Name change in the middle of the I-130/CR-1?

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

Hello,

Here's a short background on my current situation. My husband and I were married on 5/25/2012 in India. We were unable to register our marriage but after consulting with USCIS were allowed to proceed with the filing of the I-130 if we attached all legal documents showing our ongoing efforts (which we did). Since we only have the marriage certificate from the temple and not the registration certificate issued by the gov. of India, I have been unable to change my name here in the U.S. to my married name.

I added my married name as an alternative name on the I-130 since my work records identify me by my married name.

After my husband recently spoke with the marriage registrar, he seems willing to register our marriage now. I'm not sure why he had a sudden change of heart.

Now say we do get the marriage registration certificate and I go ahead and change my name with a pending I-130. How does this affect our case? Do I have to notify USCIS of my official name change? Or will this just complicate matters too much and be better if I just refrain from changing my name until our case is completed?

Also what about the actual registration certificate? Should I notify USCIS that I finally received it and send them a copy?

Thanks!

[bsd058 296]

Hello,

Here's a short background on my current situation. My husband and I were married on 5/25/2012 in India. We were unable to register our marriage but after consulting with USCIS were allowed to proceed with the filing of the I-130 if we attached all legal documents showing our ongoing efforts (which we did). Since we only have the marriage certificate from the temple and not the registration certificate issued by the gov. of India, I have been unable to change my name here in the U.S. to my married name.

I added my married name as an alternative name on the I-130 since my work records identify me by my married name.

After my husband recently spoke with the marriage registrar, he seems willing to register our marriage now. I'm not sure why he had a sudden change of heart.

Now say we do get the marriage registration certificate and I go ahead and change my name with a pending I-130. How does this affect our case? Do I have to notify USCIS of my official name change? Or will this just complicate matters too much and be better if I just refrain from changing my name until our case is completed?

Also what about the actual registration certificate? Should I notify USCIS that I finally received it and send them a copy?

Thanks!

I wouldn't change your name legally until everything is done. This means that you should not change your name on anything until your immigration process is complete. Then you can change your name once you have immigrated. People complain that USCIS screws things up when it comes to names. They aren't as detail oriented as we would like.

But that's just my take on it. My wife has not changed her name in the three and a half years we've been married since we wanted to wait until after we immigrated back to the US. We knew we would go back and so we decided not to change anything on her records. Once my immigration goes through, we'll change her name. It gets complicated when people make errors on important documents like green cards.

Edited January 15, 2013 by bsd058

[Ms Hogan 295]

I wouldn't change your name legally until everything is done. This means that you should not change your name on anything until your immigration process is complete. Then you can change your name once you have immigrated. People complain that USCIS screws things up when it comes to names. They aren't as detail oriented as we would like.

But that's just my take on it. My wife has not changed her name in the three and a half years we've been married since we wanted to wait until after we immigrated back to the US. We knew we would go back and so we decided not to change anything on her records. Once my immigration goes through, we'll change her name. It gets complicated when people make errors on important documents like green cards.

I was sure to change my name before starting the process so that everything would be consistent BUT in your case, since you were not able to, I have to agree with BSD058 in saying that you should probably wait. I wouldn't want to create any confusion on any level. It means dealing with some name changes later on your green card but I think that is easier to handle than having something cause a glitch along the way to your approval. That's just my gut instinct.I have nothing to go on other than that.

[thongd4me 69]

We took a different route (K-1) but here's my take on name change.

On the US marriage certificate she changed her last name to mine

so that for friends and various administrators in the US it would

appear more familiar.

I saw no advantage in changing her family name to mine in Thailand,

as her perfectly normal Thai name would travel better in her home

country because the spelling in her home script would be familiar

to them and they might frequently misspell a name foreign to Thailand.

It would also be better for her friends & relatives if her name stayed the same.

I also thought that if in the future if her government might discriminate

administratively against Thais married to foreigners vis-a-vis property

rights, etc. it may not be a good thing for her to have a foreign name.

You on the other hand have chosen to marry in India & your wife's visa process

is not over.

If she wants to change her name in the US it's a fairly easy administrative process,

but to wade through the administration in India to do that may not be worth the trouble.

If she decides to change her name, a US passport if applied for would be

in her married name which would be easier for US administration, friends & relatives

and her Indian passport would remain her maiden name.

When traveling, upon entry in India she won't be asked for US passport

and upon entry into the US won't be asked for Indian passport.

I wouldn't change your name legally until everything is done. This means that you should not change your name on anything until your immigration process is complete. Then you can change your name once you have immigrated. People complain that USCIS screws things up when it comes to names. They aren't as detail oriented as we would like.

But that's just my take on it. My wife has not changed her name in the three and a half years we've been married since we wanted to wait until after we immigrated back to the US. We knew we would go back and so we decided not to change anything on her records. Once my immigration goes through, we'll change her name. It gets complicated when people make errors on important documents like green cards.

Edited January 15, 2013 by thongd4me

[ngo3361 8]

I keep my maiden name as the Vietnamese women generally don't change their last name after marriage.

I agree that you should wait until the immigration process is complete and you get your GC to change your last name.

[Bec_Dipu 103]

Just to clarify, the "she" is the US citizen. The "he" is the Indian citizen.

Amanda, I'm so happy to see that you might be able to register after all!

I would wait on the name change though - no sense in giving them an opportunity to screw up.

Hope you're enjoying India and stay safe!

[Ms Hogan 295]

Just to clarify, the "she" is the US citizen. The "he" is the Indian citizen.

Amanda, I'm so happy to see that you might be able to register after all!

I would wait on the name change though - no sense in giving them an opportunity to screw up.

Hope you're enjoying India and stay safe!

Well then I would DEFINITELY wait. There is no need to change it at this point and I woudln't want to cause any extra/confusing work for USCIS that might wind up biting you later.