Spanish/Latin names and citizenship [multiple merged threads]

[aloma 8]

Hello everyone!

 

I am Spanish and have had a greencard for 6 years now. I am thinking of becoming an U.S. citizen. But I have a few questions for those who have been in the same or similar situation:

 

- My Spanish passport says my birth name (2 last names)/maiden and my green card says my married name. Just to not change everything again I probably put in the US passport my married name but then I would have the US passport in one name and the Spanish passport in another name. Is that an issue?

 

- I have read somewhere that if Spanish people become US naturalized they have to claim their Spanish citizenship within 3 years or else they will lose it. Is this true? 

 

Thank you all in advance!

Edited January 20, 2018 by TBoneTX

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

1.  Not a problem as such, but booking airlines tickets etc may be an issue if you book in one name and show a passport in another name.

[aloma 8]

Hello everyone!

 

I have a Spanish name (two last names). When my hubby and I got married we were young and uninformed and we thought that we would encounter many issues from bank tp insurances etc if I did not have his same last name. Changing my two last names during the greencard process was very painful since this practice is not customary or legal in my country of origin. I always felt a certain way about the last name and now with the citizenship I have another chance to bring back my birth name with its two last names and all its baggage. I have talked about my feelings with my hubby and he understands. However, I have some questions for you all and specially those with two last names.

- A guy from my town field office said that I should write an addendum letter with my citizenship application explaining why I want my name back because the officer will assume I am getting divorce unless I explain it. Any takers on this guy's advice (I am not getting divorce and there are no problems in my marriage...I just want my name back...is it so difficult to understand?).

 

- Did any of you have any problems having a different last name than your spouses?

 

- Did any of you have any problems having two last names in the USA? Does everyone mess them up or think that your first last name is part of your middle name? Do you find yourselves all the time explaining why you have two last names?

 

Any input is appreciated! Thanks

[kpeck 22]

On 5/29/2017 at 1:35 AM, aloma said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a Spanish name (two last names). When my hubby and I got married we were young and uninformed and we thought that we would encounter many issues from bank tp insurances etc if I did not have his same last name. Changing my two last names during the greencard process was very painful since this practice is not customary or legal in my country of origin. I always felt a certain way about the last name and now with the citizenship I have another chance to bring back my birth name with its two last names and all its baggage. I have talked about my feelings with my hubby and he understands. However, I have some questions for you all and specially those with two last names.

- A guy from my town field office said that I should write an addendum letter with my citizenship application explaining why I want my name back because the officer will assume I am getting divorce unless I explain it. Any takers on this guy's advice (I am not getting divorce and there are no problems in my marriage...I just want my name back...is it so difficult to understand?).

 

- Did any of you have any problems having a different last name than your spouses?

Nope! No legal problems anyway with immigration or USCIS. A lot of people here assume that I've taken my husband's last name, but I just have to gently tell them that I've kept my own last name. I think it's definitely more main stream and it's not as strange anymore to see women who don't take their husbands last name. Sometimes people are curious as to why, so I explain or I have to explain his having two last names (he's from Spain). I've never experienced any negative backlash (at least not to my face haha).

- Did any of you have any problems having two last names in the USA? Does everyone mess them up or think that your first last name is part of your middle name? Do you find yourselves all the time explaining why you have two last names?

My husband has two last names (and also two first names...!!). Yes, people do mess it up (especially thinking his two first names are a "first and middle name", sometimes, but I whenever it's for a legal document or anything of that nature, I ALWAYS clearly state that he has two first names AND two last names and confirm that they have notated this. It can be annoying, but it's honestly not a huge deal as we're not dealing with legal paperwork on a daily basis - it's a once in a while kind of thing. We decided to keep our names "as is" in case we ever go back to Spain to live at some point where this would not be understood and would cause a lot of confusion. I also was sick of doing paperwork and didn't want to mess with anything else...

 

Also, he goes just by one of his first names and his "first" last name, socially so as not to confuse people all the time... but legally he has kept his full name, if that makes sense. 

 

On 5/29/2017 at 1:35 AM, aloma said:

 

It's honestly up to you  and your husband - whatever you think is the best choice! 

Any input is appreciated! Thanks

 

Edited May 30, 2017 by kpeck

[TBoneTX 45,284]

On ‎5‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 1:35 AM, aloma said:

Did any of you have any problems having two last names in the USA? Does everyone mess them up or think that your first last name is part of your middle name? Do you find yourselves all the time explaining why you have two last names?

Fortunately for all of us, Mrs. T-B. took my name.

If you keep your two names, expect problems, mess-ups, and repeated explanations ALL your lives.

[lucybelle 453]

On 5/29/2017 at 2:35 AM, aloma said:

Hello everyone!

 

I have a Spanish name (two last names). When my hubby and I got married we were young and uninformed and we thought that we would encounter many issues from bank tp insurances etc if I did not have his same last name. Changing my two last names during the greencard process was very painful since this practice is not customary or legal in my country of origin. I always felt a certain way about the last name and now with the citizenship I have another chance to bring back my birth name with its two last names and all its baggage. I have talked about my feelings with my hubby and he understands. However, I have some questions for you all and specially those with two last names.

- A guy from my town field office said that I should write an addendum letter with my citizenship application explaining why I want my name back because the officer will assume I am getting divorce unless I explain it. Any takers on this guy's advice (I am not getting divorce and there are no problems in my marriage...I just want my name back...is it so difficult to understand?).

 

- Did any of you have any problems having a different last name than your spouses?

 

- Did any of you have any problems having two last names in the USA? Does everyone mess them up or think that your first last name is part of your middle name? Do you find yourselves all the time explaining why you have two last names?

 

Any input is appreciated! Thanks

 

My husband is Latino and has two last names, I did not change my (one) last name when we got married.  It's never been an issue.  (Well my grandma still sends letters to us as Mr. & Mrs. [husband's first last name], but that just makes me laugh)

 

For simplicity reasons my husband normally just uses his first last name, which is customary anyways.  All his official documents have two last names, but library cards, business cards, etc just use his first last name.  In fact his credit card reads: "first name first initial, middle name first initial, first last name, second last name"  (like: E J Hernandez Aguilar)  I think it's widely known that Hispanics have two last names and is not a huge issue in the USA.  I am a teacher and I see some of my students hyphenate their last names, some use just one, and some have both last names listed separately.  It's really not an issue.

 

 

31 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Fortunately for all of us, Mrs. T-B. took my name.

If you keep your two names, expect problems, mess-ups, and repeated explanations ALL your lives.

 

I have to wholeheartedly disagree with this.  Not only is it really not that big of a deal, it's also something worth dealing with in my opinion.  My names (first & last) are very uncommon in the USA and I have to spell them and pronounce them over and over again in any interaction.  I have done this my entire life.  But I will not change my name(s) because I identify with them and it's part of who I am.  To me, it's worth the minor hassle.  OP wants her last names back.  I'm sure her identity is more important than some minor inconveniences along the way.

 

(And while I'm supportive of you and Mrs. T-B's decision involving your last names, to call it "fortunate" is patronizing to those of us who chose to go a different route.  I have my reasons for keeping my last name and I'm sure Mrs. T-B had her reasons for wanting to change hers.)

[TBoneTX 45,284]

Not patronizing at all, but practical.  Imagine, for example, crucial delays in a hospital emergency, caused by doubt as to whether a patient is in the records under the first surname or the last surname.

 

In addition, consider moving from a big city to a small town, or from the southern border states to the interior or northern U.S., and the resultant confusion about names.

 

Sorry that you too have to spell both your names all the time.

[aloma 8]

TBoneTX. Thank you for your input. Although I cannot speak for having to explain things all the time or not I can tell you that there is no way there would be a delay on a hospital emergency due to last name just for the fact that I work in a hospital and have witnessed extreme emergencies rolling in our doors. If names are not determined then they go by some sort of John Doe alias until the patient's name is determined. Regarding the states...we just moved from thhe Midwest to FL...not having plans of moving out of FL ever...if that makes a difference. Thanks again to you and anyone offering input. Much appreciated.

Edited May 31, 2017 by aloma
clarify meaning, typo

[aloma 8]

Hello everyone. Anyone has moved to the USA from Spain or any Latin American country and kept their two last names separated by a space (no hyphen)? Has this caused you issues or headaches? Thank you!

Edited August 15, 2017 by aloma

[gypsyqueen 103]

I'm not from Spain/Latin America but I have two last names.  My last names in my EAD were separated by a hyphen but when I got my GC, it's separated by a space. I'm OC so I do not like it when I fill out forms online that I cannot put a space or hyphen between my two last names. Other than that, no serious issues.

[YecaCruz 379]

My husband did. No hyphen, just a space between his names. No problems!

[aloma 8]

JJGussias. You said your husband did have two last names. So he does not have two anymore?

[YecaCruz 379]

No i mean to say he kept his two names, sorry about the confusion. Hasn't been a problem for adding him to accounts and bills. Just a space to separate his names. No hyphen

[aloma 8]

Thank you JJGussiaas for clarifying. Yeah well I guess I am terrified of all these stories of people saying that some interpret the first last name as a middle name ot chop part of their last names and then screw ups begin to happen haha. Perhaps is just an urban legend.

Edited August 17, 2017 by aloma

[aloma 8]

Hello everyone! 

 

Seven years ago I moved to the US under a fiancé visa. I am from Spain and my name is along the lines of Ana María González Rodriguez (fictitious name but just for this discussion purposes). I never had heard of middle names so filled my papers with Ana as a first and Maria as a middle. Later, I got married and my husband was paranoid with the fact that changing the surname is something American brides do and if I didn't then it would affect our case negatively. Fast forward to today and I want to recover my identity. Been researching if two surnames cause issues and misunderstandings here in the US with mixed opinions. Even I got people saying it did not cause them trouble but then they give their children one surname because 2 are "problematic." Contradictory, right?

 

Finally I found in the US the middle name is nothing and is not even part of the legal name to the point that social security does not give importance for it to be an initial or misspelled. Therefore, since I am going to burn about 2000 usd to change my surname back may as well put my first name as it should too so would be first: Ana María, NO middle name, last: González Rodriguez.

 

Therefore I was wondering if someone has been in that position before to have two firsts, no middle, two lasts and if any challenges arised.

 

Also, did anyone replaced their green card due to name change and how was the process? 

 

Thank you in advance!