Name Change Effects?

[Eeagle]

Hi there,

I'm an undergrad student in Georgia applying for citizenship. Both my parents are now citizens and I've just procrastinated to fill out the form (that, and not sure of my address).

Say my legal name on my birth certificate, green card, (expired) passport, school, driver's license, etc etc is John Doe with no middle name, yet I am called Matthew by teachers, friends, employers, etc. I know it will be a pain in the butt if I change my name to Matthew John Doe, but what if I add Matthew as the middle name?

Would I need to notify my university, DMV, social security, bank, etc?

In addition, what would be my residency status? Would I be a Georgia resident or a resident of the state my parents are in?

Thanks!

 

[Jackolantern]

So you are more commonly known by your nickname than your actual name. Not an unusual situation. That's like Bobby Jindal ... many people don't know his real name isn't Bobby.

If you turn this nickname into your middle name, you should definitely notify the DMV soon. It is important to have at least one official government ID that shows your full name, and the license or state ID is the most common day-to-day ID.

For the university, Social Security, and bank, you should notify them sooner or later, but it is not so urgent. Notify the university before you graduate, so the diploma will be in the full new name. And notify the bank soon if you expect that somebody might write a check to "Matthew Doe".

For Social Security, you are supposed to notify them of your new citizenship status (regardless of whether you are changing your name), so when you visit them to update your citizenship status, you can take care of the new name at the same time.

For other things like cellphone bills and magazine subscriptions, I wouldn't bother to update them. I have a middle name since birth, and most of my bills don't have my middle name or middle initial.

Did either of your parents become a citizen before you turned 18? If yes, you probably already derived citizenship through them. In which case you would need to do the name change process separately in a court, instead of through the citizenship process. For proof of citizenship, you would apply for a US passport and/or N-600 Certificate of Citizenship (the passport is much cheaper and faster). I figure you'd want the certificate and passport to have your new name, so take care of the name change before applying for those.

In addition, what would be my residency status? Would I be a Georgia resident or a resident of the state my parents are in?

Going from being a permanent resident to a US citizen does not change your state residence status for university purposes.