Information on Name Change During Naturalization

[JimmyHou 611]

I thought this might help those of us considering a legal name change.

The N400 application is (in most cases) a great time to legally change your name. It's fast and it's free. Outside of the N400 process, a name change requires a visit to your local courthouse, may require a public announcement in a newspaper (depending on your state and local laws) and will cost you money. In New York City, the cost is about $65 while on Houston it is over $400, so cost varies from city to city.

You can change your name to anything you want within certain limitations. You can't change your name to impersonate someone or in an attempt to hide your identity for illegal purposes. Other than that, it's up to you. If you are Arthur Robert Wilkinson, you can become Geraldo Mohamed Leibowitz.

It's important to note that if you are just changing your last name to take your spouse's last name or to revert to your maiden name, then a legal name change is not required. This is because a marriage certificate or a divorce certificate acts as proof of legal name change. This is true EVEN IF your certificate does not show the new name that you want to take. For example, if Anita Mary Harrolds marries Geraldo Mohamed Leibowitz, she can legally be known as Anita Mary Leibowitz even though that name does not appear anywhere on the certificate. In fact, she can also hyphenate both last names without a legal name change. However, if she wanted to change her middle name from Mary to Margaret, she would need a legal name change.

To request a legal name change through the naturalization process, fill out the name change section of the N400. The interviewer may ask you to confirm that you still want to change your name because some people change their minds between the application and the interview. The interviewer may ask for proof of your current legal name. In case of a discrepancy between your green card and your passport, a birth, marriage, divorce, or name change certificate determines your current name, so make sure you have these with you (if they apply in your case...it's always a good idea to have your translated birth certificate with you at the interview). The interviewer will print out some forms (three I think) for you to check and sign. These should have your old and new names on them.

You will have to be scheduled for a judicial oath ceremony. This is because USCIS does not have the legal authority to change your name and must ask a judge to do so. If your city has regular judicial ceremonies then there shouldn't be any delays. If your city holds regular administrative ceremonies, but not many judicial ceremonies, then the name change may cause a delay. Some cities (including San Francisco and San Jose) have stopped scheduling judicial ceremonies altogether. Applicants in these cities cannot legally change their names through the N400 application. Your interviewer will inform you of this and will cross out the name change section during the interview. You will have to request a regular name change before or after naturalization if you live in these cities (see above).

At your oath ceremony you will be given your naturalization certificate as well as a name change certificate signed by a judge. This second certificate will show your old and new names and you'll need it to update your name with your banks, on your drivers license, credit cards, etc. In addition to doing all the paperwork to make these changes, you'll also have to consider the effect of the name change if you have dual citizenship; your name on your two passports may not match and your other country may require you to go through different name change procedures or may not allow name changes at all. People do travel using passports with different names, but you have to be careful when booking tickets and you may want to travel with your name change certificate (and translations).

If you want to check whether or not (and how often) judicial ceremonies are held in your location, find your office here and look under naturalization ceremonies:

http://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/field-offices

[MiaPA 12]

Thank you so much for this info, was curious about this since I was debating between name changing or not to take on my husbands name. Very helpful and informative.

[MamaLove 0]

Thank you for this information JimmyHou and as always, for being one of the biggest contributors here on VJ. God bless.

[nikkikl 2]

Is there the ability for my son to change his name at any point during the naturalization process. I am about to send in my N-400 and while I'm unsure about the nuts and bolts of how he is processed, I'm curious as to whether he has this same option at any stage? He is 17 years old and wants to change his last name to mine.

TIA

Nikki

[JimmyHou 611]

Is there the ability for my son to change his name at any point during the naturalization process. I am about to send in my N-400 and while I'm unsure about the nuts and bolts of how he is processed, I'm curious as to whether he has this same option at any stage? He is 17 years old and wants to change his last name to mine.

TIA

Nikki

Since minors cannot file an N400, they cannot change their names through the naturalization process.

The following is assuming your son is a permanent resident and living with you in the US.

If you become a citizen before your done turns 18 then he will become a citizen automatically too. He can then change his name in court after he turns 18.

If your son turns 18 before you take the oath of citizenship, he will not become a citizen. He will have to file his own N400 when he is both over 18 and has been a permanent resident for 5 years. He can then change his name through the naturalization process.

[nikkikl 2]

Ok got it. So really, it's cheaper for me to get the Citizenship (before he is 18) and THEN he can change his name in court, which is something like $150.00. He is 18 in January so I should, fingers crossed, have it all done and dusted by then.

Thank you!

Edited May 23, 2015 by nikkikl

[KiritoW 3]

I was about to change my name then decided not to. I will instead wait till i am able to naturalize , it looks easier.

[JimmyHou 611]

One more thing (prompted by a question on another thread):

If you need or want additional copies of the name change certificate (the original will be stapled to your naturalization certificate) you can contact the clerk of the district court through which you were naturalized at your judicial oath ceremony. You should be able to purchase additional copies of the name change order for around $10 or $20.

Edited May 28, 2015 by JimmyHou

[Harinivas 0]

Please Help.

Dear Forumers,

My sister has changed her name during citizenship oath ceremony and says there was no court order given and it was held in immigration office at Los Angeles. Now am planning to apply for f4 sibling visa and it requires evidence of name change for my sister.Can you please guide what documents required and how do i get them?

Thanks

[JimmyHou 611]

Please Help.

Dear Forumers,

My sister has changed her name during citizenship oath ceremony and says there was no court order given and it was held in immigration office at Los Angeles. Now am planning to apply for f4 sibling visa and it requires evidence of name change for my sister.Can you please guide what documents required and how do i get them?

Thanks

It sounds like she had an administrative ceremony not a judicial ceremony. That means she did not do a legal name change. Did she just change her name to take her spouse's last name, to revert to her maiden name, or to hyphenate the two names? If so, then she can use a marriage or divorce certificate as proof of her new name.

So:

1- What change did she request?

2- Does her naturalization certificate show the new name?

[Harinivas 0]

Thanks for your reply Jimmy,

My sister has added her Husband first name to her name . Her maiden name is now her Husband"s first name.

1.If a marriage certificate is not available what other documents will be treated as evidence?

2. Is there any way that she can get evidence or certificate from a file where the judicial ceremony has taken place to show the name change ?

Please advice.

[JimmyHou 611]

Thanks for your reply Jimmy,

My sister has added her Husband first name to her name . Her maiden name is now her Husband"s first name.

1.If a marriage certificate is not available what other documents will be treated as evidence?

2. Is there any way that she can get evidence or certificate from a file where the judicial ceremony has taken place to show the name change ?

Please advice.

It doesn't sound like she did a legal name change through the N400 process. If that's the case then there is no evidence or certificate of any kind because there was no name change and perhaps no judicial ceremony.

I'm still not clear on what her name was and is now. Maybe you can explain with fake names.

But if she just changed her name due to marriage then she can use her marriage certificate as proof. See the first post on this thread. That would explain why there was no official name change... She didn't need one.

[Harinivas 0]

Dear Jimmy,

Before name change:

My sisters name : SUE + Maiden name

Her Husband name : DAVID

After name change:

My sisters name : SUE DAVID NIVEN

Her Husband name : DAVID NIVEN

Both my sister and her husband added NIVEN during name change. Where "NIVEN" relates to a specific religion/caste.

Thanks Jimmy.

[JimmyHou 611]

Dear Jimmy,

Before name change:

My sisters name : SUE + Maiden name

Her Husband name : DAVID

After name change:

My sisters name : SUE DAVID NIVEN

Her Husband name : DAVID NIVEN

Both my sister and her husband added NIVEN during name change. Where "NIVEN" relates to a specific religion/caste.

Thanks Jimmy.

If she husbands name is David Niven and she became Sue Niven then she wouldn't need a formal name change; she can just use her marriage certificate. Since she added the "David" that complicates things. I think this would require a formal name change but I'm not sure. So here's what she can do:

1- Find out if she had a judicial ceremony or an administrative ceremony. Does she remember having a judge at her ceremony or was it a. USCIS official who administered the oath? Did she sign additional name change documents at her interview (the interviewer would have printed these and had her check the old and new names and sign the papers at the interview)? If there was no judge or if she didn't sign those extra forms then she didn't do a legal name change.

2-a- if she had a judicial ceremony, she can go to the clerk of the federal district court and request a copy of the name change certificate. These should cost $10-$20.

2-b- If she had an administrative ceremony or a judicial ceremony without a formal name change then she has two options.

2-b-i- She can try to use her marriage certificate as evidence of the name change. This may not work because she is doing more than taking her husbands last name.

2-b-ii- She may have to go to court and get a legal name change so that her name matches the name on her naturalization certificate.

In short, she needed a legal name change and USCIS messed up. Either they forgot to give her the name change certificate or they never requested one from a judge because they thought it was just a marriage name change. Adding the husband's first name makes this (I think) more than a marriage name change which would have not required a certificate.

So first step would be to check with the court (if she remembers the things mentioned above).

Second step would be to use the marriage certificate as evidence of name change.

Third step would be to go to court and request a name change. This won't be free.

[JimmyHou 611]

I posted this information a few months ago, but I thought I'd repost the relevant section on this thread for completeness. This has to do with whether or not you should excpect a delay due to a name change request. Sorry if some of this is repetition of the information above.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/500304-info-on-same-day-ceremonies-name-changes/

Although the N400 form has a place where you can request a name change, only a judge can approve a name change. USCIS offers two types of ceremonies: Administrative and Judicial. Name change requests can only be accommodated at Judicial ceremonies. Some people automatically assume that a name change request will delay your application, but this depends on the local office (see link in the first post of this thread). Judicial ceremonies can also be carried out by the Federal District Court. Here are three examples:

1) Houston offers monthly Judicial ceremonies and "rarely" offers Administrative ceremonies - so a name change request is very unlikely to cause a delay.

2) Seattle conducts Judicial ceremonies once per year, but regularly offers Administrative ceremonies - so a name change request can cause a significant delay unless the District Court holds its own ceremonies (you would have to check the court's website).

3) San Jose conducts an Administrative ceremony 2 to 3 times per month, but does not offer Judicial ceremonies - so a name change request will not be accepted if your N400 goes through San Jose (this is a recent change, but if you search, you'll find interview experiences describing this).

Edited June 11, 2015 by JimmyHou