What name to use?

[adlitem 0]

Hello all,

My wedding is set for 04/25 and after a short honeymoon, I plan to submit the petition for my wife on 04/30. I have a doubt about what name she should use on all of the forms. Should she use her married name or her single name? The reason I ask is because if she uses the married name, the visa/green card is not going to match the name on her passport. The consulate can't expect you to get a new passport, right? Probably a dumb question but I want to be sure...

Thanks

[Marina-Del 10]

Hello all,

My wedding is set for 04/25 and after a short honeymoon, I plan to submit the petition for my wife on 04/30. I have a doubt about what name she should use on all of the forms. Should she use her married name or her single name? The reason I ask is because if she uses the married name, the visa/green card is not going to match the name on her passport. The consulate can't expect you to get a new passport, right? Probably a dumb question but I want to be sure...

Thanks

The visa and green card need to match the name in her passport. And in my opinion, YES, the consulate can expect her to get a new passport!! I'm not actually sure of the correct answer to you question though. I'm sure that there are others on this site who have been in the same position and would know the answer though. I do know that her green card and visa need to match her passport though.

Since you are applying DCF, you are aware that you have to have been resident in Brazil for 6 consecutive months right? Just making sure you know this as it is quite important!! I'm going to be getting married here too (in São Paulo) in about a month as well. We are taking all of our docs to the cartorio in a couple weeks and then it's a 15 day wait until we can get married If you want to PM me you are more than welcome to as it seems we're going to be applying and going through all of that at the same time!

Sorry I can't answer your question about what you should do about her name though. You can always email the consulate in Rio and ask them. I emailed them a question about residency and they replied the next day!

Good luck!

Ps. As I am the American (female) I am not going to change my name until we get to the US. Once we get married I will start going by my married name for all intensive purposes (change my email, tell people that is my name, ect)...but I don't want to have to change my passport or get a new drivers license while I am living over here as that seems like more trouble than it is worth!! So on all of my official docs my maiden name will be listed for our first year or two or marriage and then when we get to the states, I'll change my name!

Pps. (hehe, keep thinking of more stuff!). Once you change your name you can only use your old passport for a while (that's how it is in the US anyway!), but I'm not sure how it works here. Anyway, the process for DCF will take longer than it will for your fiancee to get a new passport. I just asked my fiance how much and how long it takes and he says that he thinks he paid about R$100 and took about a month to get...so it wouldn't be that big of a deal for her to get a new passport!! And, since it might be a while since she's in Brazil long term again, it might be a good idea anyway! Hope this helps!

Edited April 8, 2009 by Marina-Del

[kaffy 2]

Passport name and visa application/visa/green card name can be different

They will simply add an annotation with your maiden name on your visa and once you arrive in the US everything (SSN, green card, bank accounts, etc) will be in your married name

[kaffy 2]

see this thread for a scan of the visa: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...=185033&hl=

[Precious 2]

Hello all,

My wedding is set for 04/25 and after a short honeymoon, I plan to submit the petition for my wife on 04/30. I have a doubt about what name she should use on all of the forms. Should she use her married name or her single name? The reason I ask is because if she uses the married name, the visa/green card is not going to match the name on her passport. The consulate can't expect you to get a new passport, right? Probably a dumb question but I want to be sure...

Thanks

I don't know how it works for CR1, as I came to the US under a K1 visa. When adjusting status, we filled out the forms using my married name, which, at the time, did not match my passport, of course. With the marriage certificate in hand, we went to the Brazilian Consulate in Houston and asked them to stamp the passport with the new name, as my passport was still a valid one. They gathered all the docs and I left with the stamp saying "name changed due to marriage, bla, bla". Now I have my GC which matches my passport

My guess would be to submit the forms using her married name and check if the use of the passport under maiden name + marriage certificate is OK.

Hope that helps, but I'm sure someone who has gone through the same process would come forward with a clearer answer.

Good luck and congrats!

Edited April 8, 2009 by Precious

[txladykat 1]

You NEED to check with your consulate on requirements. The embassy in Denmark required that the name in my passport match the name on my application (as the US citizen). I, of course, could have used my maiden name and kept my passport in my maiden name, but I chose to apply in my married name, which meant I had to get a new passport issued before submitting my application.

Not all embassies require that the names match, but the Denmark emnbassy was very specific on this, demanding that the name on the application match the name on the passport.

[adlitem 0]

I ended up sending the same question to the Consulate in Rio and this is their response:

"Dear Sir or Madam:

If your wife changes her maiden name to a married name, we recommend to

get a new passport according to her current name, so all her documents

have the same name. If, otherwise, she decides to use the existing

passport, her visa will be issued with the name printed on the passport.

Regards,

IV Unit"

So it seems like she'll be able to apply with her existing passport. Based on their response, I assume that she'll be able to use her married name on the application and the visa will come with her maiden name.

[txladykat 1]

That is why I say it is always best to check with the embassy. This is the text I received from the embassy in Denmark, including the bolded text:

PLEASE NOTE: The names you list on your petition (Form I-130) must be identical to the names in both your passports. If the names on Form I-130 are not identical to the names in your passports then you must take action to have one or the other document amended before you may file your I-130 petition.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

That is why I say it is always best to check with the embassy. This is the text I received from the embassy in Denmark, including the bolded text:

PLEASE NOTE: The names you list on your petition (Form I-130) must be identical to the names in both your passports. If the names on Form I-130 are not identical to the names in your passports then you must take action to have one or the other document amended before you may file your I-130 petition.

Weird. I filed through Montreal using my married name; my passport is under my maiden name. My visa came out under maiden as well, to match the passport.

[Marina-Del 10]

I guess it seems like it's up to the embassy.

To the OP: you say you guys are getting married at the end of April, right? How long have you been in Brazil? And when do you plan on filing DCF? Based on their response it sounds like they work here in Brazil how they worked for Len in Canada. So it looks like she'll be okay to keep her passport. Depending on how long her passport is valid for, it might be a good idea for her to get a new passport anyway. For example, my passport expires in two years (so if I was leaving my country for an extended period of time, I'd want to go ahead and get a new passport), but that's up to you of course! Just an idea! Of course, this doesn't work if you plan on filing days after your wedding since you'd have to wait for the passport and THEN apply!

Just a thought! Glad you got the answer you wanted from the consulate!

[adlitem 0]

I've been here since 12/07 and the consulate already confirmed that I could use DCF. We're getting married on 04/25 and plan to file the petition on 04/30.

Her passport expires in 05/10 so we're deciding about what to do: Wait to get a new one with her married name or use the one she has and get a new one next year with her married name. We really would rather not have to wait to get another passport but we know it will save hassle later on.

We're probably going to end up submitting the petition with her married name and getting a new passport. The consulate said it takes 45 days to adjudicate so she should have her new passport by the time we're ready to schedule an interview.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Yay!!!

Just make sure you are able to move within 6 months of the visa being granted!

Best of luck!

[Marina-Del 10]

Yeah that sounds good!! And since it expires in 2010, then it also sounds like a good plan to get a new one before you file! But if they say it takes 45 days then you should be fine as supposedly it takes less than that to get a passport but who knows because THIS IS BRASIL!

Keep us updated on your status!

Yay!!!

Just make sure you are able to move within 6 months of the visa being granted!

Best of luck!

Len,

Once you get the visa you have 6 months before you have to move? For some reason I thought it was 3...? I know that if you get a K-1 you have six months before you have to leave the country (or the visa expires) but for some reason I thought the DCF visa was 3 months. I hope it's 6 as that means that I could apply way earlier than I originally planned if we'd have that long before we'd have to leave!! Sorry if this is a silly question! You know how you get random sometimes made up facts in your head and they just never seem to go away!

[trailmix 77]

Yeah that sounds good!! And since it expires in 2010, then it also sounds like a good plan to get a new one before you file! But if they say it takes 45 days then you should be fine as supposedly it takes less than that to get a passport but who knows because THIS IS BRASIL!

Keep us updated on your status!

Yay!!!

Just make sure you are able to move within 6 months of the visa being granted!

Best of luck!

Len,

Once you get the visa you have 6 months before you have to move? For some reason I thought it was 3...? I know that if you get a K-1 you have six months before you have to leave the country (or the visa expires) but for some reason I thought the DCF visa was 3 months. I hope it's 6 as that means that I could apply way earlier than I originally planned if we'd have that long before we'd have to leave!! Sorry if this is a silly question! You know how you get random sometimes made up facts in your head and they just never seem to go away!

It is 6 months

[Marina-Del 10]

It is 6 months

Yay thanks!