K3 AOS, Social Security, and name change

[Mirage 0]

Hello, my wife is entering the US next week on her K3 visa, and we of course plan to file for AOS right away. One problem we have is that because of her native alphabet, her surname in Latin characters in her passport is "Uilson" even though our last name is really "Wilson". The K3 was issued under the incorrect spelling because the embassy said they must match it to the spelling in the passport, but we could apply for her green card with the correct name.

Two questions:

1) Can a K3 visa holder apply for a social security card immediately or must they wait for EAD or green card?

1a) If so, can it be with the corrected spelling or must this also match her passport and I-94 arrival record?

2) Can we really spell her name different on her AOS application than the name in her passport like the embassy said? Does this apply to first name as well?

The main thing is we don't want to live our lives with my wife having a misspelled last name even though we are married! We aren't sure of where to take care of getting the name corrected first. We will try to get her driver's license with the correct name by showing them our translated marriage certificate which says "Wilson".

Thanks for the help!

[scy 0]

1. No. A K-3 beneficiary must obtain an Employment Authorization Document or Legal Permanent Residency before a Social Security Number is granted.

2. Yes. Anytime a person apply for an immigration benefit, that person should use his or her legal name at that time. For a married person, that legal name is the name on the marriage certificate, unless the person has had his or her name changed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

[Mirage 0]

1. No. A K-3 beneficiary must obtain an Employment Authorization Document or Legal Permanent Residency before a Social Security Number is granted.

2. Yes. Anytime a person apply for an immigration benefit, that person should use his or her legal name at that time. For a married person, that legal name is the name on the marriage certificate, unless the person has had his or her name changed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Thanks very much for the information! I only worry because we were married in Russia where they changed her last name to the phonetic equivalent of Wilson, which when transliterated back to Latin characters using standard rules really is "Uilson". Our marriage certificate is in Russian and the only reason my translation of it says "Wilson" is because I made sure to have the translator write it that way. The problem is that there is no "W" in the Cyrilic alphabet.

By the way, is that an M Coupe? I have an '02 and love it!

[scy 0]

1. No. A K-3 beneficiary must obtain an Employment Authorization Document or Legal Permanent Residency before a Social Security Number is granted.

2. Yes. Anytime a person apply for an immigration benefit, that person should use his or her legal name at that time. For a married person, that legal name is the name on the marriage certificate, unless the person has had his or her name changed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Thanks very much for the information! I only worry because we were married in Russia where they changed her last name to the phonetic equivalent of Wilson, which when transliterated back to Latin characters using standard rules really is "Uilson". Our marriage certificate is in Russian and the only reason my translation of it says "Wilson" is because I made sure to have the translator write it that way. The problem is that there is no "W" in the Cyrilic alphabet.

By the way, is that an M Coupe? I have an '02 and love it!

Nice car. I've always liked the steel gray coupe. Mine is a Z3 Coupe, which is not as fast as your car, but rarer in the US.

[David-and-Mae 15]

1. No. A K-3 beneficiary must obtain an Employment Authorization Document or Legal Permanent Residency before a Social Security Number is granted.

2. Yes. Anytime a person apply for an immigration benefit, that person should use his or her legal name at that time. For a married person, that legal name is the name on the marriage certificate, unless the person has had his or her name changed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

For your answer on #1... that is not true. I applied for SSN two weeks after I got here in US and obtained it right away (see my timeline). I even got a state ID since my I-94 is valid until Sept. 30, 2007. I think if the I-94 is already expired, that is when you cannot apply for SSN until the EAD or LPR's approved.

**Someone correct me if I'm wrong**

[Yodrak 7]

David-Mae Forever,

You are correct for a K1, which you are.

You are wrong for a K3, which Mirage is.

Understand the situation at hand before trying to apply your experience to it - your experience may not be applicable.

Yodrak

1. No. A K-3 beneficiary must obtain an Employment Authorization Document or Legal Permanent Residency before a Social Security Number is granted.

2. Yes. Anytime a person apply for an immigration benefit, that person should use his or her legal name at that time. For a married person, that legal name is the name on the marriage certificate, unless the person has had his or her name changed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

For your answer on #1... that is not true. I applied for SSN two weeks after I got here in US and obtained it right away (see my timeline). I even got a state ID since my I-94 is valid until Sept. 30, 2007. I think if the I-94 is already expired, that is when you cannot apply for SSN until the EAD or LPR's approved.

**Someone correct me if I'm wrong**

[archie07 0]

A K-3 cannot get a social security card till you get an EAD or Green Card. It is different from the K-1 visa.