Name change after marriage?

[Hanging On]

I would like opinions on the advantages of keeping her Chinese name as her legal name vs taking a "married" name.

[Don]

I would like opinions on the advantages of keeping her Chinese name as her legal name vs taking a "married" name.

 

We changed her name to mine, she wanted that. It was not hard, but it set the order we filed her paperwork.

 

1. Marriage

 

2. SSN #

 

3. Get SSN#; need marriage license and her passport

 

4. State ID, need ssn#, marriage license and passport

 

5. Joint Bank account, needed state id, ssn#

 

6. Joint Credit cards: needed state id, ssn# and back account info.

 

 

 

All of these things require the step before and we found it easier to do in order. The name change did not make it easier or harder, but she wanted to do american style.

[jim_julian]

It is, of course, an individual decision.

 

If she is considering American citizenship and living in America on a truly permanent basis then I think there are advantages to taking your family name, although there are more married couples now days with different family names or hyphenated names. I feel that having the same family name still helps you "blend in" and seem "normal" to the average American.

 

If your plans are to live in America for X years and then retire in China with the wife keeping Chinese citizenship then, in my mind, this would tend to push toward her keeping her Chinese name.

 

There are also emotional considerations which could drive either way.

 

There are practical considerations such as ... is her Chinese name reasonable for Americans to pronounce.

 

In our case my wife took my last name and kept her Chinese given name which is not easy to pronounce. She has mitigated this by being happy with a common American pronunciation of her given name which, after we tell someone what it is, people have no problem with.

 

Our Chinese daughter also took my family name but changed her given name to her Chinese nick name which is easy to pronounce.

 

Both ladies seem happy with their decisions after two years.

 

Here is a recent post on the mechanics of name changing, which is really quite simple.

[Richard & Li]

She kept her Chinese name, which is easy to read. 99.9% of Americans mispronounce it (of course), but she doesn't mind. Our son also kept his Chinese name, which is also easy to read. Unfortunately, the typical American's mispronunciation of his name means some kind of insect in Chinese. (But, he doesn't mind either.)

 

I wanted her to keep her family name because they are great people. Her father was a very good man who is now deceased. There is no way I would ask her to not use his name.

 

I have thought about tacking my family name onto her's for the reasons Jim mentioned. However, American ignorance, prejudice, and arrogance be dammed. She is Chinese no matter how long she lives here. We will follow her traditions with things that are hers.

[yuehan123]

In the beginning- SSN, State ID, AOS Application, and State DL my wife kept her family name.

 

It wasn't until 'somebody' told her she should change her last name to my last name that we made the change. Fortunately, that was prior to her AOS interview so we changed the last name on the Green Card during the interview process. Of course, if you don't get an interview you won't be able to do that.

 

Some readers will recall how I feel about those all knowing 'somebodies.'

 

I don't have any opinion of the advantages (or disadvantages) for keeping her Chinese name as her legal name.

[dnoblett]

When we married my Yu took my family name, and since she had no "Middle" name her family name is now her "Middle" name.

 

We applied for SSN shortly after marriage using married name, and filed for adjustment of status using married name.

 

Note if you AOS using maiden name and then decide later to change name on green-card, it requires I-90 and a FEE to change name on green-card.

[warpedbored]

Changing the name creates no significant problems and is fairly easy to do. As Don pointed out it is easier if you follow a series of steps. What we did was first get married. Next we went to the SSA office with a certified copy or our marriage license, her passport with I-94 and visa inside as well as a piece of mail delivered to her with a postmark. We received the card in about 4 days. Next stop was the DMV where we also took all of the above plus her SS card. (Getting a state ID varies from state to state. She may not be able to get one until her AOS is complete. Usually her passport, SS card and a certified copy of your marriage license will suffice. ) Next stop was the bank where I put her on all of my accounts. Now for all practical accounts her name is now changed in America. Lastly we filed AOS where we filled out all the papers in her married name. We also used her family name as her middle name. At the AOS interview the AO told us we could use her last name, my last name or a hyphenated name, ie Smith-Jones. We opted for my last name but when the green card came it read just as we wanted it to in the first place.

 

The only real issue with changing her name is international travel. Here you have two options. You can go to the Chinese consulate and have an addendum added to a page in her passport that reads something like "the name of the person on this passport is also XYZ. (I forget the exact wording) If you do this you can book the ticket in her married name. The second option is to book the ticket in the name on the passport. My wife made a trip to China and back this way and had no problems going either way.

 

If it is too late and you have already filed AOS then you can do as Dan suggested, pay a fee and file a form, or you can wait until it is time to remove the conditions on her green card and do it then.

 

All of these options work with changing her last name or adding a maiden name as middle name. If she wants to change her first name she will have to have it legally changed in a court of law or wait until she decides (if she does) to becomes a US citizen. At that point she can change her name to anything she desires.