I-130 Name Question

[jv86 1]

Hi All,

Trying to start my visa journey for my wife and didn't get too far before questions and concerns set in.

I'm sure this is a question that many have come across in their own way so I'm hoping this board will be a little more helpful than the vague replies I've received from the USCIS.

My wife is Jordanian and culturally they take the names of their father, grandfather etc. To give an example: Laila Ahmad Muhammad Qais (where Laila is her name, Ahmad is the father's name, Muhammad is the grandfather's and Qais is the family name). How should I put her name in the I-130 and other forms following the "First, Middle, Last" format as I don't want to leave a name out and have everything be thrown off or rejected because of a simple name mistake.

Many thanks for your assistance.

All the best.

[YV15 0]

I believe you should just use the name as it appears in the passport

By the way, that's a beautiful tradition

Good luck

[jv86 1]

Thanks for the reply YV15 as well as the kind words,

The problem I have faced is that on her documents it will say "Given Names" and "Surname" so it isn't divided up the way they'd like it on the form. That's what confuses me, of the given names how can you decide which ones will count as first, middle, last. Referring back to my example (Laila Ahmad Muhammad Qais) I'm tempted to put Laila as first, AM as middle and Qais as last but I don't want that to be wrong and have it rejected for something so simple.

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

[amkhan 108]

Dear My suggestion is Laila is her First name her father name will be in middle and her family QAIS will come as surname, So Given name is Laila Surname is QAIS.... Also in I130 petition there is column write other name if have any so you can write her full name as per passport or birth certificate.... on my origan country passport my name is only my name as given name and father's name is surname... but as per arabic tratidion here in UAE they write my name and includes my father's full name as well so i have mention in i130 my passport name as real and other name if have any... my UAE name...

i guess you should follow the same.

[visaqueries 111]

We had that problem too, so how we handled it was we left the middle name blank. Then we used all the other names as his last name. We wrote them in. If you use the father's name as the middle name, then the name that comes out on official documents often leaves out the middle name on paperwork. Now, when he got his driver's license and SSN and credit cards, his name is written correctly. He was much happier to have the great granfather's name drop off the list rather than have them avoid using his father's name as his second name.

So, in your case, we'd have written FIRST NAME Laila LAST NAME Ahmad Muhammad Qais

[jv86 1]

Many thanks everyone for your inputs. It seems like there is no cut and dry way of doing it so I'll discuss the matter with my wife further to see how she would want her name to appear on US documents and take it from there.

Thanks again and best of luck to everyone.

[NikLR 13,227]

Ask her how SHE would like the names to appear. Does she want a last name that is 3 names and to be referred to as Ms. Ahmad Muhammad Qais? Or Ms. Qais? Or something else? Whatever she wants her green card to be is how it should appear on her passport.