Passport renewal - Changing last name

[eadwoes]

Hi,

I got my green card few months back and I need to get my wife's (Indian) passport renewed (since it is expiring in 4 months). I was wondering if it is a good time now for changing her last name from her maiden name to the married name.

How does that affect her Green Card which is in her maiden name (same as passport at the time)?

I spoke with the Indian Consulate and they were not very helpful. They just told me to send a copy of the marriage cert for proving her new name. I was wondering how that would affect her GC and if I should hold off. Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Fixed grammer

[Catseyes]

Here's my experience :

DV winner as single, got married so that my long-term boyfriend could stay with me ( both F1 visas before ) ( for your information, in case anyone wants to say something : that's a true love marriage : marriage was the next step in our relationship, we would have been fools if we had not changed the date!)
So, I took his name, and changed my passport.
My french passport says " 1st name" " maiden name" ép ( = épouse = spouse ) " married name".
Because of that, the embassy in Paris issued the I551 in my maiden name ( even though I was married, and my US driving licence says : " 1st name" " married name" which is my legal name since I got married).
I called the embassy to make sure that was not a mistake. They said they had to do it this way because of my passport.
Then of course, my real GC arrived with my maiden name.

So far, I haven't had any problems. On my first day at work, I showed my GC and a marriage certificate and that was it.

I personnaly do not see for me any reason to change my GC.
If I wanted to, I am not sure I would have to pay the fee : my legal name at the time was already my married name, so it is a "mistake" from USCIS despite my passport.

************************************

I was wondering if it is a good time now for changing her last name from her maiden name to the married name.

I am not sure what you mean: what is her legal name (name on licence) ? did she change her last name to yours when you got married ? If not, then you have to go to court to get a court order so that she has your name ( if that's what she wants).
If she already has your name, then she can renew the passport and get it in your name.
Then, she could get the GC changed, but you would ahve to pay the fee.
Depends if you think it matters or not.

If you look at the instructions for N400 for example, it says that if your name is different than the name on GC, just send the papers to prove it ( court order, marraige certificate...)

[eadwoes]

Thanks for sharing that. She currently uses her maiden name as her legal last name. That is the name on her driver's license and on every legal document including the GC.

I have never seen the requirement of going to court to change her name. Since we have a marriage certificate and she is changing her name to my last name, I don't think she needs to do that.

What I am wondering is if she should request her passport with her married name. As you said, she can get that done and later have the GC changed to get her married name as well. I wasn't sure if this was the right order. Thank you very much for your help.

[Catseyes]

Hi again:

My understanding so far of your situation is that she has NOT taken your name legally ( see your marriage licence : name after marriage ).
So I would say she has to file some paperwork if she wants to take your name now.

Read this for information:

http://honeymoons.about.com/cs/eurog...namechange.htm

To legally change your name, you must notify the appropriate government agencies. In some states a Petition for Change of Name must be filed with the county or state Supreme Court, a birth certificate may have to be presented along with the marriage certificate, and a fee paid.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4640_change-name-after.html

If you're a man changing your name at marriage, check your marriage certificate to see if there is a space to indicate a name change. If not, you will need court papers to legally change your name. Contact a local attorney to find out the procedure for name changing in your state. (This is not necessary for women.)

http://www.ehow.com/how_10876_change-name.html