Name Change Experience - No Problems

[memapply10]

Just an FYI and encouragement for those thinking about changing your name with your citizenship application...

I've seen some threads that mentioned not to change your name on the N-400 because the processing time would be longer. From my experience, this was not the case for me. I requested a name change when I first applied and took my oath last week in Memphis. Memphis does not have the same day interview-oath setup like some other DOs. So, you have to wait for an oath letter and date. But, I received my oath letter 1.5 months after my interview, and the oath date was 2 weeks after receiving the letter. Looking at other peoples' timelines for Memphis, this was not slower or faster than others.

Also, I heard that the processing time would be slower because you would have to wait for a hearing in a courtroom only which are not frequent and do not have many spots available at one time. My oath ceremony took place at the Cannon Center, a big performing arts theater, which was set up like a courtroom with judges, stands, flags, etc. There were >250 other applicants taking their citizenship oaths; some were changing their name and others were not.

So, overall, the processing time would probably have been the same regardless of name change for me. And it worked out that I could do both citizenship and name change all at once.

 

[r00724]

^That gives me some relief! My case is somewhat like yours and I am still waiting for my oath letter. I passed my interview on April 17th and was recomended for approval and we dont have the same day oath in Chicago as well. So lets see when the good news knock my door

 

[N400Atl]

Just an FYI and encouragement for those thinking about changing your name with your citizenship application...

I've seen some threads that mentioned not to change your name on the N-400 because the processing time would be longer. From my experience, this was not the case for me. I requested a name change when I first applied and took my oath last week in Memphis. Memphis does not have the same day interview-oath setup like some other DOs. So, you have to wait for an oath letter and date. But, I received my oath letter 1.5 months after my interview, and the oath date was 2 weeks after receiving the letter. Looking at other peoples' timelines for Memphis, this was not slower or faster than others.

Also, I heard that the processing time would be slower because you would have to wait for a hearing in a courtroom only which are not frequent and do not have many spots available at one time. My oath ceremony took place at the Cannon Center, a big performing arts theater, which was set up like a courtroom with judges, stands, flags, etc. There were >250 other applicants taking their citizenship oaths; some were changing their name and others were not.

So, overall, the processing time would probably have been the same regardless of name change for me. And it worked out that I could do both citizenship and name change all at once.

Congrats memapply10,

As you have said "Memphis does not have the same day interview-oath setup like some other DOs." You need to remember that not all DO have that.

Atlanta DO has same day oath. In Atlanta DO, if you choose for name change, your oath is at district court where oath ceremony is held 4-5 times a year only. Last time I went for my wife's oath, they were able to accomodate only 170 people. Atlanta is a very populated DO. So if you are in Atlanta DO and plan to change name, you have to keep in mind that for some people, it took 9+ months to get the oath date. If something bad happens between interview and oath (Say you are charged by cops with some offence, though it is not your fault or you got a traffic ticket that you did not pay till the oath date), your oath may get pushed further or whole application can be in trouble. I am not trying to scare people but at Atlanta DO, many people were sent back on oath day since they had unpaid traffic tickets (fine was usualy small, often < 500$)

Again, it depends on DO but it would be wrong to assume that this is not a problem with some DO since it worked OK with other DO. People need to do research about their DO before deciding.