Questions regarding the CR-1

[raejay 0]

My Husband has questions about the CR-1 Visa. He hasn't had the time to join the Visa Journey forum yet, so I am asking them for him.

1) Does a name change mid-process affect anything, or is it best to just wait until the visa is approved and change post-green card?

2) What is the process like changing names after you are down here after getting the CR-1 Visa? Does it completely screw up everything?

[ao_cons 1]

Who is having the name change and what kind of name change is it? Is it the petitioner or beneficiary?

If this is a woman's change of name due to marriage, you might want to wait. I had my passport amended to reflect my married name, but NVC stuck to the name on the bio page which is my maiden name. It's a bit confusing because some letters from them refer to my maiden name while others to my married name. They advised us to just ask the US embassy about it after the interview when we get the visa.

A legal name change can be time-consuming. We haven't actually done it, but my USC husband looked into it recently since he wants to change his name (and consequently mine as well). If the beneficiary must change her/his name too, it must be sanctioned by their country of birth too to be legal.

The USCIS, NVC and US embassy as well as the FBI that does background checks will all be going by the names in your BCs, forms and passports. So my advise is it's better to wait ntil after the visa process is done. May we ask why you need to do this now?

[Dave 'n' Hai Au 0]

Hi, I asked about this same thing when our case got to the NVC and they told me a big NO. I don't know if that means legally no but I did not pursue it further. My opinion is why take a chance on RFE's and other problems by mixing names on documents. They said to wait until she arrives in U.S. to do the name change which is what we're doing. You know the government, give them a reason to mess with your case and they will. Good Luck!!

[chrissiemissie 0]

really is this true? i thought i spotted a post on VJ suggesting that it was best for the USC to change their name with Social Security before submitting the I-130.

eek... i think my husband and i will be doing all legal name changes (me in the US, and him in Poland and the UK) for my visa to the UK... if we do that and then in the future when we file for his immigration to the States would that create problems????

Edited May 28, 2009 by chrissiemissie

[raejay 0]

It would be me changing my name. I will advise him that we probably should wait to change it. I don`t want to start messing with my name and then have to go to an interview only to be told ``no sorry, none of your documents match up``. When I finally do get the interview I will ask them what I should do. We just sent the paperwork in 2 days ago, so we still have some time to wait . Luckily I prepared myself when we first started dated and kept any correspondence we had with each other.

[Moosker 7]

1) Does a name change mid-process affect anything, or is it best to just wait until the visa is approved and change post-green card?

On all my papers when we filed, I put down my married name, but ALL of my personal identificate is in my maiden name. I didn't want to be switching and have half in my married, and half in the other. My passport is still obviously in my maiden name, so my CR1 visa is actually going to be in my maiden name, didn't realize that, but not a big deal, because I'll change it once I go to apply for the 10-year card.

A friend of mine changed her passport right before, and so her CR1 is in her married name...

2) What is the process like changing names after you are down here after getting the CR-1 Visa? Does it completely screw up everything?

I was down visiting my husband and we asked the bank lady "what's the process for me to change my name on our accounts?" (we have joint accounts). She said "No big deal at all! Just bring in your passport for identification, and your marriage license proving you're married."

Well that's easy!!! Hopefully it'll be the same for you...Good luck!!!

[kaffy 2]

If you are short on time (as I was) you can ask to have the application processed in the applicant's married name even if they are still legally known by their maiden name. When it comes time to issuing the visa it will be issued in the married name with an annotation to the maiden name (which links it to the passport). Upon entry to the US your SSN and Green card will be issued in your married name and hence bank accounts you open, insurance policies you take out, etc will also be in your married name.

Only thing left to do is change the name on your passport with the authorities back home - I'll be doing this next year when my passport is closer to it's expiration date.