DS-260 with Name Change since I-130 Filing

[saksnoot 31]

My wife and I filed her I-130 shortly after we were married. At the time, she hadn’t changed her name on her passport and other documents as passport services in the UK were restricted at the time.

 

Since then, they opened back up, and we got her a new passport with her married name.

 

Now we’re filling out her DS-260, scheduling her medical, and trying to schedule her interview appointment. When registering everything, should we always use her married name from this point? Or should we use her maiden name, which was given in the I-130.

 

We did add her married name in “other names used” in the I-130. And I know that the State Department will only grant a visa in the same name as in the passport and they’ll let you fix name errors from the DS-260 by informing the officer at the interview.

 

What I’m not sure of is whether it’s ok to have the DS-260 name be different from the I-130.

[payxibka 10,045]

2 hours ago, saksnoot said:

My wife and I filed her I-130 shortly after we were married. At the time, she hadn’t changed her name on her passport and other documents as passport services in the UK were restricted at the time.

 

Since then, they opened back up, and we got her a new passport with her married name.

 

Now we’re filling out her DS-260, scheduling her medical, and trying to schedule her interview appointment. When registering everything, should we always use her married name from this point? Or should we use her maiden name, which was given in the I-130.

 

We did add her married name in “other names used” in the I-130. And I know that the State Department will only grant a visa in the same name as in the passport and they’ll let you fix name errors from the DS-260 by informing the officer at the interview.

 

What I’m not sure of is whether it’s ok to have the DS-260 name be different from the I-130.

That's why there is an other names used section 

[saksnoot 31]

20 minutes ago, payxibka said:

That's why there is an other names used section 

I guess my question is whether on the DS-260 we use her new name and put her maiden name in “other names” as opposed to the I-130 in her maiden name with her married name in the “other names used” section. 

[payxibka 10,045]

12 minutes ago, saksnoot said:

I guess my question is whether on the DS-260 we use her new name and put her maiden name in “other names” as opposed to the I-130 in her maiden name with her married name in the “other names used” section. 

On the ds260 you use the passport name as the applicant name, and any name discrepancies are put in other names used section 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

4 hours ago, saksnoot said:

Now we’re filling out her DS-260, scheduling her medical, and trying to schedule her interview appointment. When registering everything, should we always use her married name from this point?

Yes

[pushbrk 12,897]

16 hours ago, saksnoot said:

 

We did add her married name in “other names used” in the I-130. And I know that the State Department will only grant a visa in the same name as in the passport and they’ll let you fix name errors from the DS-260 by informing the officer at the interview.

 

What I’m not sure of is whether it’s ok to have the DS-260 name be different from the I-130.

You are fine have a different name on the DS260.  Would have been better to use the married name all along though.  Not a problem either way.

[saksnoot 31]

5 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You are fine have a different name on the DS260.  Would have been better to use the married name all along though.  Not a problem either way.

We thought about that actually. We were filing DCF, and they required me to bring passports for both of us.
 

We’d used an attorney to help us figure out if we had a case for DCF under exceptional circumstances. And once the embassy had given an appointment to file, we retained the attorney to help gather documents and fill out forms, since we really wanted everything to go well. Our attorney suggested that if speed was a major factor, then just stick to her maiden name as that was on her passport.

 

When the I-130 took a couple of months rather than weeks, my wife and I realized that once she’d booked her interview appointment, if it was September or later, her passport wouldn’t be valid long enough for the visa. So we decided to get her a new one in her married name.