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I have a question about a name formatting issue on my wife s immigration forms.

My wife is from Bangladesh. In her Bangladeshi passport, her name appears as:

Surname (Family Name): PEW
Given Name: ANAMIKA BASAK

So her full legal name is Anamika Basak Pew.

However, Pew was originally intended to be just a nickname, but it ended up being included in her official documents by mistake. As a result, all of her academic certificates (high school through university) show her name as Anamika Basak Pew.

When I filed the I-130, I entered her name as:

• First Name: Anamika

• Last Name: Basak Pew

• Middle Name: (blank)

My intention at the time was to treat "Basak" as her surname and keep the full name consistent with her academic records. I was also thinking that once she immigrated to the U.S., we might simplify her name on future documents.

Now I am preparing the I-864 and DS-260, and I realized that the I-130 name format does not exactly match the passport structure.

My questions are:

1. Should I keep the same name format used in the I-130 for consistency?

2. Or should I match the passport format exactly on the new forms (Last Name: Pew, First Name: Anamika, Middle Name: Basak or First Name: Anamika Basak)?

3. Is this type of difference likely to cause an RFE or delay?

Any advice from people who have dealt with similar South Asian naming issues would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Fellow Visa Journey members,

I'm preparing my N400 application under the 3 year rule (married to a US Citizen).
I'm reading the instructions and the N400 form (I'll fill it online, but I'm familiarizing myself with it beforehand).

There's a question that bugs me (see below + attached screenshot):

Quote

Part 9 q4: "Since you became a lawful permanent resident, have you called yourself a nonresident alien on a Federal, state, or local tax return or decided not to file a tax return because you considered yourself to be a nonresident?"

I've filed all my federal and state taxes every year (using HRBlock) to make sure everything was in order for each tax year.

Context: My wife and I got my visa from the UK where we both lived (consulate processing), and moved to the US together mid-year in 2023. So I effectively became resident in the US mid-year 2023 onwards -- when we entered the US.

Now when filing taxes, my accountant filed for me (Married Filing Separately for tax year 2023) using a 1040 dual-status (since for the first half of 2023 I was not yet a US resident). Similarly for my state return, the accountant filed a 540NR (non-resident or part year resident). This is such that I only paid taxes on my income from the time we arrived to the US (not including any income prior to me arriving in the US since I wasn't a resident then -- e.g. my UK income from early-to-mid 2023).

Because the the State form is specifically called `540NR (non-resident or part year resident)`, I want to be extra cautious as to how I answer the question Part 9 Question 4 on the N400 form.

I'm leaning towards assuming that I can safely click `No`, but I would love to have the reassurance of VJ members that I'm doing the right thing. I assume this is the standard way people file with the IRS every year when they move to the US mid way through the year?

All the best,

Screenshot 2026-03-07 at 19.54.59.pdf

We are awaiting for our NOA2 and I just received Form i-797C to appear at a support center for biometrics for further acction(s) on my application. Has anyone experienced this istuation before? And if so, what are some of the expectations, if any? Your input are always welcome.

This may be out of category but letting everyone that I started the K-1 process back in July 2024. it took a while. She went to the American Embassy in Manila August 2025 for her interview. she was shot down because her name on her birth certificate did not match her passport, drivers lic etc. So she had to come home to have all that redone etc. It was done! She is here with me now here in Avondale Arizona and we got married Feb. 28th. All that took longer than I thought and I got scared, worried but Praise God it all went thru and I have the love of my life with me and my family. Now we have to take the next steps to allow her to work etc. I did everything myself and did not go thru a lawyer or third party. Gary and Junnette Phillips.......PS. I want to thank everyone who gave me info etc to help us along.

Our petition was received in Manila, 160 were completed and paid a week ago, but everyday while trying to schedule the interview it shows no slots available. We've checked more than 3 times per day, at different times, but no change. I thought maybe they needed my payment to post, but that occurred 2 days ago.

Is this like getting Taylor swift tickets on ticketmaster - do we need to log on at a specific time to have access to limited availability?