Legal Name Change with N400 in N. Cali

[Steven and Alice 30]

We want to have a legal name change but we live in Northern California. We remember reading somewhere saying there's no more judicial ceremonies in SF or Sacramento area? Is that mean we are out of luck? Which offices hold judicial ceremonies in California now? 

 

And if we absolutely have to should we do legal name change before oath ceremony or after since we already submitted application. 

 

Thank you for any info and help.

 

 

[Liam2021 583]

When you fill out the N400 it have  an option for name changed, and at the interview the IO will ask you about it one more time.

[Steven and Alice 30]

Yes. We have submitted the N400 with name change request. But we searched the forum and some people said North Cali don't do judicial ceremonies anymore. We just want to confirm if it is true. And if any other Cali offices do judicial ceremonies. We can't find information from official website. 

 

And if North Cali don't hold judicial ceremonies, is it better to submit legal name change through court before naturalization oath ceremony or after. 

[anniesdream 5]

11 hours ago, Steven and Alice said:

And if North Cali don't hold judicial ceremonies, is it better to submit legal name change through court before naturalization oath ceremony or after. 

If the name change is marriage based,  which is changing the last name to your spouse, the marriage certificate will be sufficient and USCIS will be able to change the name on your naturalization paper.

 

Otherwise you will have to file a name change on court. It's the best that you file the name change before filing N400 so you can use your new name in the form with the court order. If you've already filed N400, it depends on the processing times of your N400 and your name change in the court. If the court order comes before your interview, you could still bring the court order and ask for a name change on your naturalization paper. If the court order comes after your interview and oath ceremony, you can either choose to keep the naturalization certificate with your previous name and the court order as a proof of name change or pay $555 to file N565 for replacement of a naturalization paper with your new name on. The latter should be optional as court order is valid proof of your name change. 

 

 

Disclaimer:

This is intended to convey general information only and not to provide legal advice or opinions. An attorney should be contacted for advice on specific legal issues.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2018 by anniesdream

[Steven and Alice 30]

On 8/29/2018 at 7:44 AM, anniesdream said:

If the name change is marriage based,  which is changing the last name to your spouse, the marriage certificate will be sufficient and USCIS will be able to change the name on your naturalization paper.

 

Otherwise you will have to file a name change on court. It's the best that you file the name change before filing N400 so you can use your new name in the form with the court order. If you've already filed N400, it depends on the processing times of your N400 and your name change in the court. If the court order comes before your interview, you could still bring the court order and ask for a name change on your naturalization paper. If the court order comes after your interview and oath ceremony, you can either choose to keep the naturalization certificate with your previous name and the court order as a proof of name change or pay $555 to file N565 for replacement of a naturalization paper with your new name on. The latter should be optional as court order is valid proof of your name change. 

 

 

Disclaimer:

This is intended to convey general information only and not to provide legal advice or opinions. An attorney should be contacted for advice on specific legal issues.

 

 

Thank you for reply. Its to change the middle name. Guess we have no choice but to do legal name change through court after the naturalization is completed. We submitted N400 a week ago and biometrics is in 2 weeks. We don't really want to mess with updating the green card with I90 while waiting and might delay the process. And we figure if the citizenship certificate doesn't reflect the new legal name, the court order should suffice going forward.