Married People

[Ana]

hi all! im so glad to hear so many people have been receiving good news lately. my husband received his visa yesterday (finally!) and he is planning on coming here this week!

 

but now there are new paper work problemos. does anyone know what to do for a spouse-based immigrant visa? it is a little different from a fiance visa, it seems.

 

and also, how do you go about adopting an american name?

 

id appreciate any help you could give on the above!

thanks!

[Mick]

Can't answer any of your questions Ana. But I can say congrats that he has his visa in hand. I am really thrilled for you guys. Blessed be!

[floyd]

What to do depends on which visa he got. Was it from the I129F or the I130

petition?

 

As for the name change, it depends on what state you are in. If you are in a state that accepts common law names changes, you just start using it. Otherwise you generally have to find the court system that handles it in your state, and call and ask the clerk. You usually have to run an ad in the 'legal paper' (generally a classified in the local newspaper), and then get the judge to say 'ok', and give you a court paper saying what your new name is.

[Guest nonoa]

not much left to do for a cr-1 or ir-1 visa holder. he can just go apply for an ssn with the passport and the i-551 stamp on it. then go open bank accounts, get a driver's license and begin job hunting or go to school. the real plastic green card will arrive in mail within 1-12 months. for cr-1s, dont forget to remove the conditions after 1 yr and 9 months.

i wont suggest he change names unless it is really difficult for americans to pronounce. changing first name is kinda troublesome, esp. when he still has to deal with ins later. he can just use an english nick name while maintaining the chinese name on legal paper work. and this works perfect for myself.

[Guest tc&yz]

My sincere congrats to you, Ana. Chapter 14 of the book "Fiance & Marriange Visas, a couple's guide to US immigraton" by Attorney Ilona M. Bray will walk you through the entire process. It also explains what one needs to do after getting the green card. You'lll find it extremely informative.

 

tc&yz

[Charlotte]

There is a difference between first and last name (although Ana is talking about her husband's). In Oregon, for a wife, she can take the husband's last name, use her maiden name, or combine them. Anytime she wants, she can revert to her maiden name without court action. A first name change requires court action.

 

Different states have different laws.

Don is right. Last name change via marriage only requires marriage license. But first name change need court's action in all states, but fees vary. For it to be free, he had to wait until he is a US citizen.

[floyd]

There is a difference between first and last name (although Ana is talking about her husband's). In Oregon, for a wife, she can take the husband's last name, use her maiden name, or combine them. Anytime she wants, she can revert to her maiden name without court action. A first name change requires court action.

 

Different states have different laws.

Don is right. Last name change via marriage only requires marriage license. But first name change need court's action in all states, but fees vary. For it to be free, he had to wait until he is a US citizen.

Ummm.... no, a first name change does not require a court action in all states.

Nor a last name, with or without marriage.

 

For the marriage change of name, in many states you have to write it onto

the marriage licence also, so for someone that is already married this may do

no good. If this can be more then just the last name again depends on state law.

 

 

In fact I know Pennsylvania (a state you list in your sig)

is a state in which common law name changes are legal, and I would be real suprised if they are not in Texas. This means they can be done at no cost with no court action.

 

In fact I recently had to deal with a state that had a common law name change right, but the state DMV was not aware of this. They also did not honor this from out of state which is against federal law. I have had to write to the govenor and congressman, and they are just now relizing the the adminstrative law of their DMV is in error, and are fixing it, though I doubt they will fix it as policy but just for those who know the common law.

 

So , a quick summary, name change law is state based, it is easiest to do when getting married, and once you change your name in one state the full faith and commerce clause of the US consititution requires all other states to reconize the change.

[Charlotte]

[quote name=cxi11' date='Feb 25 2003, 12:38 AMUmmm.... no,  a first name change does not require a court action in all states.

Nor a last name,  with or without marriage.

 

For the marriage change of name, in many states you have to write it onto

the marriage licence also, so for someone that is already married this may do

no good.  If this can be more then just the last name again depends on state law.

 

Another thing:  if you have your SSN in your old name, you have to change it into your new name, but the SSN will stay the same--- rule of thumb: your driver's license should show the same name as your SSN card.

 

In fact I know Pennsylvania (a state you list in your sig)

is a state in which common law name changes are legal, and I would be real suprised if they are not in Texas.  This means they can be done at no cost with no court action.

 

In fact I recently had to deal with a state that had a common law name change right,  but the state DMV was not aware of this.  They also did not honor this from out of state which is against federal law.  I have had to write to the govenor and congressman, and they are just now relizing the the adminstrative law of their DMV is in error, and are fixing it, though I doubt they will fix it as policy but just for those who know the common law.

 

So , a quick summary,  name change law is state based,  it is easiest to do when getting married, and once you change your name in one state the full faith and commerce clause of the US consititution requires all other states to reconize the change.[/quote]

I did not change my name in PA, I was in Texas -- for purpose of insurance and all professional documents varification, no matter where I go, they require my name change official doucment or marriage certificates - I was never into this before-- so I just assume, but,

1) Marriage certificate does not need to have new name --- I used my maiden name and could use it to change my last name in my driver's licence, etc

2). Common law only applies to last name change. This is the same in TX, I don't know about PA.

3). True, the entire thing is very state-driven.

 

Important********

Regardless, court action or not, everywhere you go, you need to have your proof of name change handy if you ever used different names in this country.

[Taoistpanda]

I went with my wife to get her state ID here in Texas. She brought her passport with her visa, and I brought the marriage paper. That was enough to get the ID with my last name on it.

 

I am still waiting for the work visa before we can apply for a social security number for her. BUt, I know that the same process is repeated there.

 

So, while all her INS paperwork has her Chinese name. All the things like banks stuff and checks and anything else will have the new last name now.

[floyd]

Floyd, you added an interesting twist. Anyone, at least here in Oregon, can adopt an assumed name of their choice as long as it is not for illegal purposes (such as fraud or hiding from an arrest warrant). The problem in doing so is obtaining legal documents (driver's license, SSN, etc.) in the assumed name.

Yes, it depends on how aware the state is. Some states it is trivial, and in those states the people that work for SSN and such are also more aware of it usually. I speak as someone who has done a common law change, and lived in at least six different states (ok a few more, but I was too young to remember them much at the time).

 

The trick is usually to get past the front level clerk, who has no real clue, and does not understand the difference between administrative law and legislative, let alone how common law layers into legistlative in many states.

 

You can generally get SSN, school id, and county ID, and a passport issued

very easily, then with these the rest follow quickly. You often have to work off the boiler (of course a resident can not get the passport though, interesting though, what is chinese law for this, since many seems to have a 'working' english name, is there any way for them to get this onto a passport? Since they were never part of the Roman empire (which is where the common law name change right came from, that many states still allow today!), I doubt it, but can anyone say for sure what the name change law is in China?

[floyd]

[quote name=cxi11' date='Feb 25 2003, 12:38 AMUmmm.... no,  a first name change does not require a court action in all states.

Nor a last name,  with or without marriage.

 

For the marriage change of name, in many states you have to write it onto

the marriage licence also, so for someone that is already married this may do

no good.  If this can be more then just the last name again depends on state law.

 

Another thing:  if you have your SSN in your old name, you have to change it into your new name, but the SSN will stay the same--- rule of thumb: your driver's license should show the same name as your SSN card.

 

<bold> (note from Floyd: I never typed the above 'another thing' even though is was typed in a way to attempt to attribute it to me, in fact I recommend highly that you avoid having your drivers license number be the same as your SSN card)</bold>

 

In fact I know Pennsylvania (a state you list in your sig)

is a state in which common law name changes are legal, and I would be real suprised if they are not in Texas.  This means they can be done at no cost with no court action.

 

In fact I recently had to deal with a state that had a common law name change right,  but the state DMV was not aware of this.  They also did not honor this from out of state which is against federal law.  I have had to write to the govenor and congressman, and they are just now relizing the the adminstrative law of their DMV is in error, and are fixing it, though I doubt they will fix it as policy but just for those who know the common law.

 

So , a quick summary,  name change law is state based,  it is easiest to do when getting married, and once you change your name in one state the full faith and commerce clause of the US consititution requires all other states to reconize the change.[/quote]

I did not change my name in PA, I was in Texas -- for purpose of insurance and all professional documents varification, no matter where I go, they require my name change official doucment or marriage certificates - I was never into this before-- so I just assume, but,

1) Marriage certificate does not need to have new name --- I used my maiden name and could use it to change my last name in my driver's licence, etc

2). Common law only applies to last name change. This is the same in TX, I don't know about PA.

3). True, the entire thing is very state-driven.

 

Important********

Regardless, court action or not, everywhere you go, you need to have your proof of name change handy if you ever used different names in this country.

Ok, you say you 'just assume but', and then continue to make patently false statements. We have already agreed that is does vary by state, and donahso has been posting very good information for those who are in Oregon. If this is enough of an interest perhaps we should make a thread and collect information on the various states?

 

In your first message I replied to you stated that 'A first name change needs a court's action in all states', this is wrong.

 

Now in the follow up to this you make some more statements, that you say are assumptions but bullet them as true facts for the casual reader.

 

For your point 1, I said in many states the time to change a name for a marrigae based name change is on these documents. Texas is a state the reconizes common law marriages still, so of course they will have a way to change a name based on marriage without these documents as well. So again we are talking state laws, and the fact you can do this in texas does not make statement 1 as written true in all states.

 

For point 2, this is completely wrong, marriage based name changes are generally only for the last name. Marriage based name changes are covered by different law then common law name changes. For a common law name change it is actually easier to deal with the agencies if you are doing just a first name change, but you are legally allowed to change all of your name using this method.

 

 

For point 3, we agree on this point completely.

 

As for your important notice, I disagree again, as someone who has done a common law name change. Once you get one important ID issued (State or county ID card, or best the passport (Since the feds are well aware that some states allow common law name changes, but not an option for non-citizens), the rest follow quickly.

 

Now, another point about the comment edited into my text about the rule of thumb that a driver license should show the same number. In fact you are best off if they do not. In Indiana I asked them to make them different and after much arguing that is was 'stupid, as it makes it easier to forget the number' etc they did so. They do not like to do it, since it is extra work for them, but you should always request them to make these numbers different. If you are every the victim of identity theft this will help you alot, and in fact makes the chances of being a victim less.

 

Most forms, that have a place to put an SSN do not really require it, and federal law control the purposes for which it may be required. Often the best response to a form with a place for an SSN is to write a line through it (I learned this the hard way, as at one company I left this blank and the HR person filled it in for me, they then learned it the hard way as I forced them to change health insurance carriers to one that did not have my SSN). As some examples my SSN is not on my deed, not on my health insurance and not on my drivers license. At one point the a gas company had tried to claim they needed it to provide servers, and my stating that 'ok, give that to me in writing and I will leave', but not leaving the chair till they did, quickly produced a call to a supervisor who then said to give me service. It is important to learn that the instruction on forms are often what they want you to to do make it easier for them, and often times ask for more then they need, and do not mention alternative paths. To give two examples, you can get a passport in this country still with no birthcerticate needed, and you can still to this day board a plane with no photo id.

 

Now, last week a situtation occured to remind me why protecting myself from some snoopers and id theives may become more important when I start to live with my wife. I stopped at a local pub for a sandwhich and beer, and was talking with a friend, when an neighbor who had already drank a few started talking about how great it was that our neighborhood was 'pure'. It too me awhile to catch on that he meant only whites lived here, or maybe it was no blacks. It did get me thinking about something that I had not before though, and that is maybe some may not like my marriage even in this day and age, and I am very happy I have made it a little harder for people to get my ssn.

BTW, another thread I guess, but have any couples had problems in this area?

 

Oh, another note about places that probably do not need the SSN. Many of the court ordered name changes ask for the SSN. You should try to avoid giving it. For a new immigrant the path of least resistance is probably to do this before you have an SSN, so you can just say you do not have one. As court records are public records you should not place you SSN in the public record if you can avoid it.

[Eric&Yuhui]

I don't know about the U.S but in Europe, you'd better have a pretty good damn reason to request a name change.

As for the U.S, when I got naturalized, I could have say take " Daffy Duck " name, but opted to keep mine.. ( Mom would'ave killed me ! ) LOL . Only thing I changed was adding a M as middle initial, for "Madison" my daughter, a US born sweetie by the way.

So now my official name is Eric M. XXX Versus Eric XXX on my French passport.

 

[floyd]

I don't know about the U.S but in Europe, you'd better have a pretty good damn reason to request a name change.

As for the U.S, when I got naturalized, I could have say take " Daffy Duck " name, but opted to keep mine.. ( Mom would'ave killed me ! ) LOL . Only thing I changed was adding a M as middle initial, for "Madison" my daughter, a US born sweetie by the way.

So now my official name is Eric M. XXX   Versus Eric XXX on my French passport.

 

For Europe? Or for France? I am curious since the common law name change right, is from the Romans, and was put into English common law (no idea if they still follow it, but figure there is a chance), French law is based on the Napoleonic code, and is one state in the union, Louisiana, which is why you will often see and 'except in Louisiana clause on things.

 

In any case, in the US, you do not need a reason to change your name, it just can not be for a fraudulent purpose as another poster already indicated.

[Eric&Yuhui]

I don't know about the U.S but in Europe, you'd better have a pretty good damn reason to request a name change.

As for the U.S, when I got naturalized, I could have say take " Daffy Duck " name, but opted to keep mine.. ( Mom would'ave killed me ! ) LOL . Only thing I changed was adding a M as middle initial, for "Madison" my daughter, a US born sweetie by the way.

So now my official name is Eric M. XXX   Versus Eric XXX on my French passport.

 

For Europe? Or for France? I am curious since the common law name change right, is from the Romans, and was put into English common law (no idea if they still follow it, but figure there is a chance), France law is based on the Napelonic (sp) code, and is one state in the union, Lousianna, which is why you will often see and 'except in Lousianna clause on things.

 

In any case, in the US, you do not need a reason to change your name, it just can not be for a fruaduilant purpose as another poster already indicated.

Good correction. I know it is for France I should have said. I just cannot go to a court and say.. I want to be called Floyd Smith..

Won't fly... But if my name is Paul <laughable last name> , they will hear you.

[owenkrout]

Quote/ Now, last week a situtation occured to remind me why protecting myself from some snoopers and id theives may become more important when I start to live with my wife. I stopped at a local pub for a sandwhich and beer, and was talking with a friend, when an neighbor who had already drank a few started talking about how great it was that our neighborhood was 'pure'. It too me awhile to catch on that he meant only whites lived here, or maybe it was no blacks. It did get me thinking about something that I had not before though, and that is maybe some may not like my marriage even in this day and age, and I am very happy I have made it a little harder for people to get my ssn.

BTW, another thread I guess, but have any couples had problems in this area?

End Quote/

 

My first wife was American Indian. In Kansas it did not matter to anyone and in fact alot of people take pride in being part Indian. However, in Minnesota, her home state, you were likely to run into predjudice. Where I used to teach in Ohio, I have heard alot of comments about racial purity, including specifically targeting the Chinese that lived in the area. There were almost no Blacks or Indians, so they had to find somebody handy to hate. My experience is that you will find it anywhere but the degree to which it reigns varies according to where you are.

 

Unfortunately, some of the very things that were instituted in order to alleviate racial predjudice have been hijacked and used in their favor. In Kansas it used to be illegal to be a member or to take part in KKK activities. They got the courts to overthrow that on the basis that it was predjudicial.