Immigration Site

Hello there,

I am a naturalized US citizen and married my wife almost 3 years ago in Wisconsin.

As part of the supporting information we sent in my wife GC petition, were our marriage certificate, that makes reference to her name change (maidden to married), copy of the drivers licencese, and SSN cards reflecting these changes, and making it a clear as possible that this is the same person.

However today I got a Request for Evidence asking for a Court Order that legally changed the name...

I am not a family law expert, nor fully understand the difference between a court appointed name change order vs one driven form a marriage license, but I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced something like this or have suggestions on what to do next...

Happy new year to you all!

Forgot to mention that she hold a passport from China. I may be wrong, but it appears they do not issue passport with name changes. I hope this is not the cause of the problem...

I believe it is mendatory to get the name change leagally (even after marrige), However it will not be too much of work depending on which state you are just file a request in county court and followed by publications in two newspaper and judge will order the name change. Have you changed the name on SS and bank accounts etc after marriage?

I am not a family law expert, nor fully understand the difference between a court appointed name change order vs one driven form a marriage license, but I was wondering if anyone has ever experienced something like this or have suggestions on what to do next... The marriage certificate (not the marriage license!) should be sufficient evidence of the name change, provided that her maiden name on the marriage certificate matches her birth certificate, and her only name change was to take your last name, and her other documents issued after the marriage show consistent use of the married name.

If those things are true about her documents, it means USCIS made a mistake. Respond to the RFE by sending the marriage certificate again. And send her birth certificate if it wasnt already sent. The birth certificate should be accompanied by a certified English translation, if the certificate itself isnt in English.

Does her passport still have her maiden name? Did you submit utility bills, bank accounts, credit card bills, or other documents with her maiden name? Documents that still have her maiden name can cause USCIS to flag the discrepancy and ask for more evidence.