Changing name after i-485 approval

R

raymond

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

I wanted to change my name before stamping,my i-485 is approved this month,dec 20th from nebraska service center.

Here is the story,In my passport i used my last name as my husband's name,
so all my green card papers,driver's license,bank accounts,h1 everything is with that name.

now i got divorced.I wanted to change my last name as my father's name as it was before(before marriage).All by marksheets,college certificates everything is with the maiden name.

Now what is the best & safe procedure for changing my name before stamping.


1.Is there a way to change it?
2.one solution which i founds is - show the divroce decree at indian consulate in newyork and get new passport with the maiden name.Show this passport during the stamping and get the stamping with maiden name,so that i can get the green card with maiden name.I don't know how far this is feasable,please advise!

3)get the green card with my ex husband's name as last that is the current name,and apply for new passport and apply for i-90 to replace the greencard with new name,how is this going to work?Please advise!

4)what is the safest way to do this,what are the steps after changing the name?

Thaks for reading such a big mail,hope i get answer before dec 24th.planning to go for stamping on dec 27th.

waiting for the advise!
 
If you got your GC as dependent (your husband is primary) I would suggest you to change the name after passport stamping. Get your stamping done, receive your GC card (with your husband's last name). Then if your passport, drivers license and SSN are not in your maiden name, change them first (before GC name change). Then file I-90 form to change your name on GC.
 
I agree with pralay. You will need have some support documents to request a change in the GC profile. Passpoert , US issued IDs/cards such as DL and SSN are the best evidence, support docs.
 
As an aside in my case it is exactly the opposite. My wife is going to get her GC in her maiden name as is her passport, DL etc. Bit of nightmare as mail has gone back. Now we mention both last names on mailbox...
 
Thanks for the response.I am the primary applicant,have not included my (X)husband.
Everyone here suggests,

1)i should go for stamping first with the current name and change later that is after getting the physical green card right?

2)second thing is - for changing the name i should get new passport with new name?

3)just change ssn,driver's license and send the new ssn for changing the physical green card?

4)I wanted to change status in ssn,driver's license as permanent resident for that if i show current name without changing gc they won't change right?

i am just confused????
 
raymond said:
1)i should go for stamping first with the current name and change later that is after getting the physical green card right?
Click to expand...

Yes, you should get stamped first and get your initial card. Sometimes name change on GC takes longer than expected - it varies anywhere between 1 months to one year. So it's better to get initial card first and then worry about name change.

raymond said:
2)second thing is - for changing the name i should get new passport with new name?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's better to keep all names same - passport, DL, SSN and GC.

raymond said:
3)just change ssn,driver's license and send the new ssn for changing the physical green card?
Click to expand...

I think DL and SSN are good enough. But I would change passport too and send a copy of new passport for GC name change.

raymond said:
4)I wanted to change status in ssn,driver's license as permanent resident for that if i show current name without changing gc they won't change right?
Click to expand...

Did not get it.
 
Pralay,

Thanks so much for the info.

4)what are the sequence of steps :

First passport - got to show divorce decree,then they will issue new passport?
(when they issue new passport,what happens to green card visa stamping,do they attach to new passport,or i should carry the old one always)??

then ssn - show new passport for the name change
problem: they will not issue the ssn,always they are trying match the status and name with INS.I think unless i change the physical green card,they won't let me do it.
In this case i have to change name in GC by submitting copy of my newpassport and get it done.

then driver's license - show ssn for name change

then Gc - apply for i-90,Do i have to send my original physical green card?
(If i send original card,i can't leave the country right?)

Once again thanks for taking time to read such a big mail.
 
Guys,

Please reply - I am planning to apply for my new passport with new name.
is there anyone changed their passport with new name,please advice.
how the indian emabassy will give the new passport,do they attach the visa pages to the new passport.
 
I'm one week into getting my wifes last name changed to my last name. I have mailed the new passport application to Houston Consulate. They have requested three weeks processing time. So we will see what happens. Also I have seen two passports(old and new) pasted together in peoples hand at US embassy in Delhi so am assuming same is going to happen with us, we should get our old passport back glued to the new one.

If everything goes OK, I will next be running to SSN office to get her last name changed there, from SSN website it does'nt seem that complicated as long as I have the new passport.

Next will be Drivers License and last will be I-90.

I talked to the officer at the time of my passport stamping about getting her last name change and the officer suggested a)apply I-90 with the marriage certificate(in you case I guess it will be divorce decree) and $180.00 b) Wait for 5 years and apply for name change at the time of Citizenship application.
 
Thanks so much for the info_Officer suggested you to wait for the name change at the time of citizenship application?

I just need to change the last name not my full name(from marriage name to maiden name).Personally i don't want to wait for too long (5 years )for the name change,want to do it as soon as possible.


Please let me know how it goes with your wife's case.
So when we apply for i-90,i think we need to send the original green card right?

appreciate your reply.
 
>>So when we apply for i-90,i think we need to send the original green card right?

I dont know, I have read about both situations here, but when I will be applying for I-90 I will be ready to surrender original GC. If you do a search on I-90 on this website and read through different threads you will see both cases - where INS asked for original GC and also a post where they did'nt ask for original GC.
 
I applied I-90 for my wife(she is adopting my last name) on 05/05/2005 and got the application approved on June 7th, it took about a month, for people who are thinking of doing the same here is what I did :

Step 1 : Apply for new passport with the new name with Indian Consulate
Step 2 : Take the new passport along with a copy of your Marriage certificate(showing her last name as yours) to local BCIS office and apply for I-90. They will take her old Green card and put a I-551 stamp on her passport.
Step 3 : Take your new Green card to Social Security office and apply for new SSN.

Good Luck.
 
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changing name because of divorce

Thanks for the reply ThakurSahab.
Please advise me with this?

For my case i have divorce decree as the proof for divorce.
After changing my passport from married name to maiden name ,can i show the new passport to ins local office while applying for i-90?

OR do i have to change ssn also,before applying for i-90?
Even i am not sure ssn will accept the passport as the proof for the new name?

If ssn does not accept my new name in passport,can the ins local office will accept the passport as the proof?

I have only my educational certificates with maiden name to show the proof.

Please help me,if anyone had the same situation(name change from married to maiden name),did the name change after getting the GC.

Thanks,
Raymond.
 
raymond said:
Thanks for the reply ThakurSahab.
Please advise me with this?

For my case i have divorce decree as the proof for divorce.
After changing my passport from married name to maiden name ,can i show the new passport to ins local office while applying for i-90?

OR do i have to change ssn also,before applying for i-90?
Even i am not sure ssn will accept the passport as the proof for the new name?

If ssn does not accept my new name in passport,can the ins local office will accept the passport as the proof?

I have only my educational certificates with maiden name to show the proof.

Please help me,if anyone had the same situation(name change from married to maiden name),did the name change after getting the GC.

Thanks,
Raymond.
Click to expand...

You can use your divorce decree (if you requested to name change while filing for divorce) to change name in all your documents - passport, SSN, I-90, drivers license. You can provide additional documents as secondary proof - like providing passport copy and educational certificate with I-90, but your divorce decree is the mother of all document for name change - in your case.
 
I didn't request a name change in the divorce decree.That's the reason ,i am suspecting,wether INS local office will accept only new passport as the proof for maiden name.
 
Raymond,

Yes the INS office will accept your new passport along with divorce decree for I-90 application. The SSN office will also accept the application with new passport as proof of name change but will not approve the application until your I-90 is approved.


I ran into this issue when I applied for my wifes name change. We applied for name change on SSN before I-90, to be precise applied name change on SSN in feb 2005, waited for 4 weeks and did'nt get the new SSN card, and finally after waiting for 8 weeks we decided to go back to SSN office , at that point they told us that they are waiting for INS to confirm the new name and I told them I have'nt applied I-90 with INS yet so they asked me to do that first. So we finally applied for I-90 in May 2005(with new passport and copy of marriage certificate), while our SSN application was still pending. The I-90 got approved in June and 2-3 weeks after I-90 approval we got the neww SSN card also in mail.

If you dont want to go through the mess I went through, I would advise to follow the three steps mentioned in my earlier post in order.
 
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how to apply i-90

Thakur sahab,

Thaks for the reply.I am also planning to apply after changing my name on greencard.Can i take an appointment with local ins and handover the i-90 application?or do we have to apply online ?i am just wondering - did you pay the fees online or did you payed at the local ins office.

Just confused,ins site describes - we have to apply online and ,we will get the appointment letter by mail,then we should go to local ins office.

Is there anyone tried doing the name change from marriedname to maiden name,please help me out.
I am not sure wether ins will accept the divorcedecree or do i have to get the court order for name change,i changed my passport wiht new name,indian consulate accepted the decree.

That's a long process to get the court order

Raymond.......
 
You can apply both ways but we went to local INS office to submit our I90 application. We scheduled the appointment online, it was just one week wait. In our case the officer just took photo copy of my wifes new passport and said you are done at that point I asked him "dont you need a copy of marriage certificate" and he said not required but if you are concerned I will attach it with the application, so we submitted both- new passport and copy of marriage certificate. According to him copy of new passport is enough for I-90 application.

They will accept personal check at local office
 
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