Last name issue on I-130/I-485

[Diana SA 2]

Hey everyone, so i have two last names, and i was watching videos of how to fill out I-485 by mark daily and he said ''if you have two last names, hyphenate them, like that ''SOUZA-SILVA'' but my last names are SOUZA SILVA in all the documents, without the ''-''

Should i hyphenate my 2 last names or only type my 2 last names normally?

Edited September 6, 2014 by Diana SA

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

No. They are not hyphenated, so don't add a hyphen where one doesn't belong.

My husband never had an issue with his two last names on any of the forms he has had to file. Sometimes he put 2 spaces between the names to make sure they knew it was 2 separate names acting as one surname/family name.

~ Moved from AOS from Family Based Visas to AOS from Work, Student & Tourist Visas ~

[jxn 86]

I'm not sure what the proper procedure is but the thinking behind the hyphenation is that in a lot of places in the U.S. they just assume the last name to appear in a full name is the surname, and great every name in the middle as middle names.

My wife's first state ID used her maternal surname (second last name) as her last name.

In other parts of the world they smartly put last names in all uppercase in order to clarify. I wish we did something like that.

[Mollie09 1,543]

I have two non-hyphenated last names. I don't hyphenate them.

On legal documents I sometimes write Firstname (NMN) Lastname1 Lastname2. It's actually what my marriage certificate says. Then there's no doubt about whether or not it's a middle name.

[NellyandNicky 3]

I always thought my last name was just my last name, and the other was my middle name. When I got the papers to get married the lady asked if I made an error, because my passport show my last name being the last two names, and no middle name. Only then I discover I have two last names and no middle names.

It makes sense though, since in Brasil you get both parents last names from birth.

I did not insert any hyphen on the application, the passport also don't have any hyphen. In your case there is names with hyphen when using those two names together, so you would be using a different last name than yours if you were to put a hyphen there.

[Diana SA 2]

So in my passport my name has 2 last names and 1 given name while in my marriage certificate where it states my maiden name, my maiden name is stated as 1 given name 1 middle name and 1 last name...

is that going to be a problem for my green card??? will they think that this is not my marriage certificate because of the middle last name issue???

please help :/ do i have to do a new marriage certificate or should it be fine?

[NellyandNicky 3]

I'm wondering the same now.

My visa shows two given names and one surname, my passport shows one given name and two surnames. My visa was done through a company that handled all paperwork.

My previews passports only have "NAME" in them (including the visa one), and it had the full name, and nothing separated.

I checked the Brazilian site for passports, and it states that in Brazil there is no middle names.

When I applied to get married I put my middle name, as I always thought I had one, but the person checking my passport notice on the passport there was no middle name, and fixed "my mistake".

I'm thinking of adding a separately sheet of paper to the passport and visa pages explaining why they are different, and posting the link to the site as well.

Just in case you like to review the link:

Portuguese: http://nagoia.itamaraty.gov.br/pt-br/perguntas_frequentes______.xml

Hmm, I select English, and the passport section is not there. I don't know if attaching a link now makes any difference...

I hope someone else replies with advice into our problems.

[Diana SA 2]

yeah, i filled my marriage application online, the woman told me that in my passport was different, but it was too fast, i told her, no, i have one middle and one last that's how i always thought it was, now i found out she was right...

in my birth certificate says the entire name, no separation, but in the marriage certificate is separated ''middle, last'' and in the passport ''last last'' what should i do? i dont have time to get a corrected marriage certificate please help

[NellyandNicky 3]

I think this is a new thing. Brazilian passports now are more like the US passports, and they just now started using this split name. I checked all my documents, including old passports, and they all show name as full name only. There is no record of any of my documents of which I have found that show my name split into first/last or first/middle/last. The only document of which I have that does this is my most recent Brazilian passport.

Like I said, you could attach an explanation in a sheet of paper. I'm thinking of attaching previews passports to show how Brazil has now introduced this type of way to display names.

That is the only option I can think at the moment. I really hope someone can give some advice about this.

In your case you can possibly change the document mistake. In my case is way too late, since my visa has long expire.

[Diana SA 2]

''Newbie'' btw funny nickname lol

here is what i posted on another forum about it in another site, i hope his answer help you as well

http://www.***removed***/forum/showthread.php/138511-Last-name-Issue-I-485