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Name Change
- Thread starter 3po
- Start date
Hi, i live in Michigan and i am a green card holder. i want to change my first name because it's hard to pronouce. i send email and asked the clerk office and they respond that only citizens can request for name change. is it true? is it any way i can legally change my name?
I don't think it's true. I am a permanent resident now but I had a legal name change as a non-immigrant.
I had my unofficial first name on my previous driver's license when I applied. I used my first name on my passport as a middle name. Believe it or not, it was possible before 9-11....at least in the state where I applied for my driver's license. Then, when I was going to renew my license (post 9-11), my application was rejected because my name did not match the one on their SSN database. When I talked to an operator at DMV on the phone, she told me that I would have to have my name changed legally. I told her that it would be impossible as I was a foreign national. But she told me that she knew it's possible because her parents were from another country and they did it.
I did some research on the procedures to have a legal name change. Luckily, in my current state, the procedure was relative straightforward and the cost was much less. So I went ahead and did it. It was easy because I always used my new name everywhere for the last 7 years or so. Once I got a record of my legal name change. I took it to the local SSN office and ask them to update my name on the database. Then I renew my driver's license with my new name. There were no problems although the name was not the same as that in my passport or non-immigrant visa.
I wanted to have the new name printed on my greencard too. If my names on my GC and massport did not match, I would have to carry the legal name change certificate whenever I travel. Before I applied for my GC, I asked the embassy of my country to add my new name somewhere in my passport. They put my new name in a parenthesis next my original first name. When I had a CP interview at the embassy in my country, they issued an immigrant visa with my name just as shown in my driver's license or SSN card. As a result, my GC says the new name as well.
Hope this helps....
thx. do they check your citizenship when they filing the name change request?
nope. it was completely separate from my immigration status. in fact, they knew I was a foreign national because i used my passport to prove my old name. but it didn't matter at all.
You CAN change your legal name through the district court. You do NOT have to be a citizen.
I did it in Texas but regreted later for spending about $300 (may have to spend another $300 for changing it on GC). I could have made that change during the citizenship without any cost.
I did it in Texas but regreted later for spending about $300 (may have to spend another $300 for changing it on GC). I could have made that change during the citizenship without any cost.