Name change after marriage: can I "create" a new middle name?

[cx711s 2]

Hi, so I got married upon arrival with a K1 visa, and just started to file the AOS documents.

Since I have a pretty difficult name to pronounce,(although it's a pretty common name in my cultural background) I had this "English name" per se, which made things way easier.

Say my original name is Minkyoung and I told everybody that I was Amy.

So I am known by Amy even to all my husband's family and friends.

Since I got pretty used to being called as Amy, I have considered to legally add Amy as my middle name, to feel less awkward to keep using this name.

However the problem is I'm not sure if this will be considered okay by USCIS if I just put Amy on my AOS package since it is not in any of my legal documents.

So the names would be like this:

Original name: Minkyoung Park (I currently don't have a middle name)

Husband's name: John Smith-Schwartz

New desired name: Minkyoung Amy Smith

I visited the social security office regarding this yesterday and they said they didn't really care about middle names, and that they would process stuff based on the name in my green card/EAD card.

I thought there would be similar questions but I don't seem to find one.

Any comments would be a great help if you have any knowledge/experience regarding this. Thanks in advance!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

If you have no name change document you can't use Amy. You can't just pick a name, even if it's a middle name (these names are used to identify people, they are not just for fun).

You could get a legal name change or you could change your name for free when you apply for citizenship, if you choose to.

Do put Amy as a nickname in the question "other names used" however.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Harpa Timsah

[cx711s 2]

If you have no name change document you can't use Amy. You can't just pick a name, even if it's a middle name (these names are used to identify people, they are not just for fun).

You could get a legal name change or you could change your name for free when you apply for citizenship, if you choose to.

Do put Amy as a nickname in the question "other names used" however.

Oh wow thanks for such a swift response! I guess I should drop Amy then and make my maiden name as a middle name.

Many thanks :^)

[Dashinka 24,993]

You don't need to drop Amy as a nickname. For instance my name officially is William, but I generally use Bill regularly. Whenever I fill out an official form I use William and if there is a section for nicknames, or other names used, I put down Bill. When you file the AOS use the first and middle names as it shows on you ROK passport, then if you choose to take your spouses family name you can put that down since you have a marriage certificate, but then make sure you put your maiden name in the previous names section.

Good Luck!