change name or not?

L

Latin101

Registered Users (C)
I requested a name change on N-400, but am having second thought now. I've been going by a "nickname" for a few years in the companies I've been working at. All official documents except a couple of years' paychecks/W2's are however still using my current legal name. Now, I don't mind the additional one or two months of delay in oath ceremony, but I understand that after an official name change, I'll need to go get my driver's licence and SS card replaced, which is some work but doable. Are there any other implications I haven't thought of? Any thoughts on why I should or should not get the name change done?
 
Latin101 said:
I requested a name change on N-400, but am having second thought now. I've been going by a "nickname" for a few years in the companies I've been working at. All official documents except a couple of years' paychecks/W2's are however still using my current legal name. Now, I don't mind the additional one or two months of delay in oath ceremony, but I understand that after an official name change, I'll need to go get my driver's licence and SS card replaced, which is some work but doable. Are there any other implications I haven't thought of? Any thoughts on why I should or should not get the name change done?
Click to expand...

If you want to travel to your "previous" country, you may or may not need a visa. If you need a visa, what all documents will they need now given that your name has changed and is not the same as your old passport.
 
Well I do need a visa. You are saying that would be a problem now that my name doesn't match the name on file with the agency that's going to process my visa application? So I guess I need to provide them the US court order for name change and help them identify who I am in their system. It does sound like it could get complicated. Thanks for the input.
 
Basically any other official or commercial documents and accounts would need to be updated ... passport, bank account, credit cards, etc.

To reduce the need to change each and everything, and to make it easier to convince people that you are the same person who is listed on old non-updatable documents like your birth certificate and school records, you could make your nickname be your official middle name (leaving the first name as is), or put the nickname first and move your existing first name to the middle, or something similar with the last name, if the nickname is to replace your last name. Either way, it would maintain your original first and last name (even if the order is shifted) so people will more easily believe that you are the same person.
 
Having my current first name as the new middle name is what I am doing now, so it's easier to identify the documents from old days such as diploma or marriage certificate, which obviously you can't go back and change. I am more concerned about the inconvinience it may pose to future travel arrangement. All things considered, it may be a bad idea to change the name officially. I'd better off going by a nickname while keeping my legal name on formal documents as I am doing now?

Edit: I guess those that have gone through the name change process are not visiting this site any more? Would be nice to hear about their experience.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Latin101 said:
I'd better off going by a nickname while keeping my legal name on formal documents as I am doing now?
Click to expand...
Maybe not. When you are commonly known by a nickname, especially when the nickname extends beyond friends and family into business or politics or other public arenas, it is sometimes more trouble to NOT have the nickname as part of your legal name. One of my father's friends had that nickname problem ... sometimes somebody would send him a check written to his nickname, and he couldn't cash it because it wasn't his legal name. And some other sticky scenarios I don't remember right now. Eventually he made his nickname become his legal middle name (keeping the first name as is), so that confusion went away.

Given that your professional reputation is now linked to your nickname, making it part of your legal name could save more trouble than it would create.
Latin101 said:
I am more concerned about the inconvinience it may pose to future travel arrangement.
Click to expand...
Travel won't be a problem. All you have to do is ensure the ID you show at the airport has the same name that is booked on the ticket. When applying for a visa, you may need to show or submit the name change court order, but it shouldn't be a problem to convince them you are the same person as on the old passport or birth certificate, given that you will not be discarding your original first and last name.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am a little intimidated by all the document change I need to do after the name change. It seems using or adding a new middle name has the least impact, but I feel that middle name is rarely splled out. In many cases, middle names stay irrelevant or only the initial is asked. Would that still be an inconvinience? You are making a convinicing argument though (thanks for that). Now I am "torn" on whether to follow through the name change process.
 
I changed my name during the naturalization process. Swapped my first and middle names and changed my last name. I'm still not done changing it everywhere. I changed it in my SSN, driver's license, bank(s), credit card (haven't done that yet), work, insurances, etc. It is not easy doing everything, but given a choice I would opt for name change all over again.
 
luckymb, tell me about the advantages/conviniences you are getting from the name change to help me make up my mind. :) Thanks.
 
Latin101 said:
I am a little intimidated by all the document change I need to do after the name change. It seems using or adding a new middle name has the least impact, but I feel that middle name is rarely splled out. In many cases, middle names stay irrelevant or only the initial is asked.
Click to expand...
That is true; most forms where they ask for your name only ask for the middle initial.

However, your official IDs like passport, SS card, and driver's license would have the full middle name. So whenever somebody sends you something using your nickname-turned-middlename, you can assert that it is you, even if 90% of other official documents and accounts only have your middle initial.

For example, suppose somebody sends you a registered mail that you have to pick up and sign for at the post office, and they used your nickname. If you show your ID and the middle name + last name matches the recipient name on the package, the post office will give it to you without a problem. Whereas if the nickname is not part of your legal name (i.e. not shown on your ID), they may refuse to give it to you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For example, suppose somebody sends you a registered mail that you have to pick up and sign for at the post office, and they used your nickname. If you show your ID and the middle name + last name matches the recipient name on the package, the post office will give it to you without a problem. Whereas if the nickname is not part of your legal name, they may refuse to give it to you.
Click to expand...
So changing/adding middle name and leaving first name unchanged sounds like a winning strategy, which ensures connection with documentation from old days while still providing the convinience for the current widespread use of the nickname. Thanks, Jackolantern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top