I485 Rfe

canislupus

Registered Users (C)
All,

Recieved RFE from USCIS. Letter states the following:
1) Employment Verification Letter required
2) Official Court Document substantiating Wife's name change (first and last) following marriage

While the 1st should be not a problem, its the 2nd that has me worried. We were married in India and following the marriage and name change all her identity documents like Passport, DL, SSN were changed to relfect new name. Even her EAD, AP and latest visa extensions have been in new name.
As proof of her name change all these were provided to USCIS along with Affidavit of name change.

Where do we go about getting a official court document from? Is this something the Indian Embassy in U.S can help with or do we have to reach out to relatives in India or approach a civil court here?
Please share experiences if any.
 
Did she changed Only last name or first&last names ?

All,

Recieved RFE from USCIS. Letter states the following:
1) Employment Verification Letter required
2) Official Court Document substantiating Wife's name change (first and last) following marriage

While the 1st should be not a problem, its the 2nd that has me worried. We were married in India and following the marriage and name change all her identity documents like Passport, DL, SSN were changed to relfect new name. Even her EAD, AP and latest visa extensions have been in new name.
As proof of her name change all these were provided to USCIS along with Affidavit of name change.

Where do we go about getting a official court document from? Is this something the Indian Embassy in U.S can help with or do we have to reach out to relatives in India or approach a civil court here?
Please share experiences if any.
 
2.) is truly senseless of USCIS to ask for.

Did you send in copies of her old PP and the new one with name change as well? Her new PP should actually say state her previous name. Maybe the adjudicator failed to notice that.

Looks like the marriage certificate had only her old first and last name or maybe the adjudicator got alarmed by the first name change which is not fairly common these days.
 
2.) is truly senseless of USCIS to ask for.

Did you send in copies of her old PP and the new one with name change as well? Her new PP should actually say state her previous name. Maybe the adjudicator failed to notice that.

Looks like the marriage certificate had only her old first and last name or maybe the adjudicator got alarmed by the first name change which is not fairly common these days.

yes all copies of old and new PP were sent to USCIS.
You are right the marriage certificate has only her first and last name at birth.
They have given us until Feb 23rd to get our response in. I don't know how on earth will I be able to get something back from India by then.
In the RFE letter they have said if no document is provided then they will issue the green card in the name of her old first name and new last name, imagine how frustrating that's going to be needless to speak of all the changes we will need to make.
 
Canislupus.. I had similar RFE from TSC. They wanted to know that both names are of one person. My wife changed both first and last name. I sent them an affidavit from a relative and one from my wife. I had clips of ads placed in local newspapers. This was good enough in my case and got approved.
You can check my previous posts about RFE.
 
Canislupus.. I had similar RFE from TSC. They wanted to know that both names are of one person. My wife changed both first and last name. I sent them an affidavit from a relative and one from my wife. I had clips of ads placed in local newspapers. This was good enough in my case and got approved.
You can check my previous posts about RFE.

rvinay, thx for your response. did the RFE letter for your wife explicitly state that an official court document is required for the name change. because the exact text in my wife's RFE says the following:
please provide documentary evidence of legal name change from xxx + old last name to yyy + new last name. you may submit a marriage certificate (already in file which explains change to husband's last name) or any other official civil document, such as a court decree that substantiates the name change. particulary the change in your first name. If a legal name change document is not submitted, the name will appear as xxx + new last name in your green card.
 
Canislupus.. The RFE letter did not say explicitly that court doucment is needed as evidence for name change. I don't think in your case either it says so. By looking at the language you posted, I think they just gave you few examples as to what could be filed as documentary evidence.
The language of letter in my case was something like this...
' Please provide documentry evidence that xxxx (earlier name.. first and last) and xxxx (new first and last name) are one person.'
They did not suggest any document which could be filed.
In your case they have also mentioned that you will get your GC with your earlier first name in case you don't file court decree. So you are going to be approved anyway. You can go for name change after you get your GC with previous first name.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Reponse Sent

Canislupus.. The RFE letter did not say explicitly that court doucment is needed as evidence for name change. I don't think in your case either it says so. By looking at the language you posted, I think they just gave you few examples as to what could be filed as documentary evidence.
The language of letter in my case was something like this...
' Please provide documentry evidence that xxxx (earlier name.. first and last) and xxxx (new first and last name) are one person.'
They did not suggest any document which could be filed.
In your case they have also mentioned that you will get your GC with your earlier first name in case you don't file court decree. So you are going to be approved anyway. You can go for name change after you get your GC with previous first name.

Thanks rvinay for your response. we did get a marriage certificate from the Indian consulate that attested that Me and my wife (new name) are husband and wife and also an affidavit from a notary that my wife's old name and new name are the same person. Plus sent advertisements run in newspaper to backup the name change. So let's hope it works out.

We have also filed a petition for name change in a local court and just in case the USCIS does not issue the card in the correct name, we will file I 90 right after this court decree is obtained.

How long did it take you or others to hear back after RFE response was sent?
 
Top