Name Change and Work

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Hello,

When your fiance' came to the USA, how did you handle changing her (or his) name? Did you keep your full Vietnamese name, or did she take your last name?

Secondly, how long does it generally take before a newly arrived fiance' is able to work legally in the US?

Thanks a bunch!

[Dau Que 6]

Hello,

When your fiance' came to the USA, how did you handle changing her (or his) name? Did you keep your full Vietnamese name, or did she take your last name?

It's VNese custom that married women don't change their maiden name to the hubby's new last name. Her father should have educated her about this already. Her future children would not carry her family's last name but there's no reason for her to lose that identity.

Secondly, how long does it generally take before a newly arrived fiance' is able to work legally in the US?

Once she's applied and approved then received her EAD, she can legally work. Waiting time? USCIS can tell you. Noone knows for sure. Assume it's an avg of 2-3 months.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Dau Que

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Agree with Dau Que.

My wife was willing to change her name when we got married, but I was against it. It's not the Vietnamese custom, and it wasn't important to me that she have my last name. I also thought it would be best if her kids had at least one parent with the same last name. In addition, I think her Vietnamese first name sounds a little silly next to my Scottish surname.

On top of that, all of the paperwork involved in the process becomes much easier. She won't need to get a revised Social Security card, or deal with the fact that the name in her passport is different from the name on her green card, etc.

Technically, she's eligible to file for an EAD during the first 90 days she's here (i.e., while the I-94 is still valid). There are two really good reasons NOT to do this. First, she's only eligible for employment authorization while her I-94 is valid, so the EAD would expire when her I-94 expires. Given that it takes a couple of months to get the EAD, there's a reasonable chance it would be expired by the time she got it. Even if she got it before the I-94 expired, she wouldn't legally be able to work more than a few weeks before the card expired. Second, you have to pay a filing fee if you file based on K1 status. Since it isn't going to provide long term employment authorization, you'd essentially be flushing your money down to toilet.

You can apply for the EAD at the same time you apply for the green card. There's no additional fee in this case. There's also no guarantee she'll get the EAD before she gets the green card. My wife's EAD arrived 5 days before her green card interview. Once she has a green card then she doesn't need an EAD anymore. The green card serves as authorization to work.

[Ronnie&Hang 12]

We had our civil wedding yesterday, my wife kept her last name. It's not only customary, but I think it will work out best since it will be the same name on her VN passport, which still valid until 2019. She can use it to travel back and doesn't have to bring our marriage certificate to show the name change. We don't have to go back to SNN office to adjust for the name change later..

We also received her SSN with "VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION". I am going to apply for her EAD anyway with the AOS package since there is no additional fee, knowing it may only good for awhile and she may not even need it. So, if your wife doesn't have the urgent need to work right away..do it with AOS or wait for the GC..good lucks!!!

[vietazn 1]

Even if your wife wants to change name, the best time to do that is during the naturalization process, because name change is an explicit part of the process. I don't see any benefit of changing it before then.

About working, there's really no benefit of working before getting the green card, since it only takes a few months to get it. Probably more useful to study English during the free time.

[VinhBao MyTam 3]

From what I've heard the woman keeping her own name is a relatively new (20th century) development in the Vietnamese culture... does anyone have any info on that?

[confusedasheck 21]

From what I've heard the woman keeping her own name is a relatively new (20th century) development in the Vietnamese culture... does anyone have any info on that?

My Chinese friend claims in China that women stopped taking their husbands' surname after the Communists took over China. Women were no longer required to take their husbands' surname as part of an attempt to abolish imperialism. Maybe the same thing happened in Vietnam when the Communists took control of Vietnam?

[VinhBao MyTam 3]

My Chinese friend claims in China that women stopped taking their husbands' surname after the Communists took over China. Women were no longer required to take their husbands' surname as part of an attempt to abolish imperialism. Maybe the same thing happened in Vietnam when the Communists took control of Vietnam?

Well, I didn't want to get political, but that is when I heard it happened in VN too. :-) Since, we're not communists or feminists, my wife will take my name :-)

[lindal24 1]

My grandma is pushing 100 years old and she's kept her maiden name since birth. That's telling me something...