Patronymic name & USCIS

[aikorob]

Folks, we have a bit of concern that I hope y'all can shed some light on.

   First---N. kept her last name after the marriage---she has one other sister, and they are the last of the family; they didn't want the family name to die out.
   When I originally filed the K1, I naturally put down her patronymic (sp) name as her middle name---that's how her birth certificate read. However---I was informed by her that it caused problems with the embassy, because her passport only listed her first and last name.
   Last week when we were at the greencard interview, we noticed that USCIS was going by the birth certificate (it takes precedence over all other ID). She took the time to ask the case officer what she could do to get all documents to match. His suggestion was to file a name change down at the courthouse, and send that in when we file for removal of conditions---however, we are planning on returning to Odessa next April, and she doesn't want to risk any trouble. She is worried that the greencard will have her patronymic name, but passport and driver's license will not.

Any suggestions; other than changing her last name to mine (first thing the case officer said)??

[Gator]

Aikorob,

I have no answer, and I wish to piggyback a similar question if you do not mind.

The issue:  children's names.

I filed a K-1 petition using the same names as spelled in English in their mama's passport.  Their names are not Russian but English (don't ask), so the passport spelling is really goofy.

We would not want them to be bound to such names in America.  So when we get the birth certificates translated, should we use the standard American spelling or the goofy spelling that matches the K-1 petition? 




 

[Lily]

I am not sure about it, but I don't think that for an adult person a birth certificate should take precedence over all other IDs. People tend to change their names during the life, so many of them have different names as adults. I guess the name that is written in her petition for the greencard should be used in the card, and not the name with which the person has been born.

Gator, eventually you may consider talking to the translators first, and ask them to use the spelling of names that is convenient and not goofy.

[aikorob]

Lily,
  The USCIC officer specificaly said that the birth certificate took precedence, then the visa, then other records (baptismal, school, etc) and lastly sworn affidavits.

  He said that the only way he knew to fix things was to
 A: get a new copy of the birth certificate without patronymic (impossible since it is an USSR certificate) or
 B: change it here at our county courthouse.

She is just concerned that all documents will not match correctly when she travels.

BTW-N. said that the procedure to change names is very involved in Odessa- you have to bring witnesses and family to explain why you want to change your name---it takes months.

[groovlstk]

Just FYI, but my wife travelled to Moscow shortly after getting her Green Card a few months ago. She was worried because 1) The last name on her passport was different from the last name on her Green Card (she took my family name when we married), and 2) the name on her ticket (obtained online through Lufthansa's FF program) was her married name, which of course was different from the name on her passport.

When we arrived to check in for her flight, the Lufthansa clerk claimed her ticket name needed to match her passport, so she had to reissue her new tix (At the time I thanked God I was using Lufthansa and not Continental or some other spendthrift carrier who's employees care only about getting rid of you so they can get back to their chief occupation of staring off into space.)

The Lufthansa clerk also advised her to have her marriage certificate with her when she flew out of the US; she had it with her but no one asked her for it.

Aside from the ticket name glitch, she had no problems at all passing through Frankfurt, Moscow, and then back through Newark.

[ScottinCrimea]

Boy, we had it so much easier.  After we married in Ukraine my wife had her last name changed to mine. (Of course it looks funny because it's in Cyrillic).  She had both her internal and internatinal passports changed to reflect the name change.  The only difference is that all Ukrainian documents use the Cyrillic and all the US documents are in English.  Life is much easier this way.

One suggestion is that, at least in Ukraine, you can obtain from ZAGS a document showing all of your name changes.  for example, it would verify my wife's maiden name, the change after her first marriage and after her marriage to me.  that way, if there are any questions regarding any document eith different names, she just has to show this document and it takes care of everything.

[LiveFromUkraine]

Boy, we had it so much easier.  After we married in Ukraine my wife had her last name changed to mine. (Of course it looks funny because it's in Cyrillic).  She had both her internal and internatinal passports changed to reflect the name change.  The only difference is that all Ukrainian documents use the Cyrillic and all the US documents are in English.  Life is much easier this way.

One suggestion is that, at least in Ukraine, you can obtain from ZAGS a document showing all of your name changes.  for example, it would verify my wife's maiden name, the change after her first marriage and after her marriage to me.  that way, if there are any questions regarding any document eith different names, she just has to show this document and it takes care of everything.

We are in the process of doing the exact same thing.  Still waiting for her Ukraine passport to come back.  They never have any paper. 


Thomas

[jb]

It all becomes moot a few years down the road when you file the N-400.  The judge will affix whatever name your wife wants to go by on her naturalization papers, and her blue passport will be issued in that name.   If she's Russian, her old red passport can still be used for easy entry, sans visa, into Russia, blue passport is used for the return trip.  Since Ukraine doesn't need a visa anymore, the UA girls can travel exclusively on the blue passport without hassle. 

I think you're sweating the small stuff.

[aikorob]

The N-400 is several years down the road----she is worried about problems when visits family in March.
We already planned to take an extra copy of the marriage certificate with us.