Social Security Name Change

[Chancy 6,241]

10 hours ago, PWB said:

Can you believe  to register your marriage with the Philippine Consulate in Houston they would only accept originals of Birth Certificates and even the passport.

 

The consulate website says to submit copies, though?  https://houstonpcg.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/consular-services/civil-registry/report-of-marriage

 

[PWB 213]

We followed the requirement to the letter and they returned package requesting originals only. 

[MJ&YY 132]

We managed to change my wife’s name to her married name after arriving on K1 before her i94 expired. I didn’t expect it to actually happen.
 

My wife had a SSN from an earlier time in the US, prior to arriving on a K1 at the end of March. We married a couple days after her arrival and, once we had the marriage certificate, decided to see what would happen if we contacted SS office to change her name. Called the local office and got an appointment for my wife on 4/14 (we mailed AOS that same week using her married name).  The appointment went pretty fast. They scanned what they needed (ssn application, passport, I-94, marriage certificate) and said she’d hear back within 2 weeks or so. 
 

About a week later we received a letter from SS stating they were verifying her information with DHS, which could take up to 4 weeks.
 

We assumed nothing would come of it since we don’t have EAD or GC yet, but around June 15 (well past 4 weeks, haha) we received a letter from SS stating she’d receive a new card soon. The card arrived a day or two later. This all happened before her I-94 expired (this week).

 

Not sure if this is terribly helpful for most K1s since we didn’t have the initial multi-week delay applying for the SSN in maiden name.  I suspect doing this all early in her I-94 period worked in our favor.

Edited June 26, 2021 by MJ&YY

[Villanelle 4,122]

On 6/17/2021 at 12:12 PM, PWB said:

Wife arrived on December 4, 2020, we married December 20, 2020.  Submitted Adjustment of Status and received  NOA  on March 22, 2021.  When she applied for Social Security Card we provided original Marriage Certificate and all current USCIS documents along with Passport and visa.  Local Social Security Office would not issue card with married name.  They would issue card only with name that appeared on passport.  Thinking they made a mistake I called National Social Security and was told that once my wife had a photo I.D. card issued by Texas DPS she could the name changed.  Found out that name changes can not be done via Email so back to local Social Security  Office and they told us that they do not do appointments for name changes, after many more calls local office has now said that until my wife receives a Permanent Resident Card  they will not allow a name change.  Is that right?   Given the waiting time for Permanent Resident Card that could mean two years to get a proper Social Security Card.

The general order is USCIS--->SSA--->DMV, banks, employers. USCIS controls the SAVE-e verify system which SSA uses to verify ones immigration status. Here is a post from not so long ago with more details.

 

[PWB 213]

12 hours ago, MJ&YY said:

We managed to change my wife’s name to her married name after arriving on K1 before her i94 expired. I didn’t expect it to actually happen.
 

My wife had a SSN from an earlier time in the US, prior to arriving on a K1 at the end of March. We married a couple days after her arrival and, once we had the marriage certificate, decided to see what would happen if we contacted SS office to change her name. Called the local office and got an appointment for my wife on 4/14 (we mailed AOS that same week using her married name).  The appointment went pretty fast. They scanned what they needed (ssn application, passport, I-94, marriage certificate) and said she’d hear back within 2 weeks or so. 
 

About a week later we received a letter from SS stating they were verifying her information with DHS, which could take up to 4 weeks.
 

We assumed nothing would come of it since we don’t have EAD or GC yet, but around June 15 (well past 4 weeks, haha) we received a letter from SS stating she’d receive a new card soon. The card arrived a day or two later. This all happened before her I-94 expired (this week).

 

Not sure if this is terribly helpful for most K1s since we didn’t have the initial multi-week delay applying for the SSN in maiden name.  I suspect doing this all early in her I-94 period worked in our favor.

Thank you for the response.  We followed the same procedure you did and got different results.  I believe our problem deals with COVID related times we now live in.  From all that I see we should have been able to get the card issued in her married name.  None the less we have a SS number and will pursue the name change later when and if we ever return to more normal times.