Different Last Name but SAME Parents

[taekookie 0]

Hi everyone. My mother is an applicant trying to get her siblings to the U.S. and we've already received our NVC Welcome Letter. However, we are running into an issue of her and her siblings having different last names from the same parents.

 

They are all blood-related siblings of 5 with the same parents. However, due to their parents being illiterate in both Chinese and English at the time of receiving the birth certificates for the oldest 3 siblings (including my mother, the applicant), they did not realize that the Births and Deaths Registry of Hong Kong gave them a different (incorrect) English-translated last name of 李 Li while the two youngest siblings and father have the English-translated last name of 李 Lee. I guess my family never really thought about dealing with this issue until now. In short, the oldest 3 siblings (including applicant) have the incorrect English-translated last name of Li while the father and youngest 2 siblings have the correct last name of Lee. Although both Li and Lee sound phonetically the same as a translated last name of 李 for Cantonese, Li can also be translated to uncommon last names like 理 (Li) or 利 (Li) in Mandarin. I'm afraid the officials won't be able to tell the difference and mistakenly think that they're not blood-related.

 

It's most likely that the different last name will pose complications during the NVC process so I am here to seek advice and help to see what we can do. Thank you all for taking the time to read and try to understand this mess. This may sound complicated for non-Chinese, but any advice at this point will be appreciated! Thank you and I am grateful for this helpful community!

 

If anyone needs more clarification, let me know!

Edited August 3, 2017 by taekookie

[Coco8 1,042]

If they give you grief you can do a DNA test. You will have to wait.

 

But Li and Lee seem to be the same so I doubt you will have a problem. The name of the parents are the same on every birth certificate.

[taekookie 0]

13 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

If they give you grief you can do a DNA test. You will have to wait.

 

But Li and Lee seem to be the same so I doubt you will have a problem. The name of the parents are the same on every birth certificate.

Yeah DNA test would be the last resort and expensive if my mother has to fly back to Hong Kong. I am trying to see if there are alternatives

 

I'm just afraid Li and Lee will be a problem because it's all English in the applications and they'll be like "wait why do they have different last names??" since they won't understand that Li/Lee translated in Cantonese they are the same. :/

Edited August 3, 2017 by taekookie

[Coco8 1,042]

The F4 takes like 15 years (or more?) so in the grand scheme of things, being delayed by an RFE or trying other ways to solve it, won't matter much.

 

If you get an RFE though, check the date by which you have to complete it because they usually give you a due date. 

 

Maybe you can get an affidavit by a translator saying that they are basically the same name? I doubt they will like that but you can try. If they don't like it you will just get another RFE.

Edited August 3, 2017 by Coco8