A common question I as newlyweds when they come to my office to discuss getting a “green card” is what is your name? This question often causes a lively conversation about whether a woman can/should/must change her name when she gets married. In the application for a “green card” there is no requirement for the spouses to have the same last name, and in fifteen years of practicing immigration law, I have never had an officer ask why someone has or has not changed their name.
Where there have been questions, and issues is when the name change is done in some areas but not all. Part of the job of USCIS is to perform background investigations on both the petitioner and applicant. Inconsistencies and conflicting information need to be explained to the officer’s satisfaction. When the officer issues a request for evidence, this slows the process of obtaining employment authorization (work card), travel permission and the green card. An unanswered request for evidence will most likely cause the “green card” application to be denied.
Because of all of the places a name change is needed, we have created a name changing kit for our clients who are either getting married or changed their name as part of the naturalization process. This kit includes:
- A notice of name change, this can be used with all of your commercial accounts such as work, banks charge card companies and the like
- A change of name with Social Security
- A change of name with the IRS
- A change of name for your Ohio driver license
- A change of name for your U.S. passport and
- If you are a lawful permanent resident (“green card” holder) a change of name for USCIS
This name change kit is free for anyone to access, just fill out your first name and email address and I will email this to you right away. If you would like to speak to me about the possibilities of our office representing you, please feel free to contact me. My office information is on this website and you can reply to the email I will send you.
