How do I make a *very minor* name change to my Green Card?

[platinum-android 4]

Suppose my name is John Paul Smith. Due to character limits, my name is currently truncated on my Green Card. I would like to make the following change (described below), and I'm wondering what's the best way to do it? 

 

• Name that I originally submitted on my GC application
  • First: John Paul
  • Last: Smith
• Name that was printed on my GC
  • John Pau Smith (notice the missing 'l' - truncated due to character limits on GC)
• Name that I wish to use
  • First: John
  • Middle: Paul
  • Last: Smith

 

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[Mike E 11,734]

When you came to the USA you should have used Paul as your middle name from get go.  USCIS likely would  have accepted that (case in point my wife has two first names and no middle name or surname and we use her second first name as her surname). 
 

I suspect you will now have to get a legal name change at the state court house. Once done, you pay the fee to file for a new I-90.  IME card will then display your name as
Smith

John P

 

and machine readable portion as John Paul Smith.   
 

Then redo your drivers license, passport, SS card, etc.  Figure $2000 all in.  

[platinum-android 4]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

When you came to the USA you should have used Paul as your middle name from get go.  USCIS likely would  have accepted that (case in point my wife has two first names and no middle name or surname and we use her second first name as her surname). 
 

I suspect you will now have to get a legal name change at the state court house. Once done, you pay the fee to file for a new I-90.  IME card will then display your name as
Smith

John P

 

and machine readable portion as John Paul Smith.   
 

Then redo your drivers license, passport, SS card, etc.  Figure $2000 all in.  

 

Thank you! I read on some other posts that I can do it for free if I do it at the time of ROC / I-751 submission. 

[millefleur 5,043]

This is the exact thing that happened to my husband. You have to file I-90 and you will not have to pay because it's a USCIS error. Tell them that Paul is your middle name and USCIS mistakenly put it it as part of your first name.

 

If you have a birth certificate or other document showing Paul as your middle name, you will not have to pay anything.

[aaron2020 11,651]

3 minutes ago, millefleur said:

This is the exact thing that happened to my husband. You have to file I-90 and you will not have to pay because it's a USCIS error. Tell them that Paul is your middle name and USCIS mistakenly put it it as part of your first name.

 

If you have a birth certificate or other document showing Paul as your middle name, you will not have to pay anything.

It's not a USCIS error.

 

He applied for the GC with the first name "John Paul."  USCIS did not make a mistake in issuing him a GC with the name he applied under.  

He is not going to be able to legally change his name with an I-90.  That's not how name changes work.  He would need to go to state court/process to legally change his first name and then pay the I-90 fee to get a new GC with his new legal name.

[millefleur 5,043]

2 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

He applied for the GC with the first name "John Paul."  USCIS did not make a mistake in issuing him a GC with the name he applied under.  

If his birth certificate actually has John and Paul listed as first and middle name as opposed to all one first name he can try. If his first name on his BC is actually "John Paul" and the middle name is empty then yeah, what you're saying is true.

 

From what the OP wrote, it's not clear to me what the situation is here with his first and middle name.

[platinum-android 4]

OP here. Just want to clarify that USCIS did not make any error, and it was my own error. But I'm just wondering if I can fix this for free during ROC / I-751. Here are some posts suggesting that I can change my name during ROC for free:

 

 

[millefleur 5,043]

12 minutes ago, platinum-android said:

OP here. Just want to clarify that USCIS did not make any error, and it was my own error. But I'm just wondering if I can fix this for free during ROC / I-751. Here are some posts suggesting that I can change my name during ROC for free:

So, my hunch is with ROC, a lot of people change their names due to marriages/divorces, where the divorce/marriage certificate itself will be proof of the name change.

 

In your case, what will you present as proof of the name change?

[platinum-android 4]

10 minutes ago, millefleur said:

So, my hunch is with ROC, a lot of people change their names due to marriages/divorces, where the divorce/marriage certificate itself will be proof of the name change.

 

In your case, what will you present as proof of the name change?

I'm hoping it will be a minor enough name change that it won't require proof? Do I really need proof to change my name from "John Paul Smith" to "John Paul Smith"?  

[millefleur 5,043]

8 minutes ago, platinum-android said:

I'm hoping it will be a minor enough name change that it won't require proof? Do I really need proof to change my name from "John Paul Smith" to "John Paul Smith"?  

It depends on how USCIS sees it. If your birth certificate lists "John Paul" as your first name and there's no middle name listed, they might insist on a court order name change. That's because here there's a legal difference between First and Middle names. You can try at ROC and see how far you get.

 

Edit: If you decide to naturalize, you will 100% be able to change it when you do your oath ceremony. They pretty much allow any name change during that time because they issue a legal document as well that states the name change.

Edited January 5, 2022 by millefleur

[platinum-android 4]

7 minutes ago, millefleur said:

It depends on how USCIS sees it. If your birth certificate lists "John Paul" as your first name and there's no middle name listed, they might insist on a court order name change. That's because here there's a legal difference between First and Middle names. You can try at ROC and see how far you get.

 

Edit: If you decide to naturalize, you will 100% be able to change it when you do your oath ceremony. They pretty much allow any name change during that time because they issue a legal document as well that states the name change.

Thanks! I'll give it a try at ROC and see what happens. My birth certificate just has one field called "name" which says "John Paul Smith". There are no separate fields in my birth certificate for first / middle / last.

[millefleur 5,043]

1 minute ago, platinum-android said:

Thanks! I'll give it a try at ROC and see what happens. My birth certificate just has one field called "name" which says "John Paul Smith". There are no separate fields in my birth certificate for first / middle / last.

Good luck! Hopefully you can get it changed at ROC. Let us know how it goes.