Florida State ID - Denied

[Leo&Farah 0]

Long story. My husband and I went to get a State ID for me to help prove shared residence for one of our supplementary evidence for Removal of Conditions.

I came into the country with my maiden name, got married, changed to a married name for the AOS application. Got my GC in my married name (which is bits chopped off my full name and added my husband's surname). Later on, I got a social security card in my married name. Tried getting a State ID two weeks ago. All I was asked for was my GC, social security and two proofs of residence. It went through the tax collectors office only to be denied at their HQ in Tallahassee for reasons of 'discrepancy in names on my immigration documents and immigration database.' They told me to provide documents indicating if I have ever been under a different name before to any driver's license office. So we went back and provided marriage certificate, my passport, my GC, my social security and a welcome letter from USCIS that came when my GC was approved (in my married name).

The officer went to speak to a supervisor who told me I had to call 'immigration' and update/correct the 'SAVE' system to reflect the correct name. So we called USCIS on the spot at her desk and went through some menus before someone was on the line. We immediately asked to speak to a supervisor since I remembered reading on VJ how it's the misinformation line at level one. The supervisor asked me to verify some information; alien number, full current name and date of birth before telling us the name on my file was still my maiden name. She told us to make an infopass appointment at a field office in Tampa, FL to sort it out since she could not do it over the phone.

I am baffled. I got my GC in my married name. I have my social security card in my married name. USCIS recently sent a reminder letter to us to remove conditions in my married name. Yet, somehow, I am still in my maiden name to them. How is this even possible? I made an infopass appointment, where the earliest I can get is two weeks from now and we'll see what they have to say but I'm honestly still flabbergasted by how stupid this all is. It makes no sense whatsoever. If they issued my GC, my SS and sent a letter all in my married name, how on earth is my maiden name still attached to the alien number?

Has anyone been through this before? Does anyone have any advice to give? We're both tired of going places, taking off work to accommodate administration's office hours for appointments only to yield no results while poeple pass the buck around. When we go to this infopass, I want to make sure I am armed with ALL things needed and any way to combat them giving me a canned response of not being able to help me so I can get results. Just seems like to me, everyone is quick to put a roadblock infront of you and put the onus on you to figure your way around it. The icing on the cake is we don't even get a refund for the State ID I never received.

Thanks in advance. Sorry if I'm ranting, I'm at my wits end.

[EminTX 131]

I don't have any advice on this but I am certainly interested in the outcome of this. Between the USCIS and the NVC, my fiance's birthday has been changed. I am hoping it is corrected at the embassy, but we will see. I work in an ER and it is not a very rare event when a legally immigrated patient tells me two birthdays--the real one and the immigration one. Apparently, once your information is wrong in the system, it is all but impossible to correct it. GGGgggggrrrrrrr.......

[Harsh_77 718]

That can happen, all agency use different systems and updates don't happen in real time each agency has different requirement before update can happen.

Make infopass appointment and it should be sorted out, nothing major.

[SunShineFL 0]

That happened to me too. The only problem is, my ASC is in New Orleans and it's a four-hour drive one way to make that few minutes info pass.

I was fuming at the supervisor but there's nothing I can do right there and then coz I was told the problem is with the USCIS SAVE system and not with them.

We called USCIS and we were told to make an info pass to update my name on their SAVE system.

So what my husband did when we got home was call our congressman. They have a worker in his office who deals with immigration stuff and that lady was ever so helpful.

She requested copies of my green card (front and back) and my SSN card and I had to sign a release form allowing the congressman's office to work on my behalf.

After 2 weeks I got my state ID but then I had to turn it over to DMV when I got my driver license. Wasted paying for the darn state ID!

But on the other hand, I would have not known that USCIS had my name in my maiden name instead of my married name if I didn't went through getting a state ID.

I suggest you give the congressman's office a call and they will deal with updating your info with USCIS.

[Leo&Farah 0]

It turns out the problem was much bigger than we thought. I came here in my maiden name. It is bloody long. They chopped off some middle parts of it at USCIS, social security and my marriage cert. Then they gave me a green card in the married name I applied for AOS with, where I dropped a prename(not my given name)in my first name and separated my middle name from my given name (all three names in my first name) while adding my husband's last name as a surname. To make things less confusing, I have 3 names in my first name. Prename, given name and middle name which is attached to my given name. Hypothetical example, from Sue Maryrose Maidenname, I applied for and got Mary Rose Husbandsname in my green card.

Anyway, USCIS approved the name change and sent me a green card in my new married name, no issues, so I thought all was good. Two years later it bites me in the #### after we go to an infopass appointment and they tell me the name in their system and SAVE is still my chopped off maiden name and the most they can do to change it is Sue Maryrose Husbandsname, not Mary Rose Husbandsname as it is in my green card. I'm horribly confused at this point and had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach of yet more problems coming down the road.

The officer calls for a supervisor who tell me the same thing although was really really rude about it. She told me I could wait until citizenship to get a free name change so I could change my name with them to what it currently is on my green card. I asked her why the green card would be sent out in that name if it wasn't approved by their rules. She told me whatever name I put down there in the application, is what name they would send in the green card. I found this still confusing seeing as I had supplied all the documents with my identity in the initial AOS such as passport and marriage license to which they could have defaulted to or gone by based on what they wanted. But they sent me a green card in a name they could not clerically and supposedly, legally support. I was still a little baffled how they would send something they could not approve to me, which should be for all means and purposes, my new legal name. I asked her why, if they had a problem which my name as I applied for and in the current green card, why they did not simply change it based on what they had on their files. She said that is not what they do.

Anyhow, the whole shebang was tiring and baffling, not to mention emotionally draining. The supervisor was yelling at me continuously for things she didn't understand but did not give me an opportunity to reply to her fully, to which she misunderstood more. After telling me to wait until citizenship to change my name legally, I thought I had to change my name to their matching name in their database on my social security, bank, insurance, titles and leases. So I asked her if I could get a judge to get a legal name change until then to prevent doing all the name change legwork with other institutions. She told me I could if I wanted to spend $500 dollars but to wait for a legal name change until citizenship. I was confused by the way she worded things and then asked if I, as a resident, could not get a legal name change from a judge until citizenship. She told me I could but advised me again to get a legal name change at citizenship. At that point she started yelling 'Whatdoyouwantwhatdoyouwantwhatdoyouwant!" to me. I answered 'I just want clarification' as I was still confused on how to proceed with the other institutions matching my green card name if I left the situation as is, with a different name on the USCIS system. She finally calmed down and realized what I had been trying to ask her, which she would have known if she had not been interrupting and yelling at me. So now, according to her, everything in my green card name with other institutions can stay as is, with no legal repercussions and I can just wait patiently until citizenship for USCIS database to catch up.

I'm just a little upset and shaken at how rude and easily bullied I was by someone there and how I failed to communicate to her succinctly, considering I pride myself on communicating well. It is very hard to do so when someone is yelling at you and constantly interrupting you. At another point, she had pointed at part of my birth certificate in my native language and yelled 'whatdoesthismeanwhatdoesthismeanwhatdoesthismean!" I got so flustered by her yelling, I couldn't even translate in my head so I told her to hang on while I grabbed the certified translation I had kept from my days with the fiance visa. She did not even give me a second to get it. She again yelled "What does this mean!" before I even managed to open my file so which I had to put a hand up and say "Hold on, I am trying to get translation from this file." My husband upon seeing me flustered and treated badly, tried handling it himself only to have her put a finger up at him to shut up while she looked at documents. He finally managed to get a word in edgewise but it all still felt frustratingly uninformative and confusing.

I'm a little worried she might be the one to interview us for removal of conditions, if an interview is needed, as it is the nearest field office to where we are. My husband seems to think it is not the job a supervisor does. But still have this gnawing fear that she might declare our marriage fraudulent simply because she does not like me, or us, or thinks mistakenly we created a fuss, when we were calmly and respectfully trying to get information on what to do.

After she left, the immigration officer who was very nice decided to call the DMV and email them to go ahead and give me a state ID in my green card name, so that was taken care of. All that remains is to live with a different name on my green card and the USCIS until citizenship.

[yachachiq12 43]

Wow, what a nightmare! I hope everything works out okay. I'm so sorry to hear about how you were treated. Sounds like that woman has some growing up to do yet...

[Klau&G 2]

Leo&Farah I'm so sorry about this terrible experience you just have had with USCIS. Let me ask you something: have you traveled to your country and came back to USA with your green card not matching with the names in your passport? It was that an issue or you could pass through inmigration without problem? I can not imagine!!!

I ask you this because I dropped my first name MARIA and used just CLAUDIA (middle name) like my first and ONLY name plus my husband's lastname, when I applied for AOS. ALL my documents: green card, social security, driver license, credit card, etc. are like this.

But we're planning go back to Colombia soon and I'm just dying of thinking that when I am coming back the USCIS system create me a problem because of this issue of my middle name used like my first and only name... I can not believe this system here is so stupid, if you have 2 names and always you've been known by one...You must be free of use it like your only name now that you have a chance of having this new documents... Anyway for the purpose of the law, NOBODY in USA knows me with my colombian given name, EVERYBODY here knows me with my GREEN CARD NAME so.... It's JUST IMPOSSIBLE that I dropped my first name with criminal intentions, that's soooo obvious...so: why all this crazy nightmare???

I don't get it!!! I'm so mad now. I hope all your bussiness are going better now and you can fix this. Thank you for share your experience.

Claudia.

[Leo&Farah 0]

Claudia, no I have not traveled outside the country since I got here, so I cannot foresee what will happen. But if I were you, I'd try and find out if this might be a problem trying to come back in. Maybe ask around on this forum or make an infopass appointment. If you must travel, maybe its best to also bring along all the NOA letters and welcome letters you got from the USCIS during the process of getting the green card as proof you went through their system. This is what I showed them just INCASE they thought I had a bogus green card since it didn't match their records, despite the fact that THEY gave it to me.

Having those letters will definitely show you did as you were supposed to do and any discrepancy in the system is on their end.