K-1 Name change, travel, and K-2 assorted questions

[GabeandKatya 0]

Hellloooooo visa journey forumzers!

Long time stalker reader, first time poster.

First off, our petition has been approved and my fiancee, Katya, should be going to her interview in Kiev on September 18th. Yay!

Here's where my questions start... Katya will be coming here hopefully by the end of the year along with her two incredibly adorable twin 2 y/o girls. Once they're here, we'll apply for SSNs, AOS, etc, etc. Once we are married, Katya wants to take my last name, but is worried about being able to later travel. She is worried that with her Ukrainian passport having her current last name, if she takes my last name after we're married there will be a problem. Also, she is afraid there may be problem if she takes the girls back to visit family in the Ukraine and her official last name is different than theirs.

From what I've read, you can still travel after having your name changed if you bring your marriage certificate and you've been approved for AP and/or have your AOS approved, correct? And what about very young K-2 children? I don't imagine she'd want to take them on another long trip anytime soon, but should the need arise, what would they need for traveling?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

[Oksana & Max 94]

I am not sure about the requirements for children, however I will answer you about the name change, as this been posted a lot and we have the same situation.

You have to make sure that you buy her a tickets on the name that is in her passport till she gets a US Citizenship or change her passport to reflect the her new last name (which by the way can only be done in Ukraine). So book the tickets on the name in the passport, and when she will be coming back she will use her AP with the marriage certificate.

[GabeandKatya 0]

Hello, and thank you for the reply! I appreciate it. All help and advice is very much welcomed.

[Phil & Alla 26]

As far as changing the name, it should not be a problem as long as she has a copy of the marriage certificate and he AP or green card. But as stated, the plane reservation has to match her passport. We are going to get Alla's passport changed to her married name the first trip back. Also for the girls to leave the Ukraine the parent consent form is going to be needed each time they leave the country until age 16.

For the SSN for your wife, I will tell you what happened to me, but she will need it to open a joint bank account.

The first trip to the SSA, which has to be at least 2 weeks prior to the I-94 expiration, I had the marriage certificate and I cannot remember what excuse they gave, but would not issue it in her married name--which I knew was incorrect, but I did not take things with me to show them they were wrong. They would not issue a SSN to my 10 year old stepdaughter with out an EAD. A SS card was received about 2 weeks later for Alla, which was restricted.

Second visit with an EAD in hand we got the name corrected and a SSN for our daughter. But when we received the cards they were still stamped with the restriction.

Third trip with green cards in hand for both of them,. we received the new cards about a week later with no restrictions.

There are posts here on obtaining a SSN and I would suggest looking at them and go armed with the information in black and white

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hellloooooo visa journey forumzers!

Long time stalker reader, first time poster.

First off, our petition has been approved and my fiancee, Katya, should be going to her interview in Kiev on September 18th. Yay!

Here's where my questions start... Katya will be coming here hopefully by the end of the year along with her two incredibly adorable twin 2 y/o girls. Once they're here, we'll apply for SSNs, AOS, etc, etc. Once we are married, Katya wants to take my last name, but is worried about being able to later travel. She is worried that with her Ukrainian passport having her current last name, if she takes my last name after we're married there will be a problem. Also, she is afraid there may be problem if she takes the girls back to visit family in the Ukraine and her official last name is different than theirs.

From what I've read, you can still travel after having your name changed if you bring your marriage certificate and you've been approved for AP and/or have your AOS approved, correct? And what about very young K-2 children? I don't imagine she'd want to take them on another long trip anytime soon, but should the need arise, what would they need for traveling?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Name change will not be a problem. Alla kept her maiden name which means it was never the same as the boys...ever. At her citizenship ceremony she changed he name to mine. Carry a copy of your marriage certificate with her passport when traveling, make sure you keep the permission letter for the girls until they are 16. No worries.

The girls will get green cards and they will use those for traveling. They will be out in the mother's passport under Ukrain law, so they will need to travel with her.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Your fiancee can get an SSN right away, Alla got hers the next morning after arrival. The children will have to wait until they have a green card (K-2)

[GabeandKatya 0]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I'm a little fuzzy on one thing though. You mentioned a permission letter. Are you talking about permission from the other parent for the children to leave the country? In our case, the father ran out as soon as he found out my fiancee was pregnant. From what Katya has told me, he legally has no rights to the girls and legally they have no father. In that case, I'm guessing she'd just need to show whatever document(s) she has showing that she doesn't need permission? Also, I plan to legally adopt the girls once things get settled down a bit, though I haven't looked into how that whole process works yet. Would adopting them make it easier when traveling?

Thanks again everyone! I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[Phil & Alla 26]

If the father's name is on the children's birth certificates you will need one of the following at the interview:

Court decree of sole legal custody of the child (if applicable)

Court decree pronouncing the other parent missing (if applicable)

Notarized statement from an absent parent + copy of the photo page of the passport (if

applicable)

If the father's name is not on the birth certificate no consent is needed. You might want to read this post, http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/383418-sole-custody/

[GabeandKatya 0]

She says his name isn't on the birth certificates, so we should be good. Woohoo! One less hassle to deal with!

[Phil & Alla 26]

When you get a minute, completed timelines help everyone on this site

You should be good to go then. Just from another post (I could not find it) a member said that his fiance put another man's name on the birth certificate (not the child's father) but the real father knew about the child. This situation opened up a big can of worms. Just make sure NO father is listed on the birth certificate, if a father's name is on it, consent will need to be obtained from that person--and hopefully the biological father does not get involved. I am not trying to throw water on your fire or give you further worries, just trying to make sure you have it all covered and it goes as planned

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I'm a little fuzzy on one thing though. You mentioned a permission letter. Are you talking about permission from the other parent for the children to leave the country? In our case, the father ran out as soon as he found out my fiancee was pregnant. From what Katya has told me, he legally has no rights to the girls and legally they have no father. In that case, I'm guessing she'd just need to show whatever document(s) she has showing that she doesn't need permission? Also, I plan to legally adopt the girls once things get settled down a bit, though I haven't looked into how that whole process works yet. Would adopting them make it easier when traveling?

Thanks again everyone! I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Is he listed as the father on the birth certificate? If no, then she can get a "certificate of no father" from ZAGS and that is all you need. And if that is the case, you will be able to legally adopt them. Adopting them makes them US citizens, so YES travel would be easier.

When you get a minute, completed timelines help everyone on this site

You should be good to go then. Just from another post (I could not find it) a member said that his fiance put another man's name on the birth certificate (not the child's father) but the real father knew about the child. This situation opened up a big can of worms. Just make sure NO father is listed on the birth certificate, if a father's name is on it, consent will need to be obtained from that person--and hopefully the biological father does not get involved. I am not trying to throw water on your fire or give you further worries, just trying to make sure you have it all covered and it goes as planned