Fun with the AOS after our marriage.

[dvensel1 5]

Hi all.

I thought I'd post our escapades on here for all to laugh at. I thought only the Philippines would provide us with this kind of entertainment but I was wrong. The US is just as good at it.

My wife arrived on April 1st of this year. Yes....this should have been an indication of things to come based on April Fools day. Anyway, all went well and she got to see her fist snow 2 days later up here in the north country. We were married on May 9th at my best friend's home and the ceremony was performed by myother best friend who is an ordained minister. What a woinderful time we had.

As soon as we had the marriage certificate in hand we high-tailed it to the Social Security office for her new SSI card with her married name on it. We filed her name with them using the Philippine tradition of moving the wife's maiden name into the middle name slot and then using my last name as her new last name. No problem here. The medical insurance was done the same way as was the bank account. They were all done as:

(first name)(maiden name)(new last name). We then filed the AOS using this new name sequence too and sent in her EAD papers at the same time. Perfect, I thought. USCIS accepted it. That is until we went for her bios at our friend USCIS office.

The first trip was a bit unnerving because the lady came out and told us we couldn't use that particualr middle name (her maiden name) because in NY state only the LAST name can be changed by virtue of marriage. We readily agreed to revert back to her original maiden name so that we could get out of there an head home. The bios were doine and we were on our way.

Foast forward 2 weeks. We get a letter from USCIS that states her finger prints weren't good enough for the FBI and to please return for a reprinting - free of charge of course. We did this on the 29th of June. This time we were met with a different lady. She told us she could not process the petition with the name that was on it because on our marriage license the little box was checked that states my wife would retain her maiden name. Drat! I tried to explain to the lady that this was no out of the ordinary since many women retain the legal right to use their maiden name. It merely meant that my wife may revert back to it at a later date should she desire to or need to. This lady disagreed and refused to do the prints. An agent came out and of course agreed with her. We left in tears knowing that this was just the beginning.

Two days later I told the wife to mount up and we were headed the 85 miles back to the USCIS office to file the petition in her maiden name. My wife said it would be a mess. But thanks to a few well informed people on this site who replied to my request for help, I knew all we needed to do was a simple legal name change after we had done the bios and satisfied the lady at this office. This legal name change would also allow us to use my wife's maiden name as her middle name and therefore follow their tradition in Bohol. We got the bios done on July 1st.

I couldn't find a lawyer in my little town who knew how to do a name change so i figured if i could deal with the paperwork associated with USCIS, Homeland Security, thge Philippine Consulate, the AOS paperwork, etc., I should be able to handle a little legal name change. And I did. For a mere $210 I submitted the applicatioin, my good friend Judge XXXXX took care of it, and 2 weeks later we had her name change to: (first name)(maiden name)(new last name).

Now here's the kicker. On a friday we got the official name change document (which I promptly filed with all concerned authorities) but the funny part is that we got her EAD card the same day and it had the ORIGINAL NAME WE USED ON THE ORIGNAL PAPERWORK printed on it! I busted into laughter that could have been heard in Bohol! We can't wait to see how the actual AOS comes through.

So there you have it. Good times were had by all. I think I'll start a pool to see which name shows up on her temp. green card. I'm saying it'll be: (first name)(middle name)(new last name). My wife thinks it'll be: (first name)(middle name)(maiden name). Either way, we got it covered with a supreme court judge's signature this time thanks to the legal name change.

[Pythos1 24]

Let's see... with all that fun, how about more fun? "We see you're married to three people, (First name)(Middle name)(Maiden name), (First name)(Maiden name)(New last name), and (First name)(Maiden name)(New last name). We also see all three of these women have used the same person's fingerprints. You are illegally practicing polygamy in order to fraudulently bypass Federal Immigration Law. Your case has been forwarded to a Federal Prosecutor."

I joke! Because dark humor can break stress sometimes, and because I'm full of it (dark humor, that is). I hope all goes well, and I'm wondering how my fiancee will want her new name when it comes to that time.

[Credo 12]

your story just made me smile as you handle it with great sense of humor. This can frustrate most people

[TBoneTX 45,956]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the AOS/Family-Based Case Progress subforum -- topic involves that stage. ***

[MiaPA 12]

I never changed my maiden name when I got married, I worried it would cause some hiccups doing my AOS and my son's AOS. I decided to change it with my citizenship and after reading this story, I am glad I waited. I wish you guys the best on the rest of your journey hopefully no more problems through the rest of the process and it's easy sailing.

[dvensel1 5]

Thank you all!

[dvensel1 5]

Hello all fellow visa travelers. Good news! Today (Dec. 2nd) we received my wife's official green card. We had only just gotten the notice of approval the day after Thanksgiving! The card arrived in the mail today and i surprised while eating at a nice restaurant with some friends to celebrate. It was exactly 1 year ago this same date that we had received her K1 visa approval while I was living with her in the Philippines.

It's been a hell-of-a ride but we pulled it off on our own and with much help from the wonderful people on this site. You made it so much easier to do and understand.

The funniest part about all this is the fact that the card came through with the name we had used on the 485 form and were told by the local USCIS office would not work. We submitted it with her maiden name and then changed her name legally in the state so that we would have everything lined up for later filing. USCIS was happy with this and even was good enough to advise us on how to proceed. Overall, the St. Albans VT. office was very good and helpful and truly cared that we do it right. But how ironic is it that the actual green card (and her EAD card) came through with the name we originally used? Now, we won't have to mess with name changes later on when we apply to remove conditions in <2 years and will save the $400 fee that USCIS charges to do this. We were totally surprised at this. One girl at the USCIS office told us she wouldn't be surprised if they did this anyway. As long as the bios line up, they're usually pretty tolerant she said.

The only thing left to do is to get to a Philippine consulate to change her name on her passport. I guess we have to head to New York city as this is the only place we can get it done. I wish we could do it in Ottawa Ontario since this is only 2 hours away. Ugh! I had been told that there's an outreach program in Albany sometimes to allow people from afar to get their passport changed with a lot less travel. Anyonw know about this or when it's held or contact numbers? We're about 8 hours away from NY city so this trip will be a long one. We're so far north that we hear the cows in Quebec mooing in french. Ottawa is due west of us, 2 hours away.

Anyway, my wife can finally go to Canada to see my daughter and baby and to visit her relatives in Ottawa too. If anyone knows about this outreach program, I hope they can let us know.

Thanks!

[AlluringSoul 185]

Hello all fellow visa travelers. Good news! Today (Dec. 2nd) we received my wife's official green card. We had only just gotten the notice of approval the day after Thanksgiving! The card arrived in the mail today and i surprised while eating at a nice restaurant with some friends to celebrate. It was exactly 1 year ago this same date that we had received her K1 visa approval while I was living with her in the Philippines.

It's been a hell-of-a ride but we pulled it off on our own and with much help from the wonderful people on this site. You made it so much easier to do and understand.

The funniest part about all this is the fact that the card came through with the name we had used on the 485 form and were told by the local USCIS office would not work. We submitted it with her maiden name and then changed her name legally in the state so that we would have everything lined up for later filing. USCIS was happy with this and even was good enough to advise us on how to proceed. Overall, the St. Albans VT. office was very good and helpful and truly cared that we do it right. But how ironic is it that the actual green card (and her EAD card) came through with the name we originally used? Now, we won't have to mess with name changes later on when we apply to remove conditions in <2 years and will save the $400 fee that USCIS charges to do this. We were totally surprised at this. One girl at the USCIS office told us she wouldn't be surprised if they did this anyway. As long as the bios line up, they're usually pretty tolerant she said.

The only thing left to do is to get to a Philippine consulate to change her name on her passport. I guess we have to head to New York city as this is the only place we can get it done. I wish we could do it in Ottawa Ontario since this is only 2 hours away. Ugh! I had been told that there's an outreach program in Albany sometimes to allow people from afar to get their passport changed with a lot less travel. Anyonw know about this or when it's held or contact numbers? We're about 8 hours away from NY city so this trip will be a long one. We're so far north that we hear the cows in Quebec mooing in french. Ottawa is due west of us, 2 hours away.

Anyway, my wife can finally go to Canada to see my daughter and baby and to visit her relatives in Ottawa too. If anyone knows about this outreach program, I hope they can let us know.

Thanks!

I love the way you explained your story :-).

Congrats !!!

[KASH2011 382]

Congrats!

[dvensel1 5]

UPDATE ON NY CITY TRIP:

So, our good friend decided he wanted to take a road trip so he offered to take us to New York City to the Philippine consulate. It's on 5th Ave, about 3 blocks from Grand Central Station.

The car trip to Poughkeepsie NY took about 6 hours and then we boarded a train to NY. This took another 1½ hours. Then a short walk of 3 blocks and we're there. Super!

We're directed to a door - however, this door wasn't marked at all and we walked right by it since there were other doors. We returned to the entrance where the nice man walked us to the proper door and indicated we entered there. I suggested a sign might be appropriate to inform other misdirected people to the proper place.

Anyway, we walked in and were asked if we needed any help. We did. we told the nice girl and she directed us to another room where another nice lady began handing us paperwork to register the marriage. I explained to her that this had already been done and we had paid for it months ago and handed her the very copy that this officer had sent us with all their names on it in ink pen. She declined to take it an insisted we needed to do it anyway. I told her we were not going to pay again since we just produced the actual registration THAT THIS OFFICE HAD GIVEN US. The lady then talked only to my wife in Tagolog and my wife convinced her that this had been done. Obviously she wasn't going to get pushed over by this woman. So the lady then hands us a form to fill out for a passport name change. At this point I produce the one they offer on their web site, all made out, nice and neat, and in duplicate too. She won't take it and tells us it's the wrong form. I ask her why they tell people to fill out the form on their web site but then turns out to be the wrong form. No answer. Keep in mind, I'm being very nice about all of this too. But my wife is getting a little misaligned over it.

We take the new old form outside and fill it in. Then we report downstairs to a waiting room with several other people and with help from a nice filipina, discover how to go about getting a call number. Then we wait. Then the wife goes up and pays the $60. Then they ask her for her picture. At this point I produce the actual printed instructions that state clearly that a photo is not required because they would do the bios there. The lady caves on this one and my wife reports to feedback window 4 or something or other.

In a flash, we're done and on our way to Time Square so my wife can experience the thrill of NY city. Many pictures later we head back to Grand Central where we board our train and head north for the trip home. DONE!!

We left at 3am and arrived home at 9:30PM. What a day! But it's all done now except the ROC in a little over a year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!