AOS and name change

[menina 50]

I am the US citizen filing AOS for my husband. Now that we are married, I plan to take his last name. I have not changed my name yet, and we will be filing for AOS this week. Will there be a problem if I change my name during the AOS process and/or will it raise a red flag that I am not using his last name when we go to the interview? Since I have signed all of the forms with my maiden name, I don't want there to be a problem with having a different name on my ID vs what is on the AOS paperwork. I know it seems like a small thing, but I just want to avoid any possible problems. THanks so much!

[raymaga 25]

As soon as you are married, you can start using your husband's last name right away, you don't have to do anything to change your name. All you have to do is change your name on your driver's license, bank accounts, investments, credit cards, SSA etc. You will have your marriage certificate to show the reason for your name change.

When filling out the AOS paperwork, just start using your new married name wherever your name is asked for. By the time you go to the AOS interview, you should probably have received some ID in your new married name.

Edited January 11, 2010 by raymaga

[VanessaTony 3,567]

As soon as you are married, you can start using your husband's last name right away, you don't have to do anything to change your name. All you have to do is change your name on your driver's license, bank accounts, investments, credit cards, SSA etc. You will have your marriage certificate to show the reason for your name change.

When filling out the AOS paperwork, just start using your new married name wherever your name is asked for. By the time you go to the AOS interview, you should probably have received some ID in your new married name.

WRONG WRONG WRONG -- Ignore the above advice

When you applied for your marriage licence, you would have filled it in with "name before marriage" and "name after marriage". ONLY if you wrote your husband name in the "name after marriage" box are you now Mrs. Husbands last name. Your marriage licence is ONLY a name change document IF you signed your married name on it and filled in "name after marriage" with your husband's name. Otherwise it is simply proof that you are married, nothing more.

IF you signed the marriage licence with your maiden name then you will need to do a LEGAL NAME CHANGE in order to take his last name. You will need to decide whether to do the legal name change BEFORE or AFTER the AOS.

IF you signed the licence with your married name, but simply mean you haven't changed the rest of your documents over yet, then that's fine. Fill in all paperwork with your married name so that by the time you change everything over, you will receive your GC and other documents in your married name.

In my case, as I signed my married name on my wedding licence, I am LEGALLY known by my husbands surname therefore all of my documents for AOS will be in my married name. I am not sure how annoying the process will be if you change your name (by legal name change) AFTER you have the GC and everything so if you're planning to do a name change, I would do it BEFORE sending off AOS and then include the document with your paperwork because none of your other ID will have been changed over yet as "proof of name".

Hope that helps.

[menina 50]

WRONG WRONG WRONG -- Ignore the above advice

When you applied for your marriage licence, you would have filled it in with "name before marriage" and "name after marriage". ONLY if you wrote your husband name in the "name after marriage" box are you now Mrs. Husbands last name. Your marriage licence is ONLY a name change document IF you signed your married name on it and filled in "name after marriage" with your husband's name. Otherwise it is simply proof that you are married, nothing more.

IF you signed the marriage licence with your maiden name then you will need to do a LEGAL NAME CHANGE in order to take his last name. You will need to decide whether to do the legal name change BEFORE or AFTER the AOS.

IF you signed the licence with your married name, but simply mean you haven't changed the rest of your documents over yet, then that's fine. Fill in all paperwork with your married name so that by the time you change everything over, you will receive your GC and other documents in your married name.

In my case, as I signed my married name on my wedding licence, I am LEGALLY known by my husbands surname therefore all of my documents for AOS will be in my married name. I am not sure how annoying the process will be if you change your name (by legal name change) AFTER you have the GC and everything so if you're planning to do a name change, I would do it BEFORE sending off AOS and then include the document with your paperwork because none of your other ID will have been changed over yet as "proof of name".

Hope that helps.

THanks for your reply. I am the US citizen, so the AOS paperwork is for my husband. I am only asking if I should put my married name so that by the time we have our interview and all my ID etc. is in my new name, things will match up. There are a couple of places where he has to put his wife's (my) name, and I wondered if it would be easier to just put my married name. As a compromise, I used my maiden name as my middle name so that they can see that I am the same person only married now. I did sign the license with my maiden name, but there is no place on the one for the state of Utah that requires you to say what your name will be after marriage. Some states require that, but Utah does not. I know I can show my license in order to change my name at the DMV etc. THanks for your advice.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

THanks for your reply. I am the US citizen, so the AOS paperwork is for my husband. I am only asking if I should put my married name so that by the time we have our interview and all my ID etc. is in my new name, things will match up. There are a couple of places where he has to put his wife's (my) name, and I wondered if it would be easier to just put my married name. As a compromise, I used my maiden name as my middle name so that they can see that I am the same person only married now. I did sign the license with my maiden name, but there is no place on the one for the state of Utah that requires you to say what your name will be after marriage. Some states require that, but Utah does not. I know I can show my license in order to change my name at the DMV etc. THanks for your advice.

I have to admit I'm a little confused about how you can claim you've changed your name when you have no proof of that. You've signed the marriage licence in your maiden name... I HAD to sign in my new name... so anyway I looked it up and I can STILL only find stuff that says you need to have signed your married name:

- Here is a document about name change: http://family-law.lawyers.com/Name-Changes...r-Marriage.html which states that your married name MUST be on the marriage licence.

- Here's Utah specific info: http://newlastname.org/ut-utah specifically this "in the case of a marriage or divorce, this is accomplished by obtaining a marriage license or divorce decree which clearly states the previous name and the new name."

- Also here: http://www.usmarriagelaws.com/search/unite...tah/index.shtml specifically "The bride will need to know what her married name will be before she signs the marriage certificate. You'll have to write that name on the application."

- This from the Utah Public safety: http://publicsafety.utah.gov/dld/faq_4.html which says "provide legal proof of the name change with a marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption papers, citizenship papers, guardianship papers, or a court document indicating the name change"

I also found this: http://www.washco.utah.gov/clerk/pdf/marri...application.pdf marriage licence application for Utah which has space for the new last name... but it doesn't say "new last name" just says "last name" but the box before that says "maiden name"... maybe it's not your county though..

I hope I'm wrong for your sake but all the info I can find states that your licence must have your married name on it (i.e. applied by married name) or there's the "usage" law which doesn't really apply to you but apparently I can just start calling myself by a name but not all agencies will accept it without documentation. I'd be interested to see how you go. i'd try and change your name on your SSN or licence first before filling in the forms, just so you're sure.