K1 AOS Legal change of name?

[Ecofolux2427 11]

Hello, my spouse and I officially got married (she's on the K1 Visa), and we now have our Marriage Certificate. We want to change her last name to the married last name, but keep her maiden name as her new middle name (she has never used any middle names previously). She went to apply for her SSN and they said they can't do anything about changing names, and she has to wait until after AOS to update then. Now we are going to file for I-485 and I-765, I'm not sure how to proceed with the middle name and last name on the form in order to have the desired names. We're worried about when she can finally receive her green card, if the name will be incorrect.  We're trying to do this correct the first time so we don't have to change her name through the courts later on. Thanks for any input.

[TBoneTX 45,260]

Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the "Moving to the U.S." forum, to be among similar threads.

[Dashinka 24,483]

I know with my wife who also did not really have a middle name (Russians use a patronymic name), we filled out the AOS forms with her patronymic name as her middle name, and my family name as her new last name and the GC was issued like that.  After the GC was issued then we went down to the SSA and changed her name on the social security card.

 

Good Luck!

[Verrou 1,962]

most of the time, USCIS will shorten the middle name and just put the first letter of of the middle name in EAD & GC. happened to me even though when i filled up the forms i always write my middle name fully. 

 

to answer ur question : just put her maiden name as middle name and add the married name for surname. 

[Bh_sarah 942]

I don’t want to hijack this thread at all, but I’m curious. What happens if the K1 beneficiary has 3 last names (no middle, 2 maiden, 1 married last name)?

 

I intend to just add my fiancés name to mine, and I have 2 last names, no middle name. Will both my last names be my “middle names” when I file it? 

[Verrou 1,962]

13 hours ago, Bh_sarah said:

I don’t want to hijack this thread at all, but I’m curious. What happens if the K1 beneficiary has 3 last names (no middle, 2 maiden, 1 married last name)?

 

I intend to just add my fiancés name to mine, and I have 2 last names, no middle name. Will both my last names be my “middle names” when I file it? 

the question is what name do you want? remember there's limitation of the number of character on the GC card. if your full name is too long, they definitely will shorten out part of the name. now which part? that's the part that is questionable.  since you have 2 maiden + 1 married that you want to put in last name box instead of splitting it to middle name box. 

 

i remembered someone post on some forum ( cant remember where) that their name got cut out on the actual GC ( not on the receipt letter) because they have super long name like total 30 characters. i dont know how they fixed the issue, but as u probably should know, anything that u need to "fix" with USCIS might take months or years. 

 

FYI. my first name : 7 letters, my middle name : 4 letters, my last name : 10 letters. total = 21 characters. USCIS automatically shorten my middle name to just 1 letter ( the initial) even though my middle name is not even that long even when it combine with the first name.  because on the actual GC or EAD, there's no middle name assign box. this is the example of the arrangement on the actual card it self :

 

surname : 10 letters

Given name : first name ( 7 letters) and then middle name initial ( 1 letter)

 

IMO if ur surname is like this : Madonna Louise Ciccone ( 2 maiden name + 1 married name) there's possibility its too long to fit in the card. perhaps other can chime in on this one.

 

hope it make sense

[Bh_sarah 942]

1 hour ago, HaroKitty said:

the question is what name do you want? remember there's limitation of the number of character on the GC card. if your full name is too long, they definitely will shorten out part of the name. now which part? that's the part that is questionable.  since you have 2 maiden + 1 married that you want to put in last name box instead of splitting it to middle name box. 

 

i remembered someone post on some forum ( cant remember where) that their name got cut out on the actual GC ( not on the receipt letter) because they have super long name like total 30 characters. i dont know how they fixed the issue, but as u probably should know, anything that u need to "fix" with USCIS might take months or years. 

 

FYI. my first name : 7 letters, my middle name : 4 letters, my last name : 10 letters. total = 21 characters. USCIS automatically shorten my middle name to just 1 letter ( the initial) even though my middle name is not even that long even when it combine with the first name.  because on the actual GC or EAD, there's no middle name assign box. this is the example of the arrangement on the actual card it self :

 

surname : 10 letters

Given name : first name ( 7 letters) and then middle name initial ( 1 letter)

 

IMO if ur surname is like this : Madonna Louise Ciccone ( 2 maiden name + 1 married name) there's possibility its too long to fit in the card. perhaps other can chime in on this one.

 

hope it make sense

I see. Thank you for your kind explanation! And seeing I will file AOS soon (hopefully this year) I might as well get ahead of things instead of being confused when the time comes haha

I just wanted to add my fiancé's last name to mine, but that would make me have a 23 character full name (5 for given name, 5 for first maiden name, 8 for second maiden name, 5 for married last name). So it's ok for the given name part (only 5 characters) but it gets complicated on surname (18 characters). I am researching and it seems the limit is 18 characters but it includes spaces too making mine 20 characters long... Yay.

I wouldn't mind at all if my maiden names got just the initial letter on the GC but it seems USCIS simply cuts the last characters off? But also feel weird adding them as middle names since they aren't middle names, though it might be a solution if the green card doesn't have a specific space for it. I will research topics here to see examples too. Maybe I'll just not change my name at all when I get married, way too complicated! haha thank you for your explanation again!

Edited July 7, 2023 by Bh_sarah

[Verrou 1,962]

50 minutes ago, Bh_sarah said:

Maybe I'll just not change my name at all when I get married, way too complicated! haha thank you for your explanation again!

if i were you, i wouldnt change my name. i didnt. too much headache to change all SSN, credit card, checking account, since i already have it before AOS. 

 

the only time i advise people to add married name when they only have literally 1 full name without surname which is common in my country.  i have few acquaintance with only 1 name example : GAGA written in their passport.  it's so hard in the US even to buy flight ticket because it's very uncommon in US, in their visa it become Gaga FNU ( first name unknown), or in the state ID become Gaga No name GIven. such a headache. i helped them filing AOS and i just added their husband name in all forms. voila they are become GAGA IHAVELASTNAMENOW. so in my practical mind, that's when adding spouse last name make sense. 

[Bh_sarah 942]

27 minutes ago, HaroKitty said:

if i were you, i wouldnt change my name. i didnt. too much headache to change all SSN, credit card, checking account, since i already have it before AOS. 

 

the only time i advise people to add married name when they only have literally 1 full name without surname which is common in my country.  i have few acquaintance with only 1 name example : GAGA written in their passport.  it's so hard in the US even to buy flight ticket because it's very uncommon in US, in their visa it become Gaga FNU ( first name unknown), or in the state ID become Gaga No name GIven. such a headache. i helped them filing AOS and i just added their husband name in all forms. voila they are become GAGA IHAVELASTNAMENOW. so in my practical mind, that's when adding spouse last name make sense. 

I see, might need to talk to my fiancé about it, I am not keen on getting rid of my last names either. I was going to just add it to the end of my name instead of replacing mine to minimize issues with documents but now a long last name is also an issue... and that's because I don't even have a middle one! haha

Oh yes, for those that do not have a last name, adding a married name is a saving grace! 

[TBoneTX 45,260]

9 hours ago, Bh_sarah said:

a long last name is also an issue

 Consider, too, whether your name is so difficult or so long that you'll have to spell it out in painstaking detail in every contact with any other person for the rest of your life.  If your husband's name is easier, abide the difficulty now and enjoy the comparative ease forever after.

[Elays 418]

21 hours ago, HaroKitty said:

if i were you, i wouldnt change my name. i didnt. too much headache to change all SSN, credit card, checking account, since i already have it before AOS. 

 

the only time i advise people to add married name when they only have literally 1 full name without surname which is common in my country.  i have few acquaintance with only 1 name example : GAGA written in their passport.  it's so hard in the US even to buy flight ticket because it's very uncommon in US, in their visa it become Gaga FNU ( first name unknown), or in the state ID become Gaga No name GIven. such a headache. i helped them filing AOS and i just added their husband name in all forms. voila they are become GAGA IHAVELASTNAMENOW. so in my practical mind, that's when adding spouse last name make sense. 

I have a question, I also dont want to change or modify my name at all

 

Will it be an issue to be married but not changing my last names? In my country (Spain) women never change last names so thats the normal thing for me

 

My bf has a name, middle name and last name

I have a name and 2 last names

[Lemonslice 4,832]

28 minutes ago, Elays said:

I have a question, I also dont want to change or modify my name at all

 

Will it be an issue to be married but not changing my last names? In my country (Spain) women never change last names so thats the normal thing for me

 

My bf has a name, middle name and last name

I have a name and 2 last names

Many spouses never change their name, that's not a problem at all.

 

That's also what I did...

[Elays 418]

1 hour ago, Lemonslice said:

Many spouses never change their name, that's not a problem at all.

 

That's also what I did...

Thank you!!! I was worried about this but I feel better now :3

 

For me it feels unreal how many women give up to their last names...in my country its not even an option, we already have last names why the need of changing them? I dont understand lol

 

To me my last names are part of myself, of who I am and the country Im from, very important to me

[Verrou 1,962]

28 minutes ago, Elays said:

Thank you!!! I was worried about this but I feel better now :3

 

For me it feels unreal how many women give up to their last names...in my country its not even an option, we already have last names why the need of changing them? I dont understand lol

 

To me my last names are part of myself, of who I am and the country Im from, very important to me

No issue. I don’t want to change my last name even though my last name is super foreign for American. Husband also don’t want me to take his name because he said it’s old tradition. And god forbid if you divorced, have to change name again 

[Elays 418]

24 minutes ago, HaroKitty said:

No issue. I don’t want to change my last name even though my last name is super foreign for American. Husband also don’t want me to take his name because he said it’s old tradition. And god forbid if you divorced, have to change name again 

My bf also dont want me to change my last names, even I would never do, he doesnt want neither

 

He is asian and im spanish so our last names are way way too different and thats the beautiful thing, we dont want to have kids so no need to worry about family name LOL