No Name Change Document

[meadowzephyr 26]

Good afternoon!

 

My husband took his oath for US citizenship on March 17, 2021. He requested for his name to be changed. His oath ceremony was held at Washington DC USCIS office.  However, since the oath ceremony didn't take place at a courthouse, he has not received a legal document regarding his name change. Although, his new name does appear on his naturalization certificate. 

 

Will the naturalization certificate be sufficient for him to update his social security card with his new name? Or will a name change document be arriving in the mail?

 

Thank you!

[JeanneAdil 6,493]

The new name that you choose will be shown on your Certificate of Naturalization. In addition, you should receive a separate piece of paper that indicates you had a legal name change and you will be able to use the separate paper as proof of your new name.

 

According to Nolo law

[jxn 86]

Does the oath ceremony need to be in your home state or is that no longer the case due to coronavirus (or was it never the case?). My impression was that all DC naturalizations occurred at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia / E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. I know the DC ASCs are in Alexandria, VA and Glenmont, MD and the field office is in Fairfax, VA, but at least as of a few years ago the Fairfax field office wouldn't do naturalizations for DC residents. I don't know about Virginia residents. Following your question out of curiosity—good luck!

[YecaCruz 379]

My husband just completed citizenship last Oct and did a name change, which was pretty much to have his name spelled differently. In addition to receiving the certificate of naturalization he also received a Form N-662 "petition for name change" document. This is the document we used to update his DL and SSN card

[Scandi 4,166]

Doesn't matter if the ceremony is held in a courtroom, a park or at a circus, he should still get form N-662 together with his certificate. 

 

USCIS sends the name change request to the court, a judge approves and signs it, and USCIS receives the form back. They then make a copy of it and attach it to the Naturalization certificate that the new citizen gets after the oath ceremony. 

[meadowzephyr 26]

On 4/5/2021 at 2:09 PM, jxn said:

Does the oath ceremony need to be in your home state or is that no longer the case due to coronavirus (or was it never the case?). My impression was that all DC naturalizations occurred at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia / E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse. I know the DC ASCs are in Alexandria, VA and Glenmont, MD and the field office is in Fairfax, VA, but at least as of a few years ago the Fairfax field office wouldn't do naturalizations for DC residents. I don't know about Virginia residents. Following your question out of curiosity—good luck!

You're right. It ocurred in Fairfax.

[meadowzephyr 26]

On 4/7/2021 at 8:43 AM, Scandi said:

Doesn't matter if the ceremony is held in a courtroom, a park or at a circus, he should still get form N-662 together with his certificate. 

 

USCIS sends the name change request to the court, a judge approves and signs it, and USCIS receives the form back. They then make a copy of it and attach it to the Naturalization certificate that the new citizen gets after the oath ceremony. 

Sorry, I'm late to this. Thanks for your response. This didn't happen. That's why I'm concerned. We're more than a month out of his ceremony and still have no proof of name change, although he received the Naturalization certificate immediately. 😟

Edited April 28, 2021 by meadowzephyr

[meadowzephyr 26]

On 4/7/2021 at 8:43 AM, Scandi said:

Doesn't matter if the ceremony is held in a courtroom, a park or at a circus, he should still get form N-662 together with his certificate. 

 

USCIS sends the name change request to the court, a judge approves and signs it, and USCIS receives the form back. They then make a copy of it and attach it to the Naturalization certificate that the new citizen gets after the oath ceremony. 

Hello @Scandi I hope you are well! I just wanted to provide you with an update on this, in case you run into this question again in the future.  I also think it will help any future readers of this thread.

 

I spoke with an IO manager and he told me that where you take your oath absolutely affects whether your name has been legally changed. You can only have your named changed at a  judicial ceremony with anauthorized federal  judge present. This type of oath ceremony takes place in a courthouse (or Zoom during COVID-19). Once he found out that my husband took his oath at the Fairfax USCIS office he immediately informed me that no name change took place. That's why we didn't receive the N-662.

 

I hope this is helpful. Take care and I wish you a smooth visa journey.

[Scandi 4,166]

1 hour ago, meadowzephyr said:

Hello @Scandi I hope you are well! I just wanted to provide you with an update on this, in case you run into this question again in the future.  I also think it will help any future readers of this thread.

 

I spoke with an IO manager and he told me that where you take your oath absolutely affects whether your name has been legally changed. You can only have your named changed at a  judicial ceremony with anauthorized federal  judge present. This type of oath ceremony takes place in a courthouse (or Zoom during COVID-19). Once he found out that my husband took his oath at the Fairfax USCIS office he immediately informed me that no name change took place. That's why we didn't receive the N-662.

 

I hope this is helpful. Take care and I wish you a smooth visa journey.

He is not correct, like so many other USCIS employees. The name change itself needs to be approved and signed by a judge, but the ceremony itself can be held in a USCIS office - which has also been the case at many field offices around the country during the pandemic since the courts have been closed. 

I had a legal name change via my N-400 application (signed by a judge) and had my oath ceremony in the USCIS building without a judge. My new name is reflected both on my Naturalization Certificate, on my name change document (form N-662) that the judge signed AND on my new passport. 

So yes, you can definitely have a legal name change AND have your ceremony in USCIS facilities without a judge. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by Scandi

[Talako 781]

19 hours ago, Scandi said:

He is not correct, like so many other USCIS employees. The name change itself needs to be approved and signed by a judge, but the ceremony itself can be held in a USCIS office - which has also been the case at many field offices around the country during the pandemic since the courts have been closed. 

I had a legal name change via my N-400 application (signed by a judge) and had my oath ceremony in the USCIS building without a judge. My new name is reflected both on my Naturalization Certificate, on my name change document (form N-662) that the judge signed AND on my new passport. 

So yes, you can definitely have a legal name change AND have your ceremony in USCIS facilities without a judge. 

Same for my wife.  I'm not sure how they did it in the few hours between the interview and same day oath, but the name change from the court was attached.  If I were to guess, electronic signature and a court officer onsite with a seal stamp.  That is just my WAG.  I assume they can't do it in advance because there might be an adjustment or change of heart at the interview.  Again, wild conjecture on my part.

[Scandi 4,166]

5 hours ago, Talako said:

Same for my wife.  I'm not sure how they did it in the few hours between the interview and same day oath, but the name change from the court was attached.  If I were to guess, electronic signature and a court officer onsite with a seal stamp.  That is just my WAG.  I assume they can't do it in advance because there might be an adjustment or change of heart at the interview.  Again, wild conjecture on my part.

Yeah I have no idea either. For me there was about ~4 business days in between interview and oath, and my name change document had been signed by a judge the same day of my oath (that was the date next to the signature). Here in Los Angeles the court house is right next to the USCIS building, so I was thinking maybe they just walk over with a pile of name change requests and have them signed by the judge before walking back over to USCIS' building for the oath.

Who knows, really. I just know you don't need to have your ceremony in a court room with a judge present to have a name change with your naturalization. It's very possible that not all field offices do it this way though, but many do. 

[illidanx 19]

On 7/12/2021 at 12:19 PM, Scandi said:

He is not correct, like so many other USCIS employees. The name change itself needs to be approved and signed by a judge, but the ceremony itself can be held in a USCIS office - which has also been the case at many field offices around the country during the pandemic since the courts have been closed. 

I had a legal name change via my N-400 application (signed by a judge) and had my oath ceremony in the USCIS building without a judge. My new name is reflected both on my Naturalization Certificate, on my name change document (form N-662) that the judge signed AND on my new passport. 

So yes, you can definitely have a legal name change AND have your ceremony in USCIS facilities without a judge. 

Confirmed. I had mine at USCIS field office in Houston, no judge present yet I still received my name change document along with my certificate.

[meadowzephyr 26]

On 7/20/2021 at 11:07 AM, illidanx said:

Confirmed. I had mine at USCIS field office in Houston, no judge present yet I still received my name change document along with my certificate.

How do you know that no judge was present? I'm not challenging you. I'm just curious. 

[illidanx 19]

3 minutes ago, meadowzephyr said:

How do you know that no judge was present? I'm not challenging you. I'm just curious. 

There is only one guy talking and he introduced himself as an USCIS officer. If a judge had been present, he would have at least said some words.

[SnailRaceSeattle 16]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:35 AM, JeanneAdil said:

The new name that you choose will be shown on your Certificate of Naturalization. In addition, you should receive a separate piece of paper that indicates you had a legal name change and you will be able to use the separate paper as proof of your new name.

 

According to Nolo law

Hi

Recently i became a US citizen and received my Certificate of Naturalization with my old name, because Seattle uscis office doesn’t perform  judicial ceremonies whatsoever. So, now i want to change my name through the court, and after that i’ll apply for a U.S. passport using passport application form DS-11, my Certificate of Naturalization with my old name, and document from court that proves my name was be changed. As a professional, do you think that this is a good plan? Or, in order to apply for a passport, i need to submit new application with uscis, pay 555$, wait, and finally get new Certificate of Naturalization with my new name on it? Any advice is very much appreciated!