AOS Marriage Certificate/Name Change

[stan&tanya 0]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of submitting my wife's AOS packet. One requirement listed in the VJ AOS checklist is a certified copy of our marriage certificate - my wife has a K3 visa. For you all (K3) who went through what I had to in Thailand to get married, how did you handle this requirement? I have the original copy, certified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but that's it. How should I go about getting a "certified copy" of this?

Another question: My wife wants to change her name, both first and last. Have any of you done this, or at least changed last names, before applying for AOS? I'm thinking getting a SS#, Green Card, and EAD with her passport name would be a pain in the a** to change later. I guess we can always wait until she becomes a US citizen to change her name. Any comments/suggestions?

Thanks,

Stan

[motu 5]

I think you can just send in a copy of the marriage certificate (I assume it is in English) I had gotten 3 copies because they were only $2.50 a piece and the copies look like the original (Orange county, FL.)

When we filed, I used her new name on the filing and she received her green card in her new name - for traveling we have to buy tickets in her maiden name to match the passport (internally in the US in her married name.) She ehad gottn her SSN in her maiden name and we changed it later to her married name. Good Luck

[Yodrak 7]

Stan,

I don't understand your question - you have a certified copy of your marriage certificate. In fact, I suspect that you've got 2 - you and your wife should each have one. You've even gone the extra step of having at least one of your copies 'legalised' by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I didn't do that). All you need to do, if you haven't already is get the certificate translated and have the translator certify that they are competent to do the translation and the translation is accurate.

My wife has used my surname for everything she's done in the USA since the day she entered, from immigration documents to SSA to DMV to banking. Actually, since before she entered the USA as I used my surname for her surname on my petitions and she did the same for her visa application. Changing a woman's surname from maiden name to husband's name is easily done - just start using the husband's name. Since some things can be a prerequisite to something else, e.g. USCIS documents before SSA, she may need to go in sequence.

Don't know about changing given name, although my wife uses he nickname for most purposes since it's easier for farang to hear correctly and pronounce.

Yodrak

Hi all,

I'm in the process of submitting my wife's AOS packet. One requirement listed in the VJ AOS checklist is a certified copy of our marriage certificate - my wife has a K3 visa. For you all (K3) who went through what I had to in Thailand to get married, how did you handle this requirement? I have the original copy, certified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but that's it. How should I go about getting a "certified copy" of this?

Another question: My wife wants to change her name, both first and last. Have any of you done this, or at least changed last names, before applying for AOS? I'm thinking getting a SS#, Green Card, and EAD with her passport name would be a pain in the a** to change later. I guess we can always wait until she becomes a US citizen to change her name. Any comments/suggestions?

Thanks,

Stan

Edited September 1, 2006 by Yodrak

[stan&tanya 0]

Thanks for the replies.

I do have 2 Thai original marriage certificates (flowery pink papers in Thai language), and one Ministry of Foreign Affairs certified copy. I won't give the MFA certified copy, so I guess I have to get a translator to give me a certified translation copy. Would have been nice to know this during the process... oh well, live and learn.

Thanks again.

Stan