change name for child

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peter2

Registered Users (C)
Hi all: my I-485 has been approved, and I'm ready for stamping. I have a question here. We gave my child an english name, say Tom after he came to US with us. Now everybody calls him Tom in the school (he is in the middle school). Do we really need to add his english name to his native name (say Dinghui Ping) and how? Is this Dinghui Tom Ping or Tom Dinghui Ping correct? Can we ask the immigration officer to do that when we have our passport stamped, and then we could get his green card with the new name on it? Thank you so much!


Peter2
 
peter2 said:
Hi all: my I-485 has been approved, and I'm ready for stamping. I have a question here. We gave my child an english name, say Tom after he came to US with us. Now everybody calls him Tom in the school (he is in the middle school). Do we really need to add his english name to his native name (say Dinghui Ping) and how? Is this Dinghui Tom Ping or Tom Dinghui Ping correct? Can we ask the immigration officer to do that when we have our passport stamped, and then we could get his green card with the new name on it? Thank you so much!


Peter2
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Hi Peter2 -

Name changes can only be done in 2 ways for you:

1. Formal name change by a judge who will issue a formal decree - then you must get your son's documents (including greencard) updated to relect this change.

2. Or wait until naturalization when you can request for a name change for your son directly on the N-400 application.
 
peter2 said:
Hi all: my I-485 has been approved, and I'm ready for stamping. I have a question here. We gave my child an english name, say Tom after he came to US with us. Now everybody calls him Tom in the school (he is in the middle school). Do we really need to add his english name to his native name (say Dinghui Ping) and how? Is this Dinghui Tom Ping or Tom Dinghui Ping correct? Can we ask the immigration officer to do that when we have our passport stamped, and then we could get his green card with the new name on it? Thank you so much!


Peter2
Click to expand...
I am doing the same thing for my son right now. I would suggest you go for 'Tom (or Thomas if you want it to be more formal) Dinghui Ping' - that way, Tom would be his first name and his original first name would become his middle name, which is in reality used rarely - well unless in a Chinese school. About the name changing process go to your county courthouse for more information. It's a matter of formality but could take you some time and some money.
p.s. passport stamping won't be able to take care name changing. And I am not sure if name changing on green card is necessary. As long as it matches the name on passport you shouldn't have any problem getting in and out of the country. 5 years down the road if he becomes citizen, you could easily change his name on the application.
 
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