The name game

[egolessvegan]

My fiancee and I were married April 4th here in Jupiter Florida. My wife had decided to take my last name.

Shortly thereafter we went to get SSN and were told that we had to use the name that appeared on her passport and K-1 visa. So we had to use her maiden name. OK, no problem.

Then our next move was to fill out all the AOS paperwork. Again I used her maiden name in fear that any changes to the information that appeared on the original documents might cause problems.

We were told to officially change her name, it was necessary to get a Florida state ID card at the state Drivers License facility. Because all the AOS stuff is currently in the system and pending I thought it was wise not to make any official changes.

To top things off when I tried to put her name on my bank account to make it a joint one we were rejected because they said my wife needed to show 2 picture ID's. She only has one from the passport/visa.

Why are we running into so many roadblocks here? It doesn't seem to be the case with other CFL couples. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

[hakkamike]

Give it a year or two or three and it will all be ok.

[tmkeith]

It'll be interesting to see the responses to this one. Wei and I have decided she will keep her family name. Now I'm wondering what kind of problems THAT will cause.

[Trigg]

when we got the SSN we simply had to bring in her marriage cert and passport. They automatically changed her surrname to match mine.--Marriage cert had her maiden name and her married name. Ken, you are being screwed with. therre is nothing in changing here maiden name to married name. As is often the case-go to a different SSA office and they will do it for you. ALSO, BIRTH CERT AND PASSPORT ARE ALL THE ssa REGS REQUIRE---2 FORMS OF id BUT THEY DON'T BOTH NEED TO HAVE A PIC. iF THEY INSIST OFFER VISA AS ONE ID AND PASSPORT AS THE OTHER.

 

(Arg, damned caps lock)!

[hakkamike]

The bottom line is, well there is no bottom line, anyway after she gets her Green Card things will be better in regards to her name, granted that the name is correct on her green card at the time of issue, thats a different story.

[warpedbored]

I have been thinking a lot about this SSA issue. Seems about 50% of us run into some problem with them. Now call me silly but it doesn't seem to me like married american couples have these problems when they take their marriage cert down there to change the name. The problem of course is the people working at the local SSA offices don't know the law so they interpret it themselves. Even in the same office you can get two different results. Bing and I Had no problems. Jim and Juxin went to a different office and were turned away. I told them to go where Bing and I did and they were successful in getting the SSN but the man made them get it in Juxin's maiden name.

 

What govt dept. is in charge of the SSA? is there a director of the SSA? Who could we start a letter writing campaign to to get a clear directive send down to the local offices on how to handle this matter? Time for whining is over. Time to get off our collective ass and do something about it. Lets start doing a little research. Find and copy the rules that say we can get a SSN and change the name. Send it to someone with the authority to send down a directive and get this issue cleared up. I am willing to do my part and there is absolutely nothing in it for me other than helping my CFL brothers and sisters. We have our green card and SSN.

[kaigaorui]

Good points carl. One concept that needs to be seriously considered, is so many times with these government agancies, the people in the front kines do not want to bother with the hassle od finding our protocol, so they make it ur as they go to get you off their backs.

 

IO am not making this up!! I deal with this on an almost daily basis with schools, and other agencies in the past invoplving the children and custody issues.

 

SSN rules and regulations should fall under Federal Jurisdiction, therefore US Code should apply as the rule book.

 

Let me do some digging and talk to some legal mercenairies I know. If i find specific language adressing this, I will post a synopsis and where to find.

 

I have not got to that point of the jopurney yet, but I am not far and have been thinking about this, so i will do it sooner than later and share the findings.

 

I know on the State level, having copies of specific statutes to waive in front of the first line, will leave them no excuse but to do thier job. Hope it will work here.

[rogerluli]

We originally planned for Luli to take my last name but it just hasn't worked out that way. First of all we got married in Las Vegas and they will NOT do a name change. Back in WI it involves a court proceeding, $$$, time, etc. Since the SSN and marriage license both were done in the western format of given name-family name we finally decided to just go with that for official purposes she is now..Li Lu...and forget the rest... and otherwise she remains Luli...

[LeeFisher3]

I find it hard to accept that the SSA is not willing to follow it's own documentation. It seems that to please the SSA your SO should get an initial card in their name and then use the following information to change the name on the SSN.

I just got married and want to change my name; how do I do this?

How to Apply For a Social Security Card

 

And the most convincing of all is the Form SS-5 Application for Social Security Card Form SS-5 where it clearly states a a marriage certificate is acceptable proof of name change.

How can I comment on the service I have received from the Social Security Administration?

 

If you get a denial I would suggest that you make sure to get names of the person in the window, their supervisior and DEMAND THE REASON FOR DENIAL IN WRITING, including the specific code or regulation that they claim is the reason for denial. The next stop should be your congressman's office or the local TV station.

 

This type of crappy service needs to end.