First name change?

[Hazah 0]

My wife and i got married on July 28th and the marriage certificate only had a place for our original names. She wants to change both her first and last name though. She wants my last name and she wants to change the spelling of hers from Iuliia to Julia. Julia is what everyone here calls her because that's the name they used in college, it's the "American version" of Iuliia or Yulia.

Do you think the Social Security office will accept both name changes without additional documents other than the marriage certificate, passport, visa, etc? We had no problem getting her original SS card about 2 weeks after she arrived on the K1 visa. Will the name change hinder the AOS document?

[Mrs. Beasley 7]

My wife and i got married on July 28th and the marriage certificate only had a place for our original names. She wants to change both her first and last name though. She wants my last name and she wants to change the spelling of hers from Iuliia to Julia. Julia is what everyone here calls her because that's the name they used in college, it's the "American version" of Iuliia or Yulia.

Do you think the Social Security office will accept both name changes without additional documents other than the marriage certificate, passport, visa, etc? We had no problem getting her original SS card about 2 weeks after she arrived on the K1 visa. Will the name change hinder the AOS document?

In order to legally change her first name it would require a court order which you can contact your state government to get more information.

[Mrs. Beasley 7]

My wife and i got married on July 28th and the marriage certificate only had a place for our original names. She wants to change both her first and last name though. She wants my last name and she wants to change the spelling of hers from Iuliia to Julia. Julia is what everyone here calls her because that's the name they used in college, it's the "American version" of Iuliia or Yulia.

Do you think the Social Security office will accept both name changes without additional documents other than the marriage certificate, passport, visa, etc? We had no problem getting her original SS card about 2 weeks after she arrived on the K1 visa. Will the name change hinder the AOS document?

In order to legally change her first name it would require a court order which you can contact your state government to get more information.

To answer your question about the SS office, they will accept her last name change. They will ask for the marriage certificate, identification (passport), and her SS card. I changed my last name recently and I provided these with the exception of using my driver's license (I am the USC) instead of a passport.

[payxibka 10,045]

In order to legally change her first name it would require a court order which you can contact your state government to get more information.

This may be true in your state or even some states. In Minnesota for example, my wife did exactly what the OP wants to do and we did it right on the marriage certificate. 1) she changed the spelling of her first name to one she preferred, 2) she changed her last name to mine, and in addition 3) she took a middle name as well.

[bszoom42 0]

In Minnesota for example, my wife did exactly what the OP wants to do and we did it right on the marriage certificate. 1) she changed the spelling of her first name to one she preferred, 2) she changed her last name to mine, and in addition 3) she took a middle name as well.

This is exactly what my fiancee wants to do.

1) change spelling of first name to one she prefers.

2) add a middle name at marriage (currently she has none).

3) change her last name to mine.

Does anyone know if this can be done as part of the marriage certificate in New Jersey? from what I have been able to find out, it should be possible, although it may require the priest who marries us to file a REG-34 in addition to the REG-77.

Any advice is appreciated.

[bszoom42 0]

Doing some more research on the topic, I found this for Minnesota.

http://www.mnweddingminister.com/advice/namechangekit.html

Can both the Bride and Groom change their names?

It depends on the county. The wording of Minnesota Statute 517.08 subd. 1a. (9) has been interpreted differently by the different Minnesota counties. Some counties are very strict and only allow the bride to change her middle and last name. Some counties, including Anoka, Ramsey, and Washington County, allow both the bride and groom to choose an completely different name. Before you buy your marriage license, be sure that your exact choice of names is acceptable to the county. Call around until your proposed name change is acceptable, then purchase your license in that county.

[bszoom42 0]

It also appears that Iowa is a state that allows this kind of name changing.

http://www.co.clay.ia.us/pdfs/rec_marrriag...nstructions.pdf

2. Legal Names. List your current full legal names as your names

before marriage. Include your surname prior to any marriage, if

different. Also list your full legal names as they are to be after the

marriage ceremony. The Application for the Marriage License in

Iowa becomes legally binding upon filing with the County

Registrar of Vital Records.

* Per chapter 595.5 of the Code of Iowa applicants may adopt a

legal name change through marriage, but may only have one legal

name at any one time. Prior to the marriage ceremony, the

application to marry cannot be modified in order to select a

different name; however, the parties may make new application.

After the marriage ceremony and/or registration of the marriage

certificate, a court order or another legal action is required to

change the name unless an obvious typographical error from the

application to marry can be proven.

* A name change acquired through marriage does not affect an

individual's name as it appears on his or her birth certificate. The

name on the birth certificate is traditionally referred to as the

"maiden" name and is asked for when establishing a child's birth

record, as well as a number of other confidential and/or legal

documents. The "maiden" name of persons who have been adopted

is their legal name after the adoption and that now appears on their

birth certificate.

[Jamie76 0]

I can't find anything for Arizona...my fiancee was interested in this as well.

[bszoom42 0]

I found that on the N-400 (Naturalization Application), you can legally change your name.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/N-400.pdf

[Jamie76 0]

Thanks for that. I will have to show this to her. She doesn't have a clue what she wants her middle name to be, but she wants one.

[bszoom42 0]

If you are just adding a middle name, you could probably just slip it in.

See, the funny thing is this. In the U.S. common law name change is allowed. See this wikipedia article for more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_change

The problem is most government agencies will not change the name registered in their system without you providing evidence of your name, which is hard to get outside of marriage certificate/birth certificate/court order.

Frankly, the court order process is painful for us. I am looking for a quick and easy way to do this for my fiancee, without having to force her to lug extra paperwork every where she goes.

Already, after we get married, she's going to be using marriage certificates like they are tissues because all her legal documentation and evidence will be in her birth name, and the marriage certificate alone will be in her married name. I didn't want her to have to lug a court ordered name change in addition to the marriage certificate to get the name she wants.

So right now, I am seriously considering recommending to her that we get married in Iowa...

[bszoom42 0]

Doing some VisaJourney.com searches, I found the following related threads...

Name change(first+last) after marriage, before AOS/SSN, I searched the forums and read faq but still confused

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=72736

name change-ssn, after marriage

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=69818

Name Change, Photographs & Filling out Forms, Preparing to file the I-130--NICARAGUA

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=61411

[kisschick1976 0]

I wonder this myself, (I'm in Texas) I've been wanting to change my middle name or even drop it entirely but we've also thought about changing both our last names to something else as well.

He said he wants to change his middle name to Mother F*cking*

*as a joke. It's a joke. No one needs to reply and say, "Well I think that's against the law there Kissy..." yeah, we know. It was a joke. Sounds pretty cool though hu?

[bszoom42 0]

Sounds pretty cool though hu?

As long as you're cool with it, thats what is important.

Regarding the other states, I have been unsuccessful in gathering detailed information about what name changes are allowed through internet searching. I will try to call around on Monday if I get a chance.

[Nancy2015 2]

My wife and i got married on July 28th and the marriage certificate only had a place for our original names. She wants to change both her first and last name though. She wants my last name and she wants to change the spelling of hers from Iuliia to Julia. Julia is what everyone here calls her because that's the name they used in college, it's the "American version" of Iuliia or Yulia.

...at least I'm not the only one whose first name was butchered by transliteration

I will be changing my first name through court, but I wanna wait for my permanent green card first.