Newly Married, what to do next???

M

msbettybebe

New Member
I recently got married and am wondering what steps I should take for my name change as well as applying for citizenship.

I was eligible to apply for my citizenship years ago but wanted to wait till I got married so I didn't have to change my name again. I should have applied a long time ago but now I'm not sure what to do.

I'm a green card holder, need to change my last name AND apply for citizenship. What steps should I take? Do I change my name now or wait until after I get my citizenship to change my name? My honeymoon will be in May so I will need to have received my passport by then.

Please advise.
 
Usually you change your name as part of marriage (i.e. you tell them what you want it to change it to when you get your marriage license, and it says it on your marriage certificate). Did you?
 
Based on what I found out, these are the steps I'm taking for my name change.

1. Order extra marriage certificates
2. Make appointment and go social security office to change name
3. Make DMV appointment and get new license
4. Apply for Citizenship. (I'm going to wait until December to apply because I already booked my honeymoon tickets for May 2015. I realize that when you travel, you don't need social security or driver's license when you go out of country. All you need is your Passport and Green Card. Because my flights are booked, if I changed my name on my flight I would have to pay extra $150. Also, if I changed my name on my green card, it would cost me something like $380, the same price as renewing/replacing card which is unnecessary. So it's best to just wait till Dec for me, and that way when I get naturalized, it will be in June, which is right when I get back from honeymoon)

My whole ordeal was that I wasn't sure if I had to get my green card name changed before applying and with my travel in the picture, how that would affect my citizenship. I went to Costa Rica this May and didn't bring my green card (no one told me to and I don't travel. I went for an incentive trip with my work and our travel agent didn't tell me to bring it). So I was locked inside the airport by myself in the dark without food and water being watched by a female guard in the heat. Then I was deported back to Houston first thing next morning and detained in customs for 3 hours before they let me go. Again, starving and dehydrated, I was in hell. This is why I wanted to make sure I don't have any passport issues for my honeymoon. :)
 
You should have to wait for the name change process in the passport, once the legal papers should be with you with the changed name, then the citizenship with changed name can be easily made.
 
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