Changing Name

[EmN84 1]

Hi

I got married 4 weeks ago and im about to start applying for my social security card. Am i able to change my name while at the office applying for the SS card or do i need to make a separate appointment?

Also if i can do it at the same time, what do i need to take with me as evidence?

Thanks

[Marco&Bettina 502]

You should've applied before you got married. If you apply now, you will not be allowed to apply in your new last name. I'm not sure if you're allowed to apply with your maiden name after being married. Someone else will have to chime in on that.

Edit: Oh, & congrats on your marriage!

Edited January 15, 2015 by Marco&Bettina

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi

I got married 4 weeks ago and im about to start applying for my social security card. Am i able to change my name while at the office applying for the SS card or do i need to make a separate appointment?

Also if i can do it at the same time, what do i need to take with me as evidence?

Thanks

Your best chance at getting a SSN is before marriage and in the maiden name exactly as it appears on your entry record I-94. That isn't because of specific rules, but because Social Security workers at all the various offices don't seem to know how to handle a K1. People have been told "you got married so are no longer a K1 and are now a K3 and not eligible." Wrong, wrong, wrong...but a hassle and people walk out without a successful application.

When you go to apply, don't even bring up marriage and the name change. They won't find your married name in the record of your admission to the US. Use the maiden name. Once you get a greencard in your married name, then Social Security will find the updated USCIS record under that name and will change your record and send you a new card that doesn't contain the wording about valid for work only with DHS authorization. You can accomplish the same thing with an EAD CARD.

Just don't complicate your chances at a speedy card delivery by trying to do a name change on your first card. Go with the maiden name.

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Your best chance at getting a SSN is before marriage and in the maiden name exactly as it appears on your entry record I-94. That isn't because of specific rules, but because Social Security workers at all the various offices don't seem to know how to handle a K1. People have been told "you got married so are no longer a K1 and are now a K3 and not eligible." Wrong, wrong, wrong...but a hassle and people walk out without a successful application.

When you go to apply, don't even bring up marriage and the name change. They won't find your married name in the record of your admission to the US. Use the maiden name. Once you get a greencard in your married name, then Social Security will find the updated USCIS record under that name and will change your record and send you a new card that doesn't contain the wording about valid for work only with DHS authorization. You can accomplish the same thing with an EAD CARD.

Just don't complicate your chances at a speedy card delivery by trying to do a name change on your first card. Go with the maiden name.

Maybe we jumped the gun a little then. I just sent off a request to my local SSA Office to have my wife's name changed on her SS Card based on marriage. It said that was doable on the SSA website by providing a new SS-5 & copy of the marriage certificate. https://faq.ssa.gov/link/portal/34011/34019/Article/3749/How-do-I-change-or-correct-my-name-on-my-Social-Security-number-card?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Maybe we jumped the gun a little then. I just sent off a request to my local SSA Office to have my wife's name changed on her SS Card based on marriage. It said that was doable on the SSA website by providing a new SS-5 & copy of the marriage certificate. https://faq.ssa.gov/link/portal/34011/34019/Article/3749/How-do-I-change-or-correct-my-name-on-my-Social-Security-number-card?

I don't know if doing it online works or not. Some people accomplish it at the local SSA office even, but so many have bad experiences with workers who don't know how to deal with K1s. My comments were for the best chance to get the card at the dumbest of local offices in the shortest amount of time.

[Marco&Bettina 502]

I don't know if doing it online works or not. Some people accomplish it at the local SSA office even, but so many have bad experiences with workers who don't know how to deal with K1s. My comments were for the best chance to get the card at the dumbest of local offices in the shortest amount of time.

I should've clarified. I know I hijacked a bit. My apologies. I understand what you were referring to. It just raised an issue with what I had just done yesterday with my wife. I mean we didn't do it online because the website says you can't. We just printed the SS-5 & mailed it, along with a copy of the marriage certificate to the local SSA office to change her last name on the SS Card we received earlier this week.

Edited January 16, 2015 by Marco&Bettina

[RM1987 3]

I applied for my first social security number after we were married but using my maiden name, we did not mention that we were married. Thankfully they understood the K-1 visa and I received my number within a week. Once I had notification from USCIS that I had applied for adjustment of status (with my married name) I returned to the SSA office with our marriage certificate and had my name changed. This was all done before my I-94 expired.

The documents I had to show were my SS-5 form, K-1 visa, my I-94 and my full birth certifcate. The second time I went I also had my marriage certificate and documentation from the USCIS.