I-130 to IR1: Married name vs Maiden Name?

[dcjsjd 0]

Hope somebody here could enlighten me out on this. When I was still a permanent resident, I got married and immediately petitioned my wife (I-130) and wrote in the application form her maiden name instead of her married name. My understanding that time when I was filling up the I-130 application form was I had to follow what is written in our marriage certificate so that USCIS could match the name of my wife in the application form from the marriage certificate.

Now my concern is, whenever I will upgrade my wife's case from I-130 to IR1 soon, will it be a cause for concern if what appears in her record was her maiden name instead of her married name? She'll be issued a lawful permanent visa entry with a maiden name printed on it but her passport and related documents such as police clearance etc. show her married name already and perhaps immigration officials may question why those don't match.

In connection, as we prepare to upgrade my spousal petition after I take oath, shall we write her Married name in forms DS-3032 (Choice of Agent) and DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa and alien registration) or write her Maiden name as what was printed in I-797 (USCIS Notice of Action 2)? But then again, like what I said this is the dilemma, that if I follow what was printed in I-797 and write her Maiden name on prerequisite forms such as DS3032 and DS230, her documents such as passport, police certificates etc are all written with her Married name.

Is there someone here who had the same experience? What transpired in your case? What are the things to do? Or it's not a concern at all since I had the marriage certificate to prove anyway? Thanks.

[Mayra&Robin 0]

That's a good question! I don't know the answer myself but I can tell you that we just went through the I-130 process at USCIS and I wrote my wife's new last name (my family name) as her last name on all forms although none of the documents submitted show that name yet. It all worked out and we got approved through USCIS so I guess they accept that names change with marriage but documents don't change so fast. Now, this seems opposite from your case so I'm curious too as we're about to start the NVC process and I still have doubts about which name to use for her.

[chinese_mutt 11]

That's a good question! I don't know the answer myself but I can tell you that we just went through the I-130 process at USCIS and I wrote my wife's new last name (my family name) as her last name on all forms although none of the documents submitted show that name yet. It all worked out and we got approved through USCIS so I guess they accept that names change with marriage but documents don't change so fast. Now, this seems opposite from your case so I'm curious too as we're about to start the NVC process and I still have doubts about which name to use for her.

For NVC use whatever name you put in in the I-130.

I still haven't changed my passport to my married name, but I won't see any problem to it because my maiden name will appear in the marriage certificate anyways.

Hope somebody here could enlighten me out on this. When I was still a permanent resident, I got married and immediately petitioned my wife (I-130) and wrote in the application form her maiden name instead of her married name. My understanding that time when I was filling up the I-130 application form was I had to follow what is written in our marriage certificate so that USCIS could match the name of my wife in the application form from the marriage certificate.

Now my concern is, whenever I will upgrade my wife's case from I-130 to IR1 soon, will it be a cause for concern if what appears in her record was her maiden name instead of her married name? She'll be issued a lawful permanent visa entry with a maiden name printed on it but her passport and related documents such as police clearance etc. show her married name already and perhaps immigration officials may question why those don't match.

In connection, as we prepare to upgrade my spousal petition after I take oath, shall we write her Married name in forms DS-3032 (Choice of Agent) and DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa and alien registration) or write her Maiden name as what was printed in I-797 (USCIS Notice of Action 2)? But then again, like what I said this is the dilemma, that if I follow what was printed in I-797 and write her Maiden name on prerequisite forms such as DS3032 and DS230, her documents such as passport, police certificates etc are all written with her Married name.

Is there someone here who had the same experience? What transpired in your case? What are the things to do? Or it's not a concern at all since I had the marriage certificate to prove anyway? Thanks.

Uh.... hummm... i don't know really. But I would think you'd use the name on the I-130 Form. You can call NVC to confirm.. they'd know what to do. Hopefully.

[No-Where-Man 147]

first : YOU DONT updare ur wife case to IR-1(IR-1) IS the visa tht u r wife gets if she is to enter the US after the 2nd Anniv of your marriage togethr

Second : USCIS care tht HER NAME at the marriage time (the Maiden) should Match the Marriage certificate one ..so u r good to go ....

Third : u upgrade the petition upon being USC at once ...and then on DS-3032 and DS-230 it should carry her NEW MARRIED NAME cz the name she write in both forms is what will be used in the stamped Visa BESIDE ...theres a field tht will ask for OTHER NAMES USED ..so she can mention all her earlier names if Any ..

Hope that Served ...

Good Luck

[Aimee and Albert 0]

first : YOU DONT updare ur wife case to IR-1(IR-1) IS the visa tht u r wife gets if she is to enter the US after the 2nd Anniv of your marriage togethr

Second : USCIS care tht HER NAME at the marriage time (the Maiden) should Match the Marriage certificate one ..so u r good to go ....

Third : u upgrade the petition upon being USC at once ...and then on DS-3032 and DS-230 it should carry her NEW MARRIED NAME cz the name she write in both forms is what will be used in the stamped Visa BESIDE ...theres a field tht will ask for OTHER NAMES USED ..so she can mention all her earlier names if Any ..

Hope that Served ...

Good Luck

Yup. no_where_man described it exactly.

This is what we did according to the forums.

I-130 -Maiden name

DS-3032 -Maiden name (it was actually pre-printed out for us by the NVC)

DS-230 -Married name (In one of the fields called "other names used," put her maiden name in that field")

Passport -Married name. Then when she goes for medical, slec (St. Luke's Extension Clinic) will see her married name and annotate it on their forms.

[dcjsjd 0]

Ok, Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It really helps. Actually I was about to do exactly what Aimee and Albert did but wasn't so sure so I need some affirmation. It worked for Aimee and Albert so I surmise it will work for me and my wife too to use this process (unless others may have a surer option):

I-130 - Maiden name

DS-3032 - Maiden name

DS-230 - MaRRied name, since there's a box that gives us a space to annotate my wife's maiden name (ie "Other names used").

Passport - MaRRied name.

@Aimee and Albert,

RE: DS-3032, you said it was preprinted out for you by NVC already, that means NVC will be the one to provide us the form, no need for us to print a blank one online?

[Aimee and Albert 0]

Ok, Thank you all for taking the time to reply. It really helps. Actually I was about to do exactly what Aimee and Albert did but wasn't so sure so I need some affirmation. It worked for Aimee and Albert so I surmise it will work for me and my wife too to use this process (unless others may have a surer option):

I-130 - Maiden name

DS-3032 - Maiden name

DS-230 - MaRRied name, since there's a box that gives us a space to annotate my wife's maiden name (ie "Other names used").

Passport - MaRRied name.

@Aimee and Albert,

RE: DS-3032, you said it was preprinted out for you by NVC already, that means NVC will be the one to provide us the form, no need for us to print a blank one online?

Yes, it was actually sent to us by snail mail to both of us. My wife sent it directly to the NVC via FedEx and chose me as her Agent.

I see that you can download the form online, but not sure if you can use that because our preprinted one had a barcode. And the downloaded form asks you for that barcode. Contact the NVC if they sent you a hardcopy yet.

This wiki visajourney guide helped us out alot.

Here's the link:

http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/..._live_in_the_US

I hope this helps you. God Bless...