My interview and Oath Ceremony in Atlanta

[NickD 203]

Thank you Kathryn41.

I guess I need to with my new name with out my maiden name. I hope it won't create any confusion in the future. Do you think I need to change my name in my banks?

We had little choice for my wife only to use her married name, had to deal with the APA, American Patriot Act plus she had a zero credit rating in this country. Only proof we needed was our marriage certificate and a photo ID, we brought along her foreign passport and EAD at the time. That has changed over time for her, getting new credit card applications everyday in the mail now.

With the N-400, not really a name change per se, again the marriage certificate was the key form of legal proof. But apparently, her IO was not as hard as yours, she had the option to drop her maiden name or leave it. She elected to drop it.

My stepdaughter opted to keep her fathers' name as well as her mothers' maiden name, and she always has been single. If anyone should have changed her name, it was her, an extremely common Latin American name and doing a web search on her name, found many that were in deep trouble with the law. No wonder why she got a decision cannot be made at this time.

[Mama mia 9]

Congratulations ED*Reza!

This is same experiance I had with the Atlanta office when I was naturilized December 9, 2009.

In my country, the children are only given one name, for example: Mary

Then the children are given the middle and last name to match the fathers name. For example father's name is John Smith.

This means the child ends up being named Mary John Smith (wierd!) but since its a custom back home no one dares to change it.

So, after my interview, the io looked at my application and stated, first name is Mary, middle name: John and last name: Smith

and she looked at the birth ceritificate and stated your only given name is Mary, middle nameis blank and the fathers name is John Smith and even though it may be customary in your country to use your fathers name as the middle name but here in the US its not. So, from today, your name is Mary Smith.

So my certificate only had Mary Smith, I took it to the ss office and got a new card with only Mary Smith. I woth to the DMV and got a new 10 yr licence with Mary Smith. I called the bank, the insurance, the power company etc..and removed my middle name.

So far I havent had any issues and I love my new short name!

[OBX 51]

Congratulations!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I think it would probably be a good idea to have your official ID agree with your citizenship name, just to ensure you don't run into any confusion later down the road.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Mama mia 9]

I forgot to mention this:

I also applied for a US passport 3 days after my oath and I only applied with my first and last name. So my ID, passport, ss card all match.

[Caroline and Phil 14]

I'm asking for a name change too. My name doesn't sound right here. lol

[ED*Riza 0]

Thank you Nick, Kathryn41 and Mama Mia for you replies! I went to SSA for the change of the name and status, next trip with be DMV . We are going to call the banks and insurances tomorrow. I do appreciate your feed backs.

[NickD 203]

Thank you Nick, Kathryn41 and Mama Mia for you replies! I went to SSA for the change of the name and status, next trip with be DMV . We are going to call the banks and insurances tomorrow. I do appreciate your feed backs.

First thing my wife wanted to do after her citizenship was to petition for her unmarried son. We had to send in a copy of her naturalization certificate with her new married name on it, her previous marriage certificate with her ex's name on it, her divorce papers, our marriage certificate, and her son's birth certificate with her previous married name on it as a paper trail to prove to the USCIS, she is his mother.

Outside of that, the rest of it was a snap.

Would be kind of nice if our government would issue us a US citizen ID card, practically all other countries have that, and while they are at it, to leave off the place of birth.

[ED*Riza 0]

Congratulations!

Thank you much!

[ED*Riza 0]

I'm asking for a name change too. My name doesn't sound right here. lol

Hi Lisa,

I did not ask for a name change. I was using my first name maiden husband's name since I arrived here after our wedding. Anyway, it done I made a decision just to drop the maiden name. I am done with SSA And DMV. Next week will be my passport! God bless on ur journey!