What did you put for No Last name?

[furble 3]

My wife doesn't have a Surname. It' pretty normal here (and in other countries too) depending what villiage you come from. She is originally from a very small villiage that qualifies as something you might see on nationl geographic, although you'd never know by looking at her today

We also did not and are not going to bother legally changing her name to have my last name in Indonesia. Not worth the effort. Can do later in the U.S. some day after naturalization much easier.

Question is, how do you record this in the fields that refer to her surname on the I-130 and G-325A? Just put "N/A", or "Unknown", or "No Surname". These seem like the best possibilities. What did you do on your forms if this situation applied to you?

[Gosia & Tito 199]

My wife doesn't have a Surname. It' pretty normal here (and in other countries too) depending what villiage you come from. She is originally from a very small villiage that qualifies as something you might see on nationl geographic, although you'd never know by looking at her today

We also did not and are not going to bother legally changing her name to have my last name in Indonesia. Not worth the effort. Can do later in the U.S. some day after naturalization much easier.

Question is, how do you record this in the fields that refer to her surname on the I-130 and G-325A? Just put "N/A", or "Unknown", or "No Surname". These seem like the best possibilities. What did you do on your forms if this situation applied to you?

Use 'None' (without quotes).

[kokylolo 7]

My wife doesn't have a Surname. It' pretty normal here (and in other countries too) depending what villiage you come from. She is originally from a very small villiage that qualifies as something you might see on nationl geographic, although you'd never know by looking at her today

We also did not and are not going to bother legally changing her name to have my last name in Indonesia. Not worth the effort. Can do later in the U.S. some day after naturalization much easier.

Question is, how do you record this in the fields that refer to her surname on the I-130 and G-325A? Just put "N/A", or "Unknown", or "No Surname". These seem like the best possibilities. What did you do on your forms if this situation applied to you?

My husband is from a small village in Egypt and as you may know Egyptian males are given the names of the last preceding males. The first name is given, the second name is the first name of the father, the third name is the first name of the grandfather and the last name is the first name of the great grandfather. Coincidentally, there is NO family name. My attorney friend advised me to "Americanize" his name. I listed his first name as his given name, his 2nd and 3rd names as his middle names and his last name as his family name. On the G-325 and the DS-230 the family names are not the same for his mother and father. I didn't have any problems or RFEs.

[kokylolo 7]

My wife doesn't have a Surname. It' pretty normal here (and in other countries too) depending what villiage you come from. She is originally from a very small villiage that qualifies as something you might see on nationl geographic, although you'd never know by looking at her today

We also did not and are not going to bother legally changing her name to have my last name in Indonesia. Not worth the effort. Can do later in the U.S. some day after naturalization much easier.

Question is, how do you record this in the fields that refer to her surname on the I-130 and G-325A? Just put "N/A", or "Unknown", or "No Surname". These seem like the best possibilities. What did you do on your forms if this situation applied to you?

My husband is from a small village in Egypt and as you may know Egyptian males are given the names of the last preceding males. The first name is given, the second name is the first name of the father, the third name is the first name of the grandfather and the last name is the first name of the great grandfather. Coincidentally, there is NO family name. My attorney friend advised me to "Americanize" his name. I listed his first name as his given name, his 2nd and 3rd names as his middle names and his last name as his family name. On the G-325 and the DS-230 the family names are not the same for his mother and father. I didn't have any problems or RFEs.

[furble 3]

My husband is from a small village in Egypt and as you may know Egyptian males are given the names of the last preceding males. The first name is given, the second name is the first name of the father, the third name is the first name of the grandfather and the last name is the first name of the great grandfather. Coincidentally, there is NO family name. My attorney friend advised me to "Americanize" his name. I listed his first name as his given name, his 2nd and 3rd names as his middle names and his last name as his family name. On the G-325 and the DS-230 the family names are not the same for his mother and father. I didn't have any problems or RFEs.

Well I guess we could do that if she had extra names. Nope just one name, 4 letters long. I do find it strange how the computers have taken over our lives so much as that essentially people in America have to have a first and last name simply because the computer requires it. Why is the computer dictating what we name our childeren? Sorry I digress.

[kokylolo 7]

My husband is from a small village in Egypt and as you may know Egyptian males are given the names of the last preceding males. The first name is given, the second name is the first name of the father, the third name is the first name of the grandfather and the last name is the first name of the great grandfather. Coincidentally,(Consequently-sorry for the typo.) there is NO family name. My attorney friend advised me to "Americanize" his name. I listed his first name as his given name, his 2nd and 3rd names as his middle names and his last name as his family name. On the G-325 and the DS-230 the family names are not the same for his mother and father. I didn't have any problems or RFEs.

[Liz09 0]

Furble, as suggested by Gosia & Tito, write none for the surname...but I'd also explain in the cover letter why this is the case (the norm in your wife's culture). Plus, this will be visible hence confirmed in docs you send(i.e. her first name only on the copy of the marriage certificate, since at the initial stage her birth certificate/record is not requested). Such cases are not new to immigration officials, so no worries. Best of luck to you both!

-Liz

[TBoneTX 44,674]

Using "-----" may avoid the chance that the last name will be literally read as None.

[Ryan H 3,810]

Using "-----" may avoid the chance that the last name will be literally read as None.

OP, I would also suggest putting dashes (------) in that section.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Ryan H

[furble 3]

OP, I would also suggest putting dashes (------) in that section.

Thanks for all the advice, and lol the movie idiocracy springs to mind if any of you have ever seen it where the guy's name gets permanently barcoded onto his arm as the name "Not Sure"

[pushbrk 12,569]

Use 'None' (without quotes).

None is actually a name in more than one language. For family name enter ---- and then for middle name, do the same. The people dealing with the petition will understand that this is common in Indonesia. If they don't, somebody sitting near them will.

[Liz09 0]

I think (NONE) will be the best thing to write, as ---- may be seen as not completing the application properly and later resulting in a RFE (request for further information). For example, the instructions indicate to write NONE if the beneficiary or petitioner has never used another name then the one being used to file. Again, the cover letter and copy of the marriage certificate will further point to the fact that your wife doesn't have a surname, and not that NONE is it. So I'd use parenthesis as a double safeguard,as not to be mistaken as her surname.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Liz09

[pushbrk 12,569]

I think (NONE) will be the best thing to write, as ---- may be seen as not completing the application properly and later resulting in a RFE (request for further information). For example, the instructions indicate to write NONE if the beneficiary or petitioner has never used another name then the one being used to file. Again, the cover letter and copy of the marriage certificate will point to the fact that your wife doesn't have a surname and not that NONE is it. So use parenthesis as a double safeguard.

---- is a tried and true method of dealing with this issue. This is not my first rodeo. None actually is a name in more than one language and using it as a name has resulted in NVC mailing requests to Maria None Gonzalez. Never heard of any mail sent to Maria ---- Gonzalez. Really, yes, believe me. OK?

[Liz09 0]

I think (NONE) will be the best thing to write, as ---- may be seen as not completing the application properly and later resulting in a RFE (request for further information). Because the person(s) looking at the application will not know if a)she doesn't have a surname b)she does, but it is unknown (which happens) c)a typing mistake made by the petitioner thinking he/she was filling in another section...and so on.

Furthermore, the instructions indicate to write NONE if the beneficiary or petitioner has never used another name then the one being used to file, so it's unlikely they'll think it's referring to a surname. But again as a "just in case", explain this situation in the cover letter which will be validated by the copy of the marriage certificate and further evidence that your wife doesn't have a surname, and not that NONE is it. So I'd use ALL CAPS and parenthesis as a double safeguard to avoid 'none' being mistaken as her surname.

[Liz09 0]

pushbrk, I was editing my post as you were replying. The application is not the only paperwork that's look at. I am not saying that documents don't get separated, but having a cover letter explaining this and the copy of the marriage license, plus (NONE) written on the application makes it highly unlikely they'll be any issues later on. You're right Maria ---- Gonzalez wouldn't get addressed like this, but nor would mail go out like this either: Maria (NONE) Gonzalez. Anyways, the OP can always contact any of the processing offices and see what they'd suggest.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Liz09