NJ MCV (or DMV) Nightmare

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cbadiola

New Member
So my sister was trying to renew her license but there is a discrepancy in the process..

She was a minor when she applied for the driver's license using a green card. Now with a name change through the naturalization process, her new name does not currently match whatever records the DMV has.

The issue is that in order to connect the identity found in her old license (from the green card) to the new name, we need a so called "bridge" document. I found out that this is a court notice for the name change.

However, we received our naturalization papers some six years ago after my parents swore in when we were minors. Does anyone have any idea how I should getting a duplicate or if its even possible to get one??
 
cbadiola said:
If you have not noticed, we didn't receive this court notice...sorry I forgot to indicate that.
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Contact the court where the oath was taken and request a duplicate name change certificate. They'll charge you a nominal fee ($5-$10 or so) and issue a new one.

On a different note, there is another active post where the applicant who received his citizenship through his parents as a minor states that it's not possible to change your name if you get your citizenship through your parents. Are you sure your sister's name wasn't changed through a name change petition separate of yuor parents' naturalization?
 
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cbadiola said:
The issue is that in order to connect the identity found in her old license (from the green card) to the new name, we need a so called "bridge" document. I found out that this is a court notice for the name change.

However, we received our naturalization papers some six years ago after my parents swore in when we were minors. Does anyone have any idea how I should getting a duplicate or if its even possible to get one??
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Either your parents officially changed your names via a separate court process independently of naturalization (because the naturalization process does not facilitate name changes for minors), or they unofficially changed your names by just starting to use your new names ... which is not hard because as children you didn't have much of anything in your original names.

If it was through a court process, you need to talk to your parents to get the name change court order, either from your parents or from the court that did it.

If it was unofficial, that means her name is still legally her birth name. So she either needs to revert to that name, or go through a name change court process to make the new name official.
 
I did not understand the discrepancy. So she had a name on GC == name on DL. Now she went to DMV and they refused to change the name. Did they refuse to change it to name she usually use, or name on the passport, or name on social security card?
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
. Did they refuse to change it to name she usually use, or name on the passport, or name on social security card?
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Sounds like they refused to renew DL after applicant showed document(whether it be passport, ss card) that had her new name on it. DMV would still need to see a name change document linking her old name to new name on document presented at DL renewal.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Sounds like they refused to renew DL after applicant showed document(whether it be passport, ss card) that had her new name on it. DMV would still need to see a name change document linking her old name to new name on document presented at DL renewal.
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I realize that and that's what I am trying to clarified from the OP.
[Edit / Add] : This was after seeing Jack's comment whether the name change was unofficial. If yes, just apply with the official name.
 
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Bobsmyth said:
If you realize it what's the confusion in what OP was saying?
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Sorry, my previous edit went just after your response, maybe it was concurrent editing, so will collate all points in one neat capsule.

The OP said name change during naturalization. That is obviously not correct as a minor's name does not change as part of N400. The OP believes the name changed, one of Jack's thought was whether the family changed the name unofficially. Then we are chasing the wrong issue in terms of getting court records and all. So, it is best to know what transpired.
 
thanks for the input so far. i believe my parents changed it unofficially. If name change is not allowed for minors during the procedure then they probably just put the new name on the filing form. If a court notice is only valid for my parents, where would I go to get the name change to become official?

It's unfortunate that the DMV just won't take the new credentials in despite her DL being the only document with the old name.
 
cbadiola said:
thanks for the input so far. i believe my parents changed it unofficially. If name change is not allowed for minors during the procedure then they probably just put the new name on the filing form. If a court notice is only valid for my parents, where would I go to get the name change to become official?

It's unfortunate that the DMV just won't take the new credentials in despite her DL being the only document with the old name.
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If your parents just used your new name unofficially, you'll need to get an official name change done in court. Your local court should have name change procedure available.
 
cbadiola said:
It's unfortunate that the DMV just won't take the new credentials in despite her DL being the only document with the old name.
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Why would they renew it with the new name, if they can't verify that it's the same person who has the old and new names?

Will they renew the DL with the old name? The name change process with the court may take a couple of months, and she'll need something to drive with while she waits for the name change to be made official.
 
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I realize this thread is a bit old and has been bumped up for no good reason, but it interested me because I may have a similar scenario pending. I have a teenage minor child who holds a home country passport, GC and DL all showing a single first name, the one we customarily use. However, that name is actually the middle name on her original birth certificate. When we applied for her home country passport originally, we showed the birth certificate but thoughtlessly wrote only the customarily-used middle name on the form, and that's the only name that was put in the passport. The GC took the name from the passport, and the DL took it from the GC.

The teen actually likes her full name and wants to keep it, so I asked our immigration attorney if we can get her US passport in her proper full name (according to the birth certificate), when we apply, after the parents' naturalization goes through, even though her GC doesn't have the first name. Attorney said yes, that shouldn't be a problem. So if this comes to pass, it will be a scenario in which it might appear there was a name change on naturalization, although it's really not. I hope it doesn't lead to a DL renewal issue.
 
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