Hello!
My fiancée and I got married yesterday at a courthouse in Phoenix after I entered the United States via K-1 visa on the 14th March. I made the (apparently surprisingly common) mistake of not applying for my SSN prior to the marriage, but that is fine as I am not in urgent need of the things that having one would provide, so I will likely apply when filing I-485 (as I have read it will now be difficult for me to get one).
My main concern relates to changing my last name (I intend to take my fiancée's). When we applied for the marriage license, we asked about changing my last name as part of the marriage process and were told that we fill out the marriage license application with our original last names and that the name change is something that takes place after, via Social Security. However, I have now read multiple things online that seem to say that the name change is supposed to occur during the marriage process; that you are supposed to apply for the marriage license with the last name you intend to take, then going on to use the marriage certificate as "legal proof of name change" for future documents/forms. Because of what we were told, we went ahead with the wedding no-questions-asked and the marriage certificate has my original last name. Is it too late? How can I now change my last name so that I can go forward to use it on new documents? Do I just file I-485 and use my new intended name on the forms even though the marriage certificate uses my original name? Is the certificate actually more proof of intent to change name?
Thank you!
