Work and insurance was the same. I took our marriage certificate with me to my employer and they changed it in less than a minute. Insurance too about a month to officially make the change and send out new cards, but if something had happened while waiting for the new cards, we both were covered. As for everything else...bills and such, I just called and notified them of my name change or when I paid a bill I notified them by letter and if they needed proof (no one has so far) then I just emailed them a scanned copy of our marriage certificate. If I had to place a time on all this, maybe a couple days total.

Changing your name again for personal reasons...yeah, I can see how much of a hassle that will be. If your name changes again before you move, I'm thinking that you would need to send whatever documentation you used to change your name (not sure what that would be though) along with your AR-11 to bridge the name change. The way I understood your post is...you plan on taking your husband's name now and at some point changing your name again to something else? If you think you'll be changing your name to something else again in the future, IMHO I wouldn't change it now and then have to go through the hassle of changing it again. I'm thinking it might be more of a legal issue to do that...as in having to legally go through the courts to change it to something else again (having changed your name by virtue of your marriage).

You know, married women don't have to change their name. Just because so many women here in the States do that doesn't mean you have to. I changed mine purely for personal reasons...not to conform to any standard or any such nonsense. Do I make sense? I've not had my coffee yet....

[ELW 5]

Don't worry about not changing your name now. Many of us choose to keep our maiden names (for the time being or permanently) and we got approved with no questions whatsoever.

[KarenCee 3]

Don't worry about not changing your name now. Many of us choose to keep our maiden names (for the time being or permanently) and we got approved with no questions whatsoever.

Exactly!

[Maeve 2]

Maeve...it's not that hard to change your name after marriage. I'm the USC half as well and all I needed was mour marriage certificate. The bank changed my name the same day we went in, no problem. Got new checks ordered the same day...got checks with new name in 10 days. The SSN office looked at the marriage certificate and it was 10 minutes tops for me to get my name changed in their system. Card was in my hand in less than 14 days. For USCIS when my husband filled out the AOS stuff, the marriage certificate is the bridge between your former name and your married name. Work and insurance was the same. I took our marriage certificate with me to my employer and they changed it in less than a minute. Insurance too about a month to officially make the change and send out new cards, but if something had happened while waiting for the new cards, we both were covered. As for everything else...bills and such, I just called and notified them of my name change or when I paid a bill I notified them by letter and if they needed proof (no one has so far) then I just emailed them a scanned copy of our marriage certificate. If I had to place a time on all this, maybe a couple days total.

Changing your name again for personal reasons...yeah, I can see how much of a hassle that will be. If your name changes again before you move, I'm thinking that you would need to send whatever documentation you used to change your name (not sure what that would be though) along with your AR-11 to bridge the name change. The way I understood your post is...you plan on taking your husband's name now and at some point changing your name again to something else? If you think you'll be changing your name to something else again in the future, IMHO I wouldn't change it now and then have to go through the hassle of changing it again. I'm thinking it might be more of a legal issue to do that...as in having to legally go through the courts to change it to something else again (having changed your name by virtue of your marriage).

You know, married women don't have to change their name. Just because so many women here in the States do that doesn't mean you have to. I changed mine purely for personal reasons...not to conform to any standard or any such nonsense. Do I make sense? I've not had my coffee yet....

Thanks so much, KarenCee And yes, that does make sense

I do plan to change my name...it just won't be the traditional "MyFirst HisLast." I'm not exactly a traditional type girl. I'm jsut hoping I won't get any ####### at the SSA office for wanting to do things differently. This is Kentucky, after all...

My biggest worry was just that there wouldn't be any ####### that comes from not having changed my name before filing for AOS. And whether I'll need to send any kind of notification once I do change it, as it's likely that I might be dropping my maiden name altogether which may cause some confusion...

Don't worry about not changing your name now. Many of us choose to keep our maiden names (for the time being or permanently) and we got approved with no questions whatsoever.

Thanks

I'll probably change it eventually...just not quite sure if it'd be better to do it now or wait until much later...

[KarenCee 3]

IMHO if you know for sure you'll be changing it to something else in the future, why not wait until you're settled on the name you plan on using before making all those changes? That way you won't have to go through the name change scenario again. As for AOS, as long as you have proof you guys married within the timeframe given, whether or not you take his name (or whatever name you choose) isn't an issue. I'm sure there are lots of married girls on here who didn't take their hubby's name.

Yeah, the South is pretty bass ackwards when it comes to stuff like this (i.e. taking your spouse's name). I've lived here in the South all my life and I never understood why some people feel they have to make it their business.

[Maeve 2]

IMHO if you know for sure you'll be changing it to something else in the future, why not wait until you're settled on the name you plan on using before making all those changes? That way you won't have to go through the name change scenario again. As for AOS, as long as you have proof you guys married within the timeframe given, whether or not you take his name (or whatever name you choose) isn't an issue. I'm sure there are lots of married girls on here who didn't take their hubby's name.

Yeah, the South is pretty bass ackwards when it comes to stuff like this (i.e. taking your spouse's name). I've lived here in the South all my life and I never understood why some people feel they have to make it their business.

Thanks for the reassurance

I've pretty much decided on what the cange will be, but I suppose it might be best to wait...Kinda like getting a tattoo

I've only lived in KY for about 7 years, but I used to live in a small (uber-religious) town in MI, so it's basically the same. About a week after the wedding I got a letter from Macys' (we registered there) and it was adressed to MyFirst HisLast. A. who has time to change their name a week after the wedding? B. Even if I did, that won't be my new name! Grrr...

Sorry, bit of a feminist rant going on there...