Filipino Middle Name Issue Again!

[Framework 4]

Hello all, I've found several posts on this topic here and read through them but none are as advanced as our case.

 

After we were married in Arizona in 2017, my wife began using the traditional Filipino surname construction. Her SS card was changed to this name, and an AZ State ID with this name. We filed AOS, EAD and advanced parole using this name with no issues until our interview. The officer at the interview mentioned that the middle name was odd and we explained that we used the traditional Filipino surname construction. He did not say anything after that. A few months later, we get her greencard in the mail and of course it had the mother's maiden name as the middle name. At this time, we had no idea that we were wrong in changing the middle name like that. I believed that getting an SS card and State ID in that name facilitated a "legal" name change. So we filed an I-90 to have USCIS correct the greencard to have the fathers surname as the middle name and they did it!  New greencard was mailed out with the traditional name and we thought everything was fixed. My wife also got her NY State Driver's License with that name on it after we moved here. After this, we file ROC on time using the same name and now, about 17 months later, we get an RFE because the middle name is wrong.  Also, like most others, we were transferred a few months ago to a new service center.

 

I feel like the best way to handle this would be to just go to the county courthouse (I live in NY state now) and have her middle name legally changed on paper even though all of her documents already have that name and provide that court order to USCIS. I'm pretty sure that even if I point out that they already issued a greencard with the name that they say is wrong, they will just tell me to pound sand and fix it. We filed ROM prior to COVID hitting too and her passport was renewed with the traditional name style. I think it will be more of a hassle changing the name everywhere else here and I don't even want to think about doing anything with her Philippine Passport right now! They have also given us the maximum amount of time to reply, this is due sometime in August.

 

Has anyone else had this happen and got it corrected without changing the middle name in court?

 

[Framework 4]

I cannot edit my original post but I have been reminded that the USCIS officer at our AOS interview did more than think my wife's middle name was odd as I stated above, he was pretty upset about it and said that we may have been doing that to scam benefits or something along those lines. I am now understanding why he was going on about it but he never told us that what we were doing was not allowed in Arizona or I would have fixed it then!  I am still confused as to why they allowed the name change when we requested it on an I-90.

[Bob in Boston 707]

1 hour ago, Framework said:

Has anyone else had this happen and got it corrected without changing the middle name in court?

My Wifes middle name is her mothers maiden name. never heard of using her Fathers last name as middle name.  That would have been her last name before. Maybe they wanted it to be Gina Marie Smith-Jones or something like that

[top_secret 2,421]

My opinion is that this is a matter of Philippine law rather than a matter of US Law specifically.  Since your wife is a married citizen of the Philippines, there are Philippine laws that govern what name she can use.  Philippine law of course gives a married woman the absolute right (but not the obligation to) use her husbands surname.  And Philippine law further givers her the absolute right to use her fathers surname where she wants to, if it appeared on her birth certificate.  Since Philippine law absolutely defines what is or is not a legal name for a citizen of the Philippines, then I would argue that her new and valid Philippine passport issued to a Citizen of the Philippines by the Philippine Government would be the most definitive document there could be as to what her correct legal name is and the US would automatically legally recognize that.  I would submit that Passport as unequivocal proof of her legal name.

 

Completely separately, during this pandemic my Filipina wife and I have traveled and met in several Latin American countries and there has been frequent confusion over Philippine use of father or mothers surname as a middle name, since it is very similar to the Latin American custom of two last names, yet fundamentally different too because the Philippines defines it as a middle name not a second last name.  I would guess the basis of the dispute lies in some inexperienced officer trying to apply Latin American customs to Filipino names.

[top_secret 2,421]

10 minutes ago, Bob in Boston said:

My Wife's middle name is her mothers maiden name. never heard of using her Fathers last name as middle name.  That would have been her last name before. Maybe they wanted it to be Gina Marie Smith-Jones or something like that

AFIK, most commonly upon marriage a Filipina will drop her mothers surname as a middle name and 'move' her fathers surname to her middle name while using her husbands surname as her surname.  Though that is not something she is legally obligated to do, and she could legally take several variations on name usage including keeping her mothers surname as her middle name.

[Bob in Boston 707]

11 minutes ago, top_secret said:

I would guess the basis of the dispute lies in some inexperienced officer trying to apply Latin American customs to Filipino names.

I agree.

[Bob in Boston 707]

5 minutes ago, top_secret said:

Though that is not something she is legally obligated to do, and she could legally take several variations on name usage including keeping her mothers surname as her middle name.

My wifes family and her cousins all kept their mothers maiden name.... Maybe its a region thing.....  Ill have to ask her about this

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

 

9 hours ago, top_secret said:

AFIK, most commonly upon marriage a Filipina will drop her mothers surname as a middle name and 'move' her fathers surname to her middle name while using her husbands surname as her surname.  Though that is not something she is legally obligated to do, and she could legally take several variations on name usage including keeping her mothers surname as her middle name.

My wife took her former last name as her current middle name. It is common in the Philippines.

Edited May 12, 2021 by boris64

[Shikimiri 1]

When my wife applied for her permanent residence she kept her middle name as is, only changed the last name. We didn't even know changing the middle name was an option. When she went to the Philippines consulate they made her change her middle name to her maiden name. So her passport and and greencard has different middle names. Hasn't been a  problem traveling to and from the Philippines though.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Shikimiri

[Framework 4]

Thank you for the replies, we are either going to submit the SS card, DL, and conditional greencard as evidence that USCIS has already accepted that name, or we will see if the county court can do a name change and send that as well. The letter does say that if we do not submit sufficient evidence or reply, then her greencard will be issued with the other name (mother's maiden name as middle name). It looks like she is approved, but they are asking about what name will be on the card. We can always change it after naturalization too.

 

Either way, I'll update this when we find out what happens. Hopefully someone a few years down the road can benefit from this.

[Framework 4]

@Shikimiri, In the last few days I learned that only a few states will allow you to change your middle name after marriage so you guys did it correctly. That's good that you do not have any issues traveling with a mismatched PH Passport and Greencard, I have read elsewhere that a "One as the same" document was needed in those cases.

[top_secret 2,421]

Although USCIS is not under the State Department, I'm sure their policies on name usage during immigration would be consistent.  State Department has their policy handbook online.

 

https://fam.state.gov/fam/08fam/08fam040301.html#M403_1_4_C_1

 

8 FAM 403.1-4(C)(1)  Acceptable Name Changes by Marriage

(CT:CITZ-6;   08-07-2018)

a. A marriage certificate must provide both individuals’ full names.  Marriage certificates often do not explicitly change the applicant's name.  If the marriage certificate does not explicitly change the applicant’s name:

(1)  You may document a material name change if, on the application, the applicant:

(a)  Added the spouse's last name(s);

(b)  Added the spouse's last name(s) and dropped her/his current last name(s); or

(c)  Added the spouse's last name(s) and used her/his current last name as a middle name (using a surname as a middle name is also an immaterial name change, see 8 FAM 403.1-5(A)); and

(d)  Submitted identification in the new name.
 

[Framework 4]

Don't mean to ressurect an old thread but I thought I would post an update in the event someone else has this issue and searches for answers.

 

We decided not to do a name change through the courts prior to replying to the rfe. We wrote a letter politely explaining that we did not know that what we did was not allowed in Arizona, and that it was not done with ill intent. I stated that our only evidence documenting the legal middle name change at that time included an issued Arizona State ID with what we claimed was the proper middle name, a social security card with the claimed middle name, and a conditional green card issued with that claimed middle name. 

 

It was a polite letter and we explained that we understood that we may have been wrong and would take it on ourselves to have the name legally changed through the courts if need be.

 

We caught a break for once because the 10 year green card came with the middle name we have been using all this time and not the one that USCIS was claiming to be correct. Saved us alot of time and headache getting it changed later legally. I also messed up and sent a copy of the rfe back and not the original bit it didn't matter I guess. I did not use their envelope but I stuck it in with everything else and mailed it via USPS with tracking.

 

I'm pretty sure this was a discretionary decision made by the officer reviewing the case so I can't really give advice to any future filers with this problem other than to write a professional and polite letter explaining things and hope for the best.