Received Request for Evidence over my Wife's Name change after marriage

A

al196103

New Member
Hello there,

I am a naturalized US citizen and married my wife almost 3 years ago in Wisconsin.

As part of the supporting information we sent in my wife GC petition, were our marriage certificate, that makes reference to her name change (maidden to married), copy of the drivers licencese, and SSN cards reflecting these changes, and making it a clear as possible that this is the same person.

However today I got a Request for Evidence asking for a Court Order that legally changed the name...

I am not a family law expert, nor fully understand the difference between a court appointed name change order vs one driven form a marriage license, but I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced something like this or have suggestions on what to do next...

Happy new year to you all!
 
Forgot to mention that she hold a passport from China. I may be wrong, but it appears they do not issue passport with name changes. I hope this is not the cause of the problem...
 
I believe it is mendatory to get the name change leagally (even after marrige), However it will not be too much of work depending on which state you are just file a request in county court and followed by publications in two newspaper and judge will order the name change. Have you changed the name on SS and bank accounts etc after marriage?
 
al196103 said:
I am not a family law expert, nor fully understand the difference between a court appointed name change order vs one driven form a marriage license, but I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced something like this or have suggestions on what to do next...
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The marriage certificate (not the marriage license!) should be sufficient evidence of the name change, provided that her maiden name on the marriage certificate matches her birth certificate, and her only name change was to take your last name, and her other documents issued after the marriage show consistent use of the married name.

If those things are true about her documents, it means USCIS made a mistake. Respond to the RFE by sending the marriage certificate again. And send her birth certificate if it wasn't already sent. The birth certificate should be accompanied by a certified English translation, if the certificate itself isn't in English.

Does her passport still have her maiden name? Did you submit utility bills, bank accounts, credit card bills, or other documents with her maiden name? Documents that still have her maiden name can cause USCIS to flag the discrepancy and ask for more evidence.
 
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I have a question regarding this as well...we married in Karachi but I haven't tried to change my name because in Islam we don't change our last names to our husband's...we have talked about this and probably will in the future if it creates issues but will they expect this as well? I'm not sure the state in NC accepts the document we have for our Nikah as evidence for our marriage so we were going to also do a civil ceremony here in the USA to provide this documentation and a wedding renewal for my family living here after he arrives...my other documents all hold my maiden name but he is listed on our bank accounts and it isn't uncommon anymore for woman to keep her last name...just wondering....I don't want any issues...just want to do everything I can to get him here asap...already went thru miscarriage alone after I came home from honeymoon... don't want to have anything else happen without him
 
eabbas said:
I have a question regarding this as well...we married in Karachi but I haven't tried to change my name because in Islam we don't change our last names to our husband's...we have talked about this and probably will in the future if it creates issues but will they expect this as well?
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Lack of name change is not an issue. It is very common for them to see women who don't change their last name after marriage, or delay the name change until they get citizenship.

I'm not sure the state in NC accepts the document we have for our Nikah as evidence for our marriage so we were going to also do a civil ceremony here in the USA
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Don't do that. USCIS will recognize the document (accompanied by a certified English translation if it's not already in English), and if you marry again in the US it can create problems in more ways than one.

Are you both inside the US now? If yes, were you already or close to getting married when whichever one of you who isn't a citizen or green card holder applied for a visa to visit/work/study in the US? Who is the noncitizen, you or him?
 
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No I am here in the US now..I traveled to him to get married in October with a huge wedding in Karachi and have applied i 130...I just don't want to have any of these issues come up because they don't think we are genuine just because I haven't changed my last name yet.

I am US citizen he is the beneficiary still in pakistan for now...
 
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Your nikah-nama with a notorised translation will be accepted as your marriage certificate. You have no need to re-marry him when he gets into the US. Both spouses having different surnames is a non-issue.


eabbas said:
No I am here in the US now..I traveled to him to get married in October with a huge wedding in Karachi and have applied i 130...I just don't want to have any of these issues come up because they don't think we are genuine just because I haven't changed my last name yet.
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OK as long as USCIS recognized our nikah document then Im sure we are ok....it is translated into english and registered in karachi and has a seal saying it is accepted in USA for immigration purposes..dont remember the exact seal and what it says but something to that effect...
 
As I said earlier, you should be good.

eabbas said:
OK as long as USCIS recognized our nikah document then Im sure we are ok....it is translated into english and registered in karachi and has a seal saying it is accepted in USA for immigration purposes..dont remember the exact seal and what it says but something to that effect...
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