Social Security office experience

[dnoblett]

Perhaps once you get the card you can take it back down to them with a certified copy of the marriage licence and ask them to change it to her married name same as any American woman would do. All they can do is say no. They can't eat you.

 

I don't know. She looked pretty hungry.

I'll try that.

Keep in mind you must deal with SSA within 75 days of entry on the K-1 or no later than 2 weeks before the I-94 expiration, after that they wont deal with you unless you have green-card or EAD card.

[Randy W]

Perhaps once you get the card you can take it back down to them with a certified copy of the marriage licence and ask them to change it to her married name same as any American woman would do. All they can do is say no. They can't eat you.

 

I don't know. She looked pretty hungry.

I'll try that.

Keep in mind you must deal with SSA within 75 days of entry on the K-1 or no later than 2 weeks before the I-94 expiration, after that they wont deal with you unless you have green-card or EAD card.

 

 

But once you have it, you have it! No expiration under any circumstances. And the SSA is the bureaucracy that deals with it

[SirLancelot]

Perhaps once you get the card you can take it back down to them with a certified copy of the marriage licence and ask them to change it to her married name same as any American woman would do. All they can do is say no. They can't eat you.

 

I don't know. She looked pretty hungry.

I'll try that.

 

I can't believe the bullshit your SSA office gave you.

 

Carl is completely right. Like any American woman who gets married and wants to change her surname to that of her husband, a woman is entitled to change her name at the SSA from her maiden name to married name after marriage. They have to accept the change.

 

What Carl describes above is actually how we did it. I was able to obtain a SS card for my wife within two weeks of her arrival to the US but we didn't get married until 2 months later. Her first SS card was obtained using her maiden name. After we got married, we went back to the SSA office and requested a new card in my wife's married name. The lady there asked to see our marriage certificate. We showed her a certified copy of our marriage cert and she made the change no question asked. A week later we received a new SS card for my wife in her married name.

 

I can't believe the BS your office gave you. You should try another SSA office near you.

 

Perhaps Christine isn't so eager to take your name and that's why she didn't put up much of a fight with that lady.

[Randy W]

I think we're realizing here that getting an SS in the married name is a two-step process - first get it in the maiden name during the K-1 window, then get married and use the marriage certificate and/or EAD/green card for the name change.

 

It's not clear that anyone (k visa) has actually gotten the original card in the married name during the 90 day window.

[Shenzhen K-1]

Perhaps once you get the card you can take it back down to them with a certified copy of the marriage licence and ask them to change it to her married name same as any American woman would do. All they can do is say no. They can't eat you.

 

I don't know. She looked pretty hungry.

I'll try that.

 

I can't believe the bullshit your SSA office gave you.

 

Carl is completely right. Like any American woman who gets married and wants to change her surname to that of her husband, a woman is entitled to change her name at the SSA from her maiden name to married name after marriage. They have to accept the change.

 

What Carl describes above is actually how we did it. I was able to obtain a SS card for my wife within two weeks of her arrival to the US but we didn't get married until 2 months later. Her first SS card was obtained using her maiden name. After we got married, we went back to the SSA office and requested a new card in my wife's married name. The lady there asked to see our marriage certificate. We showed her a certified copy of our marriage cert and she made the change no question asked. A week later we received a new SS card for my wife in her married name.

 

I can't believe the BS your office gave you. You should try another SSA office near you.

 

Perhaps Christine isn't so eager to take your name and that's why she didn't put up much of a fight with that lady.

 

Poor Dave and Christine asking a normal question and getting a shot, ouch!!

 

 

When you change your name on your ss card, she can change first and last names correct?? Thanks

[IllinoisDave]

I think we're realizing here that getting an SS in the married name is a two-step process - first get it in the maiden name during the K-1 window, then get married and use the marriage certificate and/or EAD/green card for the name change.

 

It's not clear that anyone (k visa) has actually gotten the original card in the married name during the 90 day window.

 

Yes, that seems to be what the consensus is. It seems like it's not possible to just go to the SSA and request an original card with the "married" name unless there's been some kind of legal name change with documentation to back it up. Remember, our certified marriage license has my name and her maiden name on it,not her married name,which is the way we were told to fill it out.

 

But some seem to be saying that we should be able to take the card that we just applied for,that has the maiden name on it, and the marriage certificate and get it changed to the married name. The only difference is we've gone to the trouble of getting a card with the maiden name on it first?

 

If I'm reading what some have done or say we can do, we should be able to go back to the SS office after we get the card with her maiden name on it, show our certified marriage license, the same one we showed the first time, and request a new card in her married name,like we wanted to do in the first place. Am I missing something here? Let's say we get the same clerk. Isn't she going to demand the same sort of evidence of a name change she wanted in the first place?

Edited November 3, 2007 by IllinoisDave (see edit history)

[IllinoisDave]

Perhaps Christine isn't so eager to take your name and that's why she didn't put up much of a fight with that lady.

 

Are you saying there's something wrong with McGillicuddy?

[SirLancelot]

But some seem to be saying that we should be able to take the card that we just applied for,that has the maiden name on it, and the marriage certificate and get it changed to the married name. The only difference is we've gone to the trouble of getting a card with the maiden name on it first?

 

If I'm reading what some have done or say we can do, we should be able to go back to the SS office after we get the card with her maiden name on it, show our certified marriage license, the same one we showed the first time, and request a new card in her married name,like we wanted to do in the first place. Am I missing something here? Let's say we get the same clerk. Isn't she going to demand the same sort of evidence of a name change she wanted in the first place?

 

That's right Dave. You've described it correctly. Don't go back to the same office. Go to another SSA office. Bring Christine's SS card. Bring her passport with I-94. Bring your certified copy marriage cert. Ask for a new card to be issued in Christine's married name. And make sure you're only asking for a surname change. If you're trying to change her entire name to Christine McGillicuddy, that ain't gonna fly. That will require a legal name change from a court.

[warpedbored]

It is possible, we did it. Further more we did it before we filed for AOS. We had the SS card before we filed AOS. The clerk you talked to is full of it. All that is required for her to change her family name is a certified copy of the marriage licence. It doesn't have to be a 2 step process. Over the years I have been on this site I have seen the SSA give people more trouble than any other agency. It seems there is no clear training given to their people on the issue. Some folks go to one agency and get the run around. Go to another one right after and get results.

I think we're realizing here that getting an SS in the married name is a two-step process - first get it in the maiden name during the K-1 window, then get married and use the marriage certificate and/or EAD/green card for the name change.

 

It's not clear that anyone (k visa) has actually gotten the original card in the married name during the 90 day window.

 

Yes, that seems to be what the consensus is. It seems like it's not possible to just go to the SSA and request an original card with the "married" name unless there's been some kind of legal name change with documentation to back it up. Remember, our certified marriage license has my name and her maiden name on it,not her married name,which is the way we were told to fill it out.

 

But some seem to be saying that we should be able to take the card that we just applied for,that has the maiden name on it, and the marriage certificate and get it changed to the married name. The only difference is we've gone to the trouble of getting a card with the maiden name on it first?

 

If I'm reading what some have done or say we can do, we should be able to go back to the SS office after we get the card with her maiden name on it, show our certified marriage license, the same one we showed the first time, and request a new card in her married name,like we wanted to do in the first place. Am I missing something here? Let's say we get the same clerk. Isn't she going to demand the same sort of evidence of a name change she wanted in the first place?

[IllinoisDave]

 

That's right Dave. You've described it correctly. Don't go back to the same office. Go to another SSA office. Bring Christine's SS card. Bring her passport with I-94. Bring your certified copy marriage cert. Ask for a new card to be issued in Christine's married name. And make sure you're only asking for a surname change. If you're trying to change her entire name to Christine McGillicuddy, that ain't gonna fly. That will require a legal name change from a court.

Ah. Therein lies the rub. I do want to change her name to Christine McGillicuddy,at some point at least. When can I do that? Why would I want to change only the surname? Isn't it the goal to change both ultimately? Surely I'm not the only one who wants to do this right?

[SirLancelot]

 

That's right Dave. You've described it correctly. Don't go back to the same office. Go to another SSA office. Bring Christine's SS card. Bring her passport with I-94. Bring your certified copy marriage cert. Ask for a new card to be issued in Christine's married name. And make sure you're only asking for a surname change. If you're trying to change her entire name to Christine McGillicuddy, that ain't gonna fly. That will require a legal name change from a court.

Ah. Therein lies the rub. I do want to change her name to Christine McGillicuddy,at some point at least. When can I do that? Why would I want to change only the surname? Isn't it the goal to change both ultimately? Surely I'm not the only one who wants to do this right?

 

Ok, now we've honed in on your problem. That ain't gonna fly.

 

When one gets married, one is allowed to change one's maiden family to that of her husband's. One is not allowed to change one's entire name. That requires a court order. After 9/11, the usage method is out.

 

You'll need to get her name registered as what you want via the AoS process before doing the full name change at SSA.

 

What you're trying to accomplish is not possible at SSA right now. What is possible now is to change Christine's surname to yours.

[warpedbored]

If you want to change her first name as well you will have to wait until after she has a green card then do a legal name change through the court system. Once you have that then you will need to get a new green card. Major hassle, if you just change her last name and introduce her as Christine to every one you will achieve nearly the same result.

[SirLancelot]

I hope Jim Julian will comment. He's had recent experience with a full name change for his daughter and her GC/SSC.

[IllinoisDave]

Aha!

Thanks Lance and Carl.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I just assumed everyone was talking about changing both. I had no idea that wasn't possible.

So, we can go back to SSA and get the surname changed now and wait til after GC/AOS to do the full change?

How then should we fill out the AOS/EAD/AP etc? Qi McGillicuddy or Christine McGillicuddy?

 

Also,what about the bank accounts, state ID, later driver's license and any other things that require a name? Should we just stick with Qi McGillicuddy for everything for now and change it all later after the AOS/EAD and legal name change?

Qi McGillicuddy or Christine McGillicuddy?

[SirLancelot]

Aha!

Thanks Lance and Carl.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. I just assumed everyone was talking about changing both. I had no idea that wasn't possible.

So, we can go back to SSA and get the surname changed now and wait til after GC/AOS to do the full change?

How then should we fill out the AOS/EAD/AP etc? Qi McGillicuddy or Christine McGillicuddy?

 

Also,what about the bank accounts, state ID, later driver's license and any other things that require a name? Should we just stick with Qi McGillicuddy for everything for now and change it all later after the AOS/EAD and legal name change?

Qi McGillicuddy or Christine McGillicuddy?

 

In your example, what we've done for my wife is to use "Qi McDaddy" throughout. Qi McDaddy for all bank accounts, credit cards, GC and SSA and soon for the driver's license.

 

As for when to change over to Christine McGillicuddy, that's a tough one. Jim Julian was able to do that at the time of his daughter's AOS interview. I originally wanted to do that for my wife at our AOS interview as well. However, on 002 my wife read about situations where it was problematic to return into the US with a GC with one Western set of name and a Chinese passport with a set of Chinese name. For example, if Christine had a GC which showed Christine McGillicuddy and her Chinese passport showed WANG, Qi she may encounter difficulties when returning to the US.

 

So we decided not to do the name change until the Naturalization process. When you do the naturalization process, she'll be able to choose to use her then current name or change it to something completely new. After naturalization, she'll be able to obtain a US passport in her new name.