Other names used?

[Amanda-Lise 0]

I-129F ready to go, except for one thing. I'm a bit cloudy on as to whether or not I should put my band name in the other names used section. I'm Metis, and shortly after my birth, my father gave me my band (native) name. My fiance, his mother, all his friends, and a good portion of mine call me by my native name, however its not on any of my legal documents as I have not formally changed my name yet. All the same, should my native name go in the Other names used section with a supplement to explain?

[Linababe 0]

I-129F ready to go, except for one thing. I'm a bit cloudy on as to whether or not I should put my band name in the other names used section. I'm Metis, and shortly after my birth, my father gave me my band (native) name. My fiance, his mother, all his friends, and a good portion of mine call me by my native name, however its not on any of my legal documents as I have not formally changed my name yet. All the same, should my native name go in the Other names used section with a supplement to explain?

I dont know if it really matters but I was given a nickname that nearly everyone uses even my fiance and all his friends and family know me as my nickname "Lina" but officially I have another name - I put my nickname on the form and wrote "nickname" next to it. Theres gonna be a few surprised people at our wedding when my name is different lol

[AndyMisiu 0]

I listed nicknames as well. I also wrote "nickname" in the box. I even went a little further than that and submitted a supplement to the question (most likely TMI). My fiancee uses several different nicknames but none are on legal documents. No one calls her by her birth name. All the letters I have sent and even the e-mails are listed under and addressed to her nickname. I didn't want there to be any confusion at the interview as to who the heck she is.

[chuckandkim 0]

Hi everyone,

Please only write your LEGAL name, other names used: NONE. the box that states "other names used" = Legally used. Do you have other legal/official/government document with different name of yours on it? If yes, then you put down. Nickname is NOT to be entered. See the Example Forms for I-129F.

[Lthi 0]

I-129F ready to go, except for one thing. I'm a bit cloudy on as to whether or not I should put my band name in the other names used section. I'm Metis, and shortly after my birth, my father gave me my band (native) name. My fiance, his mother, all his friends, and a good portion of mine call me by my native name, however its not on any of my legal documents as I have not formally changed my name yet. All the same, should my native name go in the Other names used section with a supplement to explain?

Hi,

In your country if you don't have the name changed " LEGAL " you don't need to fill it in. As my country is pupular to change the name with LEGAL,when we go for interview we need to bring those name changed documents for their reference. As you case my opinion don't need to fill in, just put " NONE "

Good luck

[Yodrak 7]

chuckandkim,

Where do you see that Other Names Used is restricted to 'legal' names (whatever they are).

The phrase 'other names used' is all-encompassing, there are no restrictions on it in the forms or form instructions that ask the question, and I've never seen anything from the USCIS that indicates any restriction.

There is nothing in the example form that you reference to indicate that VJ recommends not providing nicknames. The example form merely indicates that the example person does not use a nickname. The example answers are not a universal answers. Many people do not resemble the example person and will answer the questions differently.

Yodrak

Hi everyone,

Please only write your LEGAL name, other names used: NONE. the box that states "other names used" = Legally used. Do you have other legal/official/government document with different name of yours on it? If yes, then you put down. Nickname is NOT to be entered. See the Example Forms for I-129F.

[chuckandkim 0]

Where do you see that Other Names Used is restricted to 'legal' names (whatever they are).

Where does it say LEGAL name must be used for other names used, no where of couse, but a reasonable intelligent person could understand this form as it is, IMO. I do not recommend people to complicate their situation by entering PET names you have for each other or Nicknames. Why legal names or name-change are recommended? You are dealing with legal system, your name will be checked against the system (whatever system you will be going through vs. FBI Security Check). I have 3 nicknames I used for different groups of people whom I associated with on the daily basis. Do I believe the USCIS will check my nicknames which only those who I work with care about. The security checking computer system only cares for my legal name, or names i changed to and from. Do I say: My first name is Charles and also go by: Charlies, Chuckles, Chucky, Chuck, Chuckisc. No I do no believe I have to list them all out. What says on my Passport, that what I use on the I-129F. If they turn around and ask me do I used other names beside Chuck, yes it's ChuckandKim on Visajourney.com. Next question!

There is nothing in the example form that you reference to indicate that VJ recommends not providing nicknames. The example form merely indicates that the example person does not use a nickname. The example answers are not a universal answers. Many people do not resemble the example person and will answer the questions differently.

Agree with Yordak! By all mean, do not think I tell you to put NONE if you have more than one NAME (previously married name, Maiden Name, Thai folks with two names or more etc.) do not put NONE, use the space and enter your other names used.

chuckandkim

[Yodrak 7]

chuckandkim,

Where do you see that Other Names Used is restricted to 'legal' names (whatever they are).

Where does it say LEGAL name must be used for other names used, no where of couse, but a reasonable intelligent person could understand this form as it is, IMO. I do not recommend people to complicate their situation by entering PET names you have for each other or Nicknames. Why legal names or name-change are recommended? You are dealing with legal system, your name will be checked against the system (whatever system you will be going through vs. FBI Security Check). I have 3 nicknames I used for different groups of people whom I associated with on the daily basis. Do I believe the USCIS will check my nicknames which only those who I work with care about. The security checking computer system only cares for my legal name, or names i changed to and from. Do I say: My first name is Charles and also go by: Charlies, Chuckles, Chucky, Chuck, Chuckisc. No I do no believe I have to list them all out. What says on my Passport, that what I use on the I-129F. If they turn around and ask me do I used other names beside Chuck, yes it's ChuckandKim on Visajourney.com. Next question!

I agree about not giving 'pet' names, but I do think it is both expected and appropriate to provide nicknames. Many (most?) people are better known by their nickname than by their given name (a few to the extent that they use their nickname exclusively and in the extreme case you may find their given name only on their birth certificate). It's common for a person's nickname to show up on their credit report, which lists the names that a person is known by in publicly available records, even though the person does not use their nickname in their financial dealings. In my credit reports every single account listed uses my full given name, yet my nickname appears in the report section showing names used. In whatever way, it's a matter of public record, not just among friends and co-workers, and as such belongs in the 'Other Names Used' item of immigration forms.

There is nothing in the example form that you reference to indicate that VJ recommends not providing nicknames. The example form merely indicates that the example person does not use a nickname. The example answers are not a universal answers. Many people do not resemble the example person and will answer the questions differently.

Agree with Yordak! By all mean, do not think I tell you to put NONE if you have more than one NAME (previously married name, Maiden Name, Thai folks with two names or more etc.) do not put NONE, use the space and enter your other names used.

chuckandkim

This is an improvement over your earlier post, where you made the blanket statement "Please only write your LEGAL name, other names used: NONE." But why do you seem to feel that 'Other names used' applies to surnames only and not to first names?

Yodrak

[Barry2005 0]

I put her nickname because she signs her letters with it.

[jangler 0]

Where do you see that Other Names Used is restricted to 'legal' names (whatever they are).

Where does it say LEGAL name must be used for other names used, no where of couse, but a reasonable intelligent person could understand this form as it is, IMO. I do not recommend people to complicate their situation by entering PET names you have for each other or Nicknames. Why legal names or name-change are recommended? You are dealing with legal system, your name will be checked against the system (whatever system you will be going through vs. FBI Security Check). I have 3 nicknames I used for different groups of people whom I associated with on the daily basis. Do I believe the USCIS will check my nicknames which only those who I work with care about. The security checking computer system only cares for my legal name, or names i changed to and from. Do I say: My first name is Charles and also go by: Charlies, Chuckles, Chucky, Chuck, Chuckisc. No I do no believe I have to list them all out. What says on my Passport, that what I use on the I-129F. If they turn around and ask me do I used other names beside Chuck, yes it's ChuckandKim on Visajourney.com. Next question!

Good response! Where has all the common sense gone? The USCIS does not care about everyone's nicknames. Entering your nickname only adds more useless information and, IMHO, is absurd.

[chuckandkim 0]

This is an improvement over your earlier post, where you made the blanket statement "Please only write your LEGAL name, other names used: NONE." But why do you seem to feel that 'Other names used' applies to surnames only and not to first names?

Yodrak

Hey Yodrak,

I don't feel I need to treat my first/last names more special than the other. So, I am sorry if my post wasn't clear and causes you to think I feel "Other names used" applies to surnames only and not to first names. To my understand, when they say NAMES, you need to put down whatever NAME (first and/or last) you used legally. There is no special treatment for the two, my uncle uses his Last name as his firt-name when he introduce himself, my other uncle uses his Middle, he hates his first name:D. In their case, what should they put down? I know they use their format it shows on their DL when they file their tax, fill out legal document, official doc, using their True First and Last name period.

About your nickname being used in your credit report, this is the first time i heard of any credit beaural using Nick name to issue financial document. I know some bank will not allow me to use Chuck to open an account with them "sorry sir, whatever name is on your DL, and SSN Card, that's what we're going to use", same with Credit Card and Loans. So it's pretty interesting they let you use your nickname on your credit/loan. Maybe I didn't try hard enough to ask my bank to use Chuck instead.

Jangler: I'm glad you see the same way about nicknames. USCIS doesn't care!

[Yodrak 7]

Chuck,

That's not what I wrote. I wrote that all of the account items reported used my full name. All of my accounts - bank accounts, credit cards, loans - use my full name.

There is a section of a credit report where other information about a person is listed - things like addresses and names. It is in this section that I found several variations of my name, including my nickname and mis-spellings of my name. In other words, my nickname is well enough known as a matter of public record even though I do not use it for financial dealings.

I do not advocate that one has to show things like mis-spellings and, as we discussed earlier 'pet' names (be they an SO's pet name, a HS team nick, a fraternity nick, etc.). But if Charles is commonly known as Chuck, introduces himself as Chuck rather than Charles, and is called Chuck by all and sundry, then it's wise an appopriate to enter Chuck when asked for Other Names Used. It will help to distinquish Charles (Chuck) from Charles (Chas) or Charles (Charlie) should Charles' name get a 'hit' on a check.

Further, although it is common for a person's nickname to be a derivative of their given name, this is not always the case. Many people go by a nickname that bears no resemblance to their given name.

This can be most important for the alien, because if a name turns up in the consular review of the visa application that was not previously reported and run through the security checks, it is quite possible that visa issuance will be delayed while the previously unreported name is checked. I've seen it happen.

Yodrak

This is an improvement over your earlier post, where you made the blanket statement "Please only write your LEGAL name, other names used: NONE." But why do you seem to feel that 'Other names used' applies to surnames only and not to first names?

Yodrak

Hey Yodrak,

...

About your nickname being used in your credit report, this is the first time i heard of any credit beaural using Nick name to issue financial document. I know some bank will not allow me to use Chuck to open an account with them "sorry sir, whatever name is on your DL, and SSN Card, that's what we're going to use", same with Credit Card and Loans. So it's pretty interesting they let you use your nickname on your credit/loan. Maybe I didn't try hard enough to ask my bank to use Chuck instead.

Jangler: I'm glad you see the same way about nicknames. USCIS doesn't care!