Information on Name Change During Naturalization

[JimmyHou 611]

I did sign papers for the name change but now I'm questioning if it was even done. Maybe that's why I didn't have a copy attached to my naturalization certificate. My certificate only shows one last name though, that's why I assumed it was done. I went to federal district court today & they weren't very helpful. They sat me at a computer where I went through different pages looking for my name. When I found it, my name was on there with the one last name. Other people's names showed the before and the after. The clerk only gave me a certificate of search naturalization records. She said that was all she could do for me. That they only get a list, not a copy of name change certificate. This is so frustrating. I had to pay $30.00 and I doubt this is going to help me at DPS to get my DL since it only shows the after & not the before & after. My question now is, when is the best time to go online and get an INFOPASS? I've tried several days and appointments are NEVER avaiable.

I'm sorry you had trouble getting what you needed.

I hope you find what you need at the Infopass appointment... at least you may find out that they never processed the forms. If the Infopass doesn't help, you can try one of three things that I can think of:

1- Go back to DPS and try to explain. This may or may not be of any use... in most cases, I imagine it would be a waste of time, but a few years ago, an applicant had a similar problem and didn't get anywhere with the local DPS office, so he called their headquarters in the state capital and managed to get them to acknowledge the name on the naturalization certificate.

2- If USCIS didn't actually process the name change (if they just decided they could print the new name on the certificate without a name change), then your name hasn't legally changed. In this case, you can legally change your name in court. This is frustrating and will cost some money, but if you need the name change certificate, this is the proper procedure to get it.

3- See if DPS will give you your license in your old name, and just use that; as long as they'll update your citizenship status... they may not agree to this.

[jepongsky 3]

Hi Jimmy,

I hope I can get help on this issue of name change. Same dilemma like others during my N400 interview is the change of name which caught me by surprise. It was the first question the IO ask me on the day of interview. Why I am using the last name of my father as my middle name in my documents where in my birth certificate the name format is first name, mother's last name, father's last name. this is actually my name before I got married. So when I got married, the conventional way of changing name for us Filipinos is to drop the mothers name and my father's last name will be my middle name then my last name will my husband's last name. My husband and I got married in US under fiance visa, and I did not get any problem during the processing of my greencard, and other legal documents in US like SSN, DL and my names in bank. I use whatever we use in my country after marriage. First name, Middle Name(father's last name), Last name(husband's last name). Now here comes the day of the interview , the IO said the name format in US should be my first name, my mother's last name, then my husbands last name. I insisted at first that my middle name should be my last name( and that is my father's last name). The way he was telling me is that is not the legal way of writing name in US. I need just to completely drop my previous last name in replacement of my husband's name. We have not started the 6 questions yet, and the oral and written test at that time. So for me not to get in trouble I just told him to use the legal way of writing name in US since I am applying a citizenship for US.So interview done, He said I passed. Now after the interview, this where I began to realize the burden of changing my middle name because it will be a mismatch to all my documents in banks, passports, DL, SSN. I never thought It would be a problem because when they gave me a greencard they just follow whatever is in my marriage certificate. Bigger headache is all my documents in my home country are on the format of first name, fathers last name, husband's last name, and they are very strict on middle names in my home country specially in bank transactions.

So now my oath taking will be on January 26, I tried going online for an infopass but no appointment available for 14 days. And I am just wondering the best way to resolve this name format issue. I would like to keep my name as it is in my greencard, since that is the name I use in all my documents here in US and in my home country.Is there any way I can do this before oath taking or I will just do it in the court after oat taking. I am living in San Jose and from the thread that I read, there is no judicial oath ceremony in San Jose. It will be a change name in the court which means paying extra money, waiting for I don't know how long, which then makes all our plans for vacation on hold because I cannot get out of the country without an american passport after my oath taking since I will be surrendering my home country passport and greencard.

Please give me some light on this and to whoever experience it. I am just so stress right now. Thanks in advance.

[ddblu 0]

This topic is great! I thought we need to make a name change but I see it is not required as my wife would just like to have her maiden name replaced by my last name for the naturalization. We are going to include the certificate of marriage (French) with the translation. Is it required to get it certified by an official translator?

Dan

[JimmyHou 611]

This topic is great! I thought we need to make a name change but I see it is not required as my wife would just like to have her maiden name replaced by my last name for the naturalization. We are going to include the certificate of marriage (French) with the translation. Is it required to get it certified by an official translator?

Dan

As far as USCIS is concerned, anyone fluent in both languages can translate the document. You just need to add a note on the translation attesting that the translator is fluent in both languages. This needs to be signed and dated. Technically, you can do it yourself, although I've seen others recommend that you get someone other than the petitioner and the beneficiary to do it in order to show some degree of impartiality.

After naturalization, the marriage certificate will be your wife's proof of name change. Others (government offices, banks, etc.) may or may not accept a translation that's not officially certified.

[JimmyHou 611]

Hi Jimmy,

I hope I can get help on this issue of name change. Same dilemma like others during my N400 interview is the change of name which caught me by surprise. It was the first question the IO ask me on the day of interview. Why I am using the last name of my father as my middle name in my documents where in my birth certificate the name format is first name, mother's last name, father's last name. this is actually my name before I got married. So when I got married, the conventional way of changing name for us Filipinos is to drop the mothers name and my father's last name will be my middle name then my last name will my husband's last name. My husband and I got married in US under fiance visa, and I did not get any problem during the processing of my greencard, and other legal documents in US like SSN, DL and my names in bank. I use whatever we use in my country after marriage. First name, Middle Name(father's last name), Last name(husband's last name). Now here comes the day of the interview , the IO said the name format in US should be my first name, my mother's last name, then my husbands last name. I insisted at first that my middle name should be my last name( and that is my father's last name). The way he was telling me is that is not the legal way of writing name in US. I need just to completely drop my previous last name in replacement of my husband's name. We have not started the 6 questions yet, and the oral and written test at that time. So for me not to get in trouble I just told him to use the legal way of writing name in US since I am applying a citizenship for US.So interview done, He said I passed. Now after the interview, this where I began to realize the burden of changing my middle name because it will be a mismatch to all my documents in banks, passports, DL, SSN. I never thought It would be a problem because when they gave me a greencard they just follow whatever is in my marriage certificate. Bigger headache is all my documents in my home country are on the format of first name, fathers last name, husband's last name, and they are very strict on middle names in my home country specially in bank transactions.

So now my oath taking will be on January 26, I tried going online for an infopass but no appointment available for 14 days. And I am just wondering the best way to resolve this name format issue. I would like to keep my name as it is in my greencard, since that is the name I use in all my documents here in US and in my home country.Is there any way I can do this before oath taking or I will just do it in the court after oat taking. I am living in San Jose and from the thread that I read, there is no judicial oath ceremony in San Jose. It will be a change name in the court which means paying extra money, waiting for I don't know how long, which then makes all our plans for vacation on hold because I cannot get out of the country without an american passport after my oath taking since I will be surrendering my home country passport and greencard.

Please give me some light on this and to whoever experience it. I am just so stress right now. Thanks in advance.

Hi; you're in a bit of a tough situation. You want a legal name that isn't on your birth certificate or spelled out on your marriage certificate. In such cases, USCIS allows you to take your spouse's last name instead of yours. In most cases, changing your middle name is considered a formal name change and not simply a marriage name change. Many officers, and even some states, recognize customs from other countries and allow these changes during naturalization. But this isn't always the case though, and some officers are skeptical. For example, Arthur John Smith can show a marriage certificate to Jane Mary Greenfield and say that in his home country, the tradition is to take the wife's last name and hyphenate it with his own middle name so that he wants his certificate to read Arthur John-Greenfield Smith. Obviously I just made all that up, but that's why officers, in many cases, don't accept name change traditions they are not familiar with. They don't tell you you can't do it; they just tell you that you need to go through the formal process to change the name. Unfortunately, in your case, San Jose may not be able to give you a formal name change, so you'll have to go through the courts.

Your choices are to convince USCIS at an infopass that your legal name is what you want (this needs to be before the ceremony), or to pay the court fees after naturalization and go through that process. The advantage of the latter is that you'll have a document showing your birth name and your new legal name; this could be helpful when proving your identity down the line.

[liquidheavn 0]

Hi,

I have successfully obtained a decree of name change by court order through the CA Superior Court. I haven't update any legal document with the new name yet, including ID, SS Card and Green Card. My question is, should I put my new name as current legal name on the N-400 form? Or I need to use my existing legal name and check and fill the option where it says Name Change? I will send a copy of the decree of name change along with the N-400 form anyway.

Thanks

[JimmyHou 611]

On 12/18/2016 at 4:12 AM, liquidheavn said:

Hi,

I have successfully obtained a decree of name change by court order through the CA Superior Court. I haven't update any legal document with the new name yet, including ID, SS Card and Green Card. My question is, should I put my new name as current legal name on the N-400 form? Or I need to use my existing legal name and check and fill the option where it says Name Change? I will send a copy of the decree of name change along with the N-400 form anyway.

Thanks

 

If you have a court order showing your new name, then that is your current legal name.  The name on your ID, SS card, and green card is your old name and is no longer your legal name.

 

[BubbleMe 3]

Hi! I'm so confused here:(( Please help! I'm about to file my N-400 this month and wanted to do a name change.Do I need to change my name now (courthouse) before submitting my N-400? Thank you!

[Hank_ 9,174]

On 1/7/2017 at 3:25 AM, J Ann said:

Hi! I'm so confused here:(( Please help! I'm about to file my N-400 this month and wanted to do a name change.Do I need to change my name now (courthouse) before submitting my N-400? Thank you!

Simply complete question 4 with your new name, everything will be handled for you after that at oath taking.   Very easy to do. 

[michaellaw 0]

Hello,

 I just passed the citizenship interview and are waiting for the mail about oath ceremony. When I filled in form N-400, I did not change to the new name (section 4). Now I'm looking to change my mind. What should I do to get the new name for free? Please help me explain my case in details. Thank you.

[jepongsky 3]

Thanks JimmyHou, I was able to get an info pass and they were able to take good care of it! I just did my oath taking ceremony yesterday and it was awesome!:) Now a US Citizen:) 

[JimmyHou 611]

On 1/26/2017 at 3:55 PM, michaellaw said:

Hello,

 I just passed the citizenship interview and are waiting for the mail about oath ceremony. When I filled in form N-400, I did not change to the new name (section 4). Now I'm looking to change my mind. What should I do to get the new name for free? Please help me explain my case in details. Thank you.

 

Naturalization offers you an opportunity to change your name for free.  If you don't take advantage of that, you need to follow the usual name change process, which is not free.  You have to apply for a name change in court and pay the required fees, which vary from place to place.  In some cities, it only costs $50 and in others it is as much as $500.  At this point, your name change has nothing to do with naturalization; when you get your certificate, you can go and change your name in court.  I would do this before applying for a passport so that you can get your passport in your new name.

 

Technically, you could make an Infopass appointment and ask them to let you do a name change, but in my opinion, this is complicated and could cause delays with your oath.  I would prefer to just pay for the name change in court.

Edited February 1, 2017 by JimmyHou

[MyJourney 276]

Hello everyone, 

I expressed an intention to change my name on n400 form. I wrote there my preferred name, where it asks. I my case is at Denver, CO office and it seems like they do offer the same day naturalization/oath ceremonies. I think this one is an "administrative" one not a "judicial" one. 
Will they still be able to do the same-day oath ceremony if I opt in for name change? Or will I have to have a "judicial" ceremony? By how long would this delay my oath ceremony? 
I really would like to change my name (slightly) should I do it during naturalization even if it will cause a slight delay on my oath ceremony or would it be better to do it later at a local court? 

Thank you! 

[JimmyHou 611]

21 hours ago, MyJourney said:

Hello everyone, 

I expressed an intention to change my name on n400 form. I wrote there my preferred name, where it asks. I my case is at Denver, CO office and it seems like they do offer the same day naturalization/oath ceremonies. I think this one is an "administrative" one not a "judicial" one. 
Will they still be able to do the same-day oath ceremony if I opt in for name change? Or will I have to have a "judicial" ceremony? By how long would this delay my oath ceremony? 
I really would like to change my name (slightly) should I do it during naturalization even if it will cause a slight delay on my oath ceremony or would it be better to do it later at a local court? 

Thank you! 

 

A name change cannot be processed at an administrative ceremony, so your request will likely delay your oath date. Depending on the city that can be a delay of a week or of several months. You'll have to see how often Denver holds judicial ceremonies. 

[MyJourney 276]

On 2/10/2017 at 6:38 AM, JimmyHou said:

 

A name change cannot be processed at an administrative ceremony, so your request will likely delay your oath date. Depending on the city that can be a delay of a week or of several months. You'll have to see how often Denver holds judicial ceremonies. 

Thank you! Since Denver holds same-day naturalizations, I want to cancel my name-change.....I read somewhere here that an applicant can cancel the name-change at the interview. Is that correct?