Proof of Name Change for Ukrainian Passport After Marriage - Marriage in Illinois

[Tatiana S 20]

Change of surname for a citizen of Ukraine.

I got married in the state of Illinois, but my marriage certificate does not explicitly state that I took my husband's last name. However, when filling out Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status), we indicated that I adopted my husband's surname. I have a green card my husband's last name.

Now, we are living in Europe, and I want to update all my documents to reflect my new last name. However, I am being asked to provide official confirmation that I have legally taken my husband's surname.

Has anyone encountered a similar issue? What documents did you submit to the Embassy of Ukraine to confirm the name change?

[Dashinka 25,351]

My wife looked into it, and at least in the case of Russia, they did not accept a marriage certificate as a legal name change document, and it appears Ukraine may be the same.  My wife decided to just not change anything as it would involve a lot of legwork such as changing her internal ID along with everything tied to that.  It has not become an issue and my wife has traveled many times with her married name on her GC, and now US Passport, and her maiden name on her Russian passport.

 

If you want to see it through, you have two options that I know of.  Applying for a legal name change through a U.S. court (not sure if you can do this remotely since you are now living in Europe), or awaiting for naturalization if you eventually plan to do that and conduct a legal name change through the N400 process.

 

Good Luck!

[Tatiana S 20]

  On 3/30/2025 at 3:34 PM, Dashinka said:

My wife looked into it, and at least in the case of Russia, they did not accept a marriage certificate as a legal name change document, and it appears Ukraine may be the same.  My wife decided to just not change anything as it would involve a lot of legwork such as changing her internal ID along with everything tied to that.  It has not become an issue and my wife has traveled many times with her married name on her GC, and now US Passport, and her maiden name on her Russian passport.

 

If you want to see it through, you have two options that I know of.  Applying for a legal name change through a U.S. court (not sure if you can do this remotely since you are now living in Europe), or awaiting for naturalization if you eventually plan to do that and conduct a legal name change through the N400 process.

 

Good Luck!

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Thank you for your response. I don't plan on applying for naturalization at the moment, but I want to update all my documents because, in the case of a divorce or other life circumstances, I need to be sure that all my documents are in order. I haven't done anything for the past 3 years, but now I'm very worried about it.

[millefleur 5,050]

You probably need a court order name change via a local court in the US. (There's no federal court that offers this service.)