Getting Marry - when is best time to change name

[kkm 1]

My fiancee and I are about to apply for our marriage license. We want to change her name (both first and last) due to wrong spelling and other reasons.

When is the best time to do this?

Can we use her existing name for the marriage license now and change it later in other processes?

Or should we change it now? Can we even change her name at this stage (marriage license)?

Thank you much for any help.

[NancyNguyen 1,657]

You have to wait until you finish wedding, the one who performs your wedding (Reverend, judge...) will submit another part of your marriage license to the the court. You come back later on (2 weeks in Phoenix, AZ) to get the certified copy of your marriage license and then use it to submit for name change on everything at your Social Security Office, Passport...

[VanessaTony 3,567]

My fiancee and I are about to apply for our marriage license. We want to change her name (both first and last) due to wrong spelling and other reasons.

When is the best time to do this?

Can we use her existing name for the marriage license now and change it later in other processes?

Or should we change it now? Can we even change her name at this stage (marriage license)?

Thank you much for any help.

She can change her middle and last names thanks to marriage but not her first. She will need to go to court to get a legal name change to change her first. You can do this prior to AOS or following AOS. I don't know how long the process is in your state so after marriage and prior to AOS would be what I would do. That way you can ssubmit the marriage cert for last name change, and court order for the first name change so that her entire new name is on the GC. Otherwise you'll need to file an I-90 to change the GC, or wait till ROC.

You have to wait until you finish wedding, the one who performs your wedding (Reverend, judge...) will submit another part of your marriage license to the the court. You come back later on (2 weeks in Phoenix, AZ) to get the certified copy of your marriage license and then use it to submit for name change on everything at your Social Security Office, Passport...

This is true for middle and last name, but the OP asked about first and you typically can't change first without a court order.

[kkm 1]

Thank you all for your very helpful comments.

[JD63 4]

She can change her middle and last names thanks to marriage but not her first. She will need to go to court to get a legal name change to change her first. You can do this prior to AOS or following AOS. I don't know how long the process is in your state so after marriage and prior to AOS would be what I would do. That way you can ssubmit the marriage cert for last name change, and court order for the first name change so that her entire new name is on the GC. Otherwise you'll need to file an I-90 to change the GC, or wait till ROC.

This is true for middle and last name, but the OP asked about first and you typically can't change first without a court order.

I don't think this is necessarily true. My wife changed all three of her names (well changed two and added one) on the wedding certificate and had no problems using this for Driver's license, SS, AOS, greencard, etc. Maybe it's different because Thai's don't have middle names usually, but she had zero issues with changing all the names at once.

However this is done on a county by county basis in Iowa, and perhaps at some other level in other states, so some counties/states may disallow a legal first name change on a wedding license, but I was unaware that was an issue.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I don't think this is necessarily true. My wife changed all three of her names (well changed two and added one) on the wedding certificate and had no problems using this for Driver's license, SS, AOS, greencard, etc. Maybe it's different because Thai's don't have middle names usually, but she had zero issues with changing all the names at once.

However this is done on a county by county basis in Iowa, and perhaps at some other level in other states, so some counties/states may disallow a legal first name change on a wedding license, but I was unaware that was an issue.

Well Iowa is different It's fabulous here right .. stupid winter. ANYWAY It's a state to state thing but the majority don't allow it. Some of use are lucky enough to live in awesome states

[gango 0]

I think the rules regarding the name change depend on the state that issues the license. We were just married in Colorado and I asked about changing her middle AND last names on the license. We were told that ONLY a last name change was permitted. Anything more required an order from the court. That's pending...