Getting Passport, SS Card, and State ID after Name Change

[OlympiaBound 0]

Hi. My wife wasn't allowed to do the name change with USCIS when she became a citizen. They said that due to Covid she would have to petition the court at a later date.

 

So, she has her Certificate of Naturalization with her Chinese name on it. We've made an appointment with our county court to have her name changed. Afterwards, we want to get her US passport, update her Social Security card, and change her name on her state ID (she doesn't have a driver's license).

Will we be able to get a passport if her Certificate of Naturalization has her old name on it? Even though we have a document from the court saying that her name is changed? If we wanted to get another form of ID, we would have to get her state ID, but they need her updated Social Security card to do a name change. Can we get an updated Social Security card even though her Certificate of Naturalization has her old name on it?

 

The officer who conducted her interview and did the oath ceremony for her told her that she didn't have to worry about her Certificate of Naturalization having her Chinese name on it and that she should still be able to apply for everything, but I'm getting kind of worried, as that doesn't seem right at all.

 

Thank you!

[MightyIndian 25]

14 hours ago, OlympiaBound said:

Hi. My wife wasn't allowed to do the name change with USCIS when she became a citizen. They said that due to Covid she would have to petition the court at a later date.

 

So, she has her Certificate of Naturalization with her Chinese name on it. We've made an appointment with our county court to have her name changed. Afterwards, we want to get her US passport, update her Social Security card, and change her name on her state ID (she doesn't have a driver's license).

Will we be able to get a passport if her Certificate of Naturalization has her old name on it? Even though we have a document from the court saying that her name is changed? If we wanted to get another form of ID, we would have to get her state ID, but they need her updated Social Security card to do a name change. Can we get an updated Social Security card even though her Certificate of Naturalization has her old name on it?

 

The officer who conducted her interview and did the oath ceremony for her told her that she didn't have to worry about her Certificate of Naturalization having her Chinese name on it and that she should still be able to apply for everything, but I'm getting kind of worried, as that doesn't seem right at all.

 

Thank you!

Yes, The name change order from court will take care of the new name. NC need not be changed. If your wife has a passport on her old name, she can file a DS-5504 to get the name changed. The change is free for normal processing if filed within one year of the previous passport issue date. If she doesn't have a passport yet, she can file DS-11 attaching both NC and name change order from court to get a passport on new name.

Now for SS you need evidence of citizenship. If you are applying for a first passport, you need to send in the NC as evidence of citizenship. So you have to wait until the passport and collaterals come back to apply for SS change. I believe most states require SS change prior to getting the DL changed. So depending on the need you have to figure out which one to apply first, passport or SS.

My wife's case is exactly same but she applied for passport on her old name first and later got it changed. She used her passport card with old name to get the SS name change.

[OlympiaBound 0]

5 hours ago, MightyIndian said:

Yes, The name change order from court will take care of the new name. NC need not be changed. If your wife has a passport on her old name, she can file a DS-5504 to get the name changed. The change is free for normal processing if filed within one year of the previous passport issue date. If she doesn't have a passport yet, she can file DS-11 attaching both NC and name change order from court to get a passport on new name.

Now for SS you need evidence of citizenship. If you are applying for a first passport, you need to send in the NC as evidence of citizenship. So you have to wait until the passport and collaterals come back to apply for SS change. I believe most states require SS change prior to getting the DL changed. So depending on the need you have to figure out which one to apply first, passport or SS.

My wife's case is exactly same but she applied for passport on her old name first and later got it changed. She used her passport card with old name to get the SS name change.

Thank you so much for your helpful reply. She will be applying for her very first passport. We were worried because her only photo IDs have her old Chinese name. But it looks like we only need the NC with her old name and the court decree with her name change. Thank you again!