Middle Name Change

[godiego 1]

Hello all,

First time here and I was hoping somebody could guide me through a question. I got married recently and my wife and I are getting ready to file the AOS package. We have a question about changing her name. In her birth certificate she has a first, middle and two last names. Mary Jane Smith Jones. In the marriage license there was only space for Mary Jane Smith. Therefore this is the name that's on the marriage certificate. There is a field that states she's taking my last name Miller after marriage. What is assumed is that she is switching to Mary Jane Miller but my wife wants to keep her last name as her middle name: Mary Smith Miller. She is out of status and therefore can't make any changes at the SS office. We know that it is fine that she uses my last name on all the AOS forms since the marriage certificate is a proof of her name change. What we don't know if it's OK to change her former last name to middle name without having any other official document stating that's her name. Any help with this dilemma would be greatly appreciated!

[bigdog 377]

I saw many who filed under the married name on the I485. We did not but we told to request name change at IO interview for AOS.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Hello all,

First time here and I was hoping somebody could guide me through a question. I got married recently and my wife and I are getting ready to file the AOS package. We have a question about changing her name. In her birth certificate she has a first, middle and two last names. Mary Jane Smith Jones. In the marriage license there was only space for Mary Jane Smith. Therefore this is the name that's on the marriage certificate. There is a field that states she's taking my last name Miller after marriage. What is assumed is that she is switching to Mary Jane Miller but my wife wants to keep her last name as her middle name: Mary Smith Miller. She is out of status and therefore can't make any changes at the SS office. We know that it is fine that she uses my last name on all the AOS forms since the marriage certificate is a proof of her name change. What we don't know if it's OK to change her former last name to middle name without having any other official document stating that's her name. Any help with this dilemma would be greatly appreciated!

Did you advise them her full legal name didn't fit? Because to ME yuor marriage license isn't legal if it doesn't have her ACTUAL name on it, and missing a name means it's not her actual name.

USCIS apparently has no issue with a random middle name change so you should be able to just change her middle name BUT if depends on what her legal name is. As you said she has two legal last names there shouldn't be a problem... the only problem is the wrong name on the licence/certificate

[godiego 1]

Did you advise them her full legal name didn't fit? Because to ME yuor marriage license isn't legal if it doesn't have her ACTUAL name on it, and missing a name means it's not her actual name.

USCIS apparently has no issue with a random middle name change so you should be able to just change her middle name BUT if depends on what her legal name is. As you said she has two legal last names there shouldn't be a problem... the only problem is the wrong name on the licence/certificate

I see. Well I'm afraid the marriage license is not legal then. Any idea how to go about fixing this? I called City Hall and they said there was absolutely no way to change the name on the license/certificate. The application had space for First, Middle, Last like most documents here in the US. It didn't occur to us that not including her second last name would invalidate the certificate! Gosh so it is worse than I thought uh?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I see. Well I'm afraid the marriage license is not legal then. Any idea how to go about fixing this? I called City Hall and they said there was absolutely no way to change the name on the license/certificate. The application had space for First, Middle, Last like most documents here in the US. It didn't occur to us that not including her second last name would invalidate the certificate! Gosh so it is worse than I thought uh?

It COULD be. Basically you have to look at it like this. Your name is John Smith-Jones. You couldn't have the name on the Will as "John Smith" because that's not your name. One of my exes had 7 names (some rich family thing). I asked him about it once. He said on non-official stuff he went by just two of the names, but on legal documents he had to write it all (and having so many meant adding supplemental pages sometimes).

The form had space for First, Middle and Last so you should have written (per your example) Smith Jones in the last name box, Mary as first, and Jane as middle. But again, depends on her passport and birth cert. What do they say? Is it split up with Smith Jones as her last names?

What state are you from?

[godiego 1]

It COULD be. Basically you have to look at it like this. Your name is John Smith-Jones. You couldn't have the name on the Will as "John Smith" because that's not your name. One of my exes had 7 names (some rich family thing). I asked him about it once. He said on non-official stuff he went by just two of the names, but on legal documents he had to write it all (and having so many meant adding supplemental pages sometimes).

The form had space for First, Middle and Last so you should have written (per your example) Smith Jones in the last name box, Mary as first, and Jane as middle. But again, depends on her passport and birth cert. What do they say? Is it split up with Smith Jones as her last names?

What state are you from?

We are from Massachusetts. You are correct what we should have done is put Smith Jones (separated) as it appears on her passport and birth certificate...I guess the jitters of going through this didn't let us think clearly. Now we'd like to fix it :/

[VanessaTony 3,567]

We are from Massachusetts. You are correct what we should have done is put Smith Jones (separated) as it appears on her passport and birth certificate...I guess the jitters of going through this didn't let us think clearly. Now we'd like to fix it :/

Try this: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Basic+Needs&L3=Vital+Records&sid=Eeohhs2&b=terminalcontent&f=dph_vital_records_c_amend_corrections&csid=Eeohhs2 it appears you CAN make a change to a "vital record" and I would say the marriage cert is a vital record but you should call them and ask. Make sure you fix it before filing AOS.

When it comes time to file AOS that's when you can remove one of the last names and change her middle if you like, but it needs to be correct first.

[godiego 1]

Try this: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Basic+Needs&L3=Vital+Records&sid=Eeohhs2&b=terminalcontent&f=dph_vital_records_c_amend_corrections&csid=Eeohhs2 it appears you CAN make a change to a "vital record" and I would say the marriage cert is a vital record but you should call them and ask. Make sure you fix it before filing AOS.

When it comes time to file AOS that's when you can remove one of the last names and change her middle if you like, but it needs to be correct first.

Thank you so much for your assistance. I will look into this tomorrow. So let's say I can amend the record and I obtain a new one with her legal name. Do you advise that we fill out the paperwork with the name she would like to keep or that we do it with her birth name? Is there an opportunity to ask for a name change before the work permit green card is issued?

[payxibka 10,047]

Thank you so much for your assistance. I will look into this tomorrow. So let's say I can amend the record and I obtain a new one with her legal name. Do you advise that we fill out the paperwork with the name she would like to keep or that we do it with her birth name? Is there an opportunity to ask for a name change before the work permit green card is issued?

Name changes are not a big deal to the USCIS... You are not the first...

Just apply for AOS in the name you want on the card ...

When we got married my wife changed the spelling of her first name, adopted a middle name and changed to my last name. Filled out the I-485 with the new updated names, former names are documented in the appropriate section. No problems

Edited September 1, 2011 by payxibka

[godiego 1]

Name changes are not a big deal to the USCIS... You are not the first...

Just apply for AOS in the name you want on the card ...

When we got married my wife changed the spelling of her first name, adopted a middle name and changed to my last name. Filled out the I-485 with the new updated names, former names are documented in the appropriate section. No problems

Thank you for your insight. Do you think we will encounter a problem if the marriage certificate is missing her second last name?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Thank you for your insight. Do you think we will encounter a problem if the marriage certificate is missing her second last name?

I don't think there will be a problem. I agree with payxibka. Just file Mary Smith Miller. Leave the marriage certificate as it is. It's valid. Legal names in the US are not quite the huge deal some people believe. That's why they have "other names used" on some USCIS forms so you can inform them of your whole list of aliases. I've got a variety of names on very legal papers, ie. Social Security, driver's license, house deed, bank accounts, will, stocks, marriage certificate. They don't all match.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Thank you so much for your assistance. I will look into this tomorrow. So let's say I can amend the record and I obtain a new one with her legal name. Do you advise that we fill out the paperwork with the name she would like to keep or that we do it with her birth name? Is there an opportunity to ask for a name change before the work permit green card is issued?

I would fill out the AOS paperwork in the name she wants on the paperwork. In the "other names used" you would put her maiden name.

I disagree with the notion that the fact the name on the marriage licence doesn't match ANY documents you have isn't an issue. I think you should have it changed. I also don't think having mismatched documents "isn't a big deal". It's best to keep documents uniform, or at least SIMILAR. As in for a girl if you have stuff in your maiden name, stuff in married, stuff in your second marriage it's all traceable back to you.

Your marriage cert is missing part of her name, it's not actually her full name. It's not a name she "goes by" it's supposed to match her birth certificate. So contrary to the last two posts I think this WILL be an issue I think you SHOULD get it fixed.

Another reason, if they deny your AOS based on an invalid marriage certificate you've gotta hope they allow you to correct it via an RFE and not that they flat-out deny it and you have to pay all over again. I would contact the number in the link I posted and ask their advice (it could be your marriage is totally invalid, isn't that a little scary?). If they say not to worry about it I would then make an INFOPASS to make sure USCIS doesn't have an issue with it and THEN I would file. But then my status is important enough to me to be *sure*.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Vanessa&Tony

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

MY thoughts are you want Mary Smith Miller on your GC. Your marriage license/certificate has the names Mary, Ann, Smith, and Miller somewhere on the document. It's easy to see the connection. It's not like you're trying to add "Elvis" to your greencard with no documentation of that name anywhere.