Citizenship / marriage or remarriage

[ddblu 0]

Hello,

My wife and I are filing for the US citizenship. Each one of us is filling the form N-400. We both have a greencard that we got through my work. When we got the greencard, we were already married but she was still under her maiden name. The wedding occurred overseas not in the USA. Her maiden name is the one written on her greencard but she is registered as my wife at the immigration (this is how she got the greencard). After we got our greencard, we wanted her to have my last name. Consequently, we went to the local borough and we have been told that the only way to do that is to make a remarriage. We did that and we got a certificate of remarriage. Now all her paperwork (driving license...) are with my last name. The only document where she has her maiden name is the greencard. Here is our questions:

In the form N-400 part 10 question 3, they ask how many times have you been married (....marriages to the same person). We have been married once overseas and once in the US. What should we say: 1 or 2?

In the form N-400 part 10 question 4-E date you entered into marriage with current spouse: should we indicate the date we did it in the US or the date we did it overseas?

From an immigration point of view, what is her legal name? The one on the driver license or the one the greencard?

Let me know. Thank you.

Dan

[f f 725]

I think the local borough may have been wrong.

since you were marrieded over seas. you are married period. your marriage was recognized for immigration purposes so it is vad in the us. unless you first divorced your wife then remarried her your "remarried" thing is invalid since you were both already married at the time and not able to marry. I would recommend getting the remarried thing a nulled since neither of you were able to marry at the time and to petition the court to legally change her name. you can at any time petition the court to legally change your name. they will usually ask for a reason and taking your husband's last name is a valid reason.

I would highly recommend talking to a family law or immigration lawyer about this though.

good luck

[ddblu 0]

So you would recommend hire a lawyer for the whole procedure of citizenship? Or just for this question?

[f f 725]

I would consult with a lawyer on that question. once you have the answer it should be easy enough to do it your self.

[ddblu 0]

Thank you. I will consider this. Any other suggestion? The main question is: as me and wife never divorced, can't we consider that we have been married only once?

Also, how can I update immigration on her new legal name? Should I mention it in the form N-400?