Name change in San Jose

[robocop104]

Hi,

Looks like northern California judges do not preside over the oath ceremony. It appears from what i have gathered that if you have a name change then you can not go to a normal oath ceremony and instead have to go through the courts. does anyone have experience in this regard and can you share what you went through?

I have my interview coming up and I want to decide whether the name change is worth the trouble.

 

[speakamericano]

Hi,

Looks like northern California judges do not preside over the oath ceremony. It appears from what i have gathered that if you have a name change then you can not go to a normal oath ceremony and instead have to go through the courts. does anyone have experience in this regard and can you share what you went through?

I have my interview coming up and I want to decide whether the name change is worth the trouble.

San Jose office doesn't do name change at the Interview anymore. In fact, it's been over five years since the service has been discontinued. You have to apply for a name change at the supreme court located by the county jail on Hedding St. in downtown San Jose. (Their office is on First St near Guadalupe)

 

[BigJoe5]

San Jose office doesn't do name change at the Interview anymore. In fact, it's been over five years since the service has been discontinued. You have to apply for a name change at the supreme court located by the county jail on Hedding St. in downtown San Jose. (Their office is on First St near Guadalupe)

That's not true. One can get a name change as part of naturalization at ALL USCIS Offices. USCIS will process a name change as part of an N-400. The regulations have been in place since 1991, and the process has been the same for over 20 years. USCIS (INS before then) always handles the paperwork for the applicants. That has not changed. The only real difference is who presides over the Ceremony: a USCIS Officer or a Judge.

AFM Chapter 74 Examination of Form N-400. \ 74.2. Part-by-Part Discussion of Form N-400 Data.

(a) Part 1: Information About You .

(2) Review of Applicant’s Information: (Heading amended December 1, 2008, AD09-01)

1. Name (Family, Given, Middle Initial) .

(B) Name Change .

If the applicant wants to change his or her name as it will appear on the certificate of naturalization, then the applicant must petition the court for a name change. You should assist the applicant with preparing the name change petition at the examination. However, USCIS does not have the authority to grant any name changes. See 8 CFR 337.4 and 8 CFR 338.2.

§ 337.4 When requests for change of name granted.

When the court has granted the petitioner's change of name request, the petitioner shall subscribe his or her new name to the written oath of allegiance.

[56 FR 50500, Oct. 7, 1991]

§ 338.2 Execution in case name is changed.

Whenever the name of an applicant has been changed by order of a court as a part of a naturalization, the clerk of court, or his or her authorized deputy, shall forward a copy of the order changing the applicant's name with the notifications required by part 339 of this chapter. The Certificate of Naturalization will be issued to the applicant in the name as changed.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

 

[speakamericano]

That's not true. One can get a name change as part of naturalization at ALL USCIS Offices. USCIS will process a name change as part of an N-400. The regulations have been in place since 1991, and the process has been the same for over 20 years. USCIS (INS before then) always handles the paperwork for the applicants. That has not changed. The only real difference is who presides over the Ceremony: a USCIS Officer or a Judge.

AFM Chapter 74 Examination of Form N-400. \ 74.2. Part-by-Part Discussion of Form N-400 Data.

(a) Part 1: Information About You .

(2) Review of Applicant’s Information: (Heading amended December 1, 2008, AD09-01)

1. Name (Family, Given, Middle Initial) .

(B) Name Change .

If the applicant wants to change his or her name as it will appear on the certificate of naturalization, then the applicant must petition the court for a name change. You should assist the applicant with preparing the name change petition at the examination. However, USCIS does not have the authority to grant any name changes. See 8 CFR 337.4 and 8 CFR 338.2.

§ 337.4 When requests for change of name granted.

When the court has granted the petitioner's change of name request, the petitioner shall subscribe his or her new name to the written oath of allegiance.

[56 FR 50500, Oct. 7, 1991]

§ 338.2 Execution in case name is changed.

Whenever the name of an applicant has been changed by order of a court as a part of a naturalization, the clerk of court, or his or her authorized deputy, shall forward a copy of the order changing the applicant's name with the notifications required by part 339 of this chapter. The Certificate of Naturalization will be issued to the applicant in the name as changed.

[56 FR 50501, Oct. 7, 1991]

I assume you have never been to the San Jose USCIS branch. Here's another post from the same website you're on.

Read http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?296555-San-Jose-CA-office-and-name-change-option

Last post by Huracan.

another forum
http://forums.immigration.com/showt...-name-change-in-San-Jose-after-naturalization

I have had experience with the San Jose USCIS office. The OP can verify it himself by trying to get a name change at the San Jose branch, but it'd be UNSUCCESSFUL.

 

[sandhya2]

name change due to marriage can be done in SJC

When I appeared for my interview I was told name change if you are taking your husband's name is ok. Only other name changes are not processed in SJC.

BTW the officer even knew of some Indians taking husband's first name as last name and said he approves even those!!

 

[speakamericano]

When I appeared for my interview I was told name change if you are taking your husband's name is ok. Only other name changes are not processed in SJC.

BTW the officer even knew of some Indians taking husband's first name as last name and said he approves even those!!

Yes because after marriage changing your name is common to your husband's last name. You're not given any name change documents at that point. Only a marriage certificate would be a sufficient proof of your name. If you want to change John Joe to Jason Jay on the SINGLE status, it'd be considered a name change as you have to appear in the Supreme court.

 

[robocop104]

ok, so i went into san jose uscis citizenship interview and was told that this is not done by USCIS anymore for last 5 years. wasnt helpful at all with all my questions. she just said, if you already have name change court order, then she will include the name change or else she was going to strike it off. since i didnt have it, she was going to strike it off.

I guess the better way was to have gone through the court before the interview and give the court order in the interview. now i have to go through court order and hope that it will come through by the time i apply for my passport.

 

[pingu1]

Yes because after marriage changing your name is common to your husband's last name. You're not given any name change documents at that point. Only a marriage certificate would be a sufficient proof of your name. If you want to change John Joe to Jason Jay on the SINGLE status, it'd be considered a name change as you have to appear in the Supreme court.

My wife will be having taking the oath this Friday in San Jose USCIS. When will filled out the N-400, she wanted to change her name from "Mary Maiden" to "Jane M. Smith". Maiden is her maiden family name, and she has never changed her family name to my family name, Smith.
So we entered the new name in the "name change" section on the N-400.
When she received a letter for the N-400 interview, the letter was addressed to "Mary Smith". This isn't the name she wanted. The immigration officer said the USCIS can only change the family name to take mines. He said she needs to change the name via the Santa Clara county court system. Here is where I'm very worried about a bureaucratic snafu.

1. I'm going to assume that the oath ceremony on Friday will issue a naturalization certificate in the name of "Mary Smith" since the USCIS has sent letters addressing my wife as such.

2. Currently she is known as "Mary Maiden". The county court name change order (when granted) will list her old name and "Jane M. Smith".

3. Will there be a problem to get a US passport in the future when the naturalization certificate says "Mary Smith", but the California county court order shows her old name "Mary Maiden" and new name "Jane M. Smith"? I'm concerned because the name on the court order and the naturalization certificate do not match.

Is it possible to ask USCIS to issue the certificate in the name of "Mary Maiden", her original name? I think that would be better so that we won't encounter any potential problems.

 

[sanjoseaug20]

You can ask USCIS to issue the certificate in the name of "Mary Maiden" but you have to ask fast. They will not be able to change this at the naturalization ceremony as the certificates are pre-printed. You could have fixed this at the interview but now you have to reach out to them via INFOPASS.

If you want her to use the name "Mary Smith" you will have to use the marriage certificate along with your other evidence wherever you go .. passport, DMV, Social security office.

My advice ... try to avoid inconsistent names. If you go through the court system post naturalization, see if they can show change from "Marry Smith" to "Jane M Smith" rather than "Mary Maiden" to "Jane M Smith". Or take a hit on the naturalization ceremony, and ask them to roll back the name change, even though it shifts your oath schedule.

[ NOTE - It is not only this country's government you have to worry about, but your previous country's, and any other country you might want to visit. While it may be easy to take a husband's name and show the marriage certificate to DMV, it may not be so easy getting a visa to her previous country. They "could" be much less forgiving ... see the overseas citizenship of india sub-forum for related horror stories. This is why my advice to keep paper trail consistent. ]

 

[Jackolantern]

My advice ... try to avoid inconsistent names. If you go through the court system post naturalization, see if they can show change from "Marry Smith" to "Jane M Smith" rather than "Mary Maiden" to "Jane M Smith". Or take a hit on the naturalization ceremony, and ask them to roll back the name change, even though it shifts your oath schedule.

That would force her to show two documents (marriage cert + name change doc) to connect her old documents (e.g. diplomas, birth certificate, etc.) to her new name, and that could cause some hurdles with some bureaucratic agencies or companies. Better to keep the original "Mary Maiden" name until naturalization, and then do one name change from that to Jane M. Smith so one document is sufficient to connect the old name to the new name.