Change name on the green card?

[navoda]

I need to change my name that appears on the green card.

The thing is, I didn't change my name, but my name that appears on the green card is completely different from the name I use. Where I come from, we have long names ( 2 family names, 1 first name, 1 middle name, 1 last name) and when I applied for the green card, I had to put the whole name in the application. Now USCIS have used my above mentioned "family names" as my first and middle name and my last name. Even better, my family name was too long for them to use as a first name so they used first 6 letters of that as the first name which sounds ridiculous and embarrassing So my actual first and middle names are all gone. I didn't mind it for the past 2 years and I just realized that all my college transcripts etc. are going to be in this name and now I really need that to be changed.

Is there anything I could do to get this corrected? How would the process go? How long will it take? How much would it cost? At this point I don't really care even if I had to pay a thousand dollars. I just need it fixed

 

[Jackolantern]

What's the difference between a family name and a last name? In the US they're treated as the same thing.

From your description it's hard to understand what your problem is. Give an example by filling in the blanks with some made-up names:

2 family names = _____ _____
first name = _____
middle name = _____
last name = _____

Name displayed on the green card = ______, ____ ___
Name on your birth certificate = ____ ____ ____ ____ ___ (5 names, correct?)
Name as you want it to be displayed on your green card = _______, ____ ____

 

[navoda]

Change name on green card?

What's the difference between a family name and a last name? In the US they're treated as the same thing.

From your description it's hard to understand what your problem is. Give an example by filling in the blanks with some made-up names:

2 family names = _____ _____
first name = _____
middle name = _____
last name = _____

Name displayed on the green card = ______, ____ ___
Name on your birth certificate = ____ ____ ____ ____ ___ (5 names, correct?)
Name as you want it to be displayed on your green card = _______, ____ ____

Where I come from, family name is not the same as last name.

2 family names = Gunasinghe Kankanamalage
First name = Sahan
Middle name = Rashmika
Last name = Gunasinghe

Name on Green Card = Gunasinghe Kankan S Gunasinghe
Name on the birth certificate = Gunasinghe Kankanamalage Sahan Rashmika Gunasinghe
Name I need on the Green Card = Sahan Rashnika Gunasinghe

Basically I need my "2 family names" out of the way.

Now my school omits the middle name on the green card and uses my first and last names on the Green Card, which is "Gunasinghe Gunasinghe". I've had enough with this

 

[Jackolantern]

Name on the birth certificate = Gunasinghe Kankanamalage Sahan Rashmika Gunasinghe

Does your birth certificate specify family name separately from last name, or does it simply list out all 5 names as you wrote above?