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Name change after Naturalization?

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WhyMeAgain30

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? FL

I was aksed if I wanted my name chaged at the interview and I didn't even know that was a possibility and authomatically replied no.But now I'm thinking "why not"? I wanna change couple of letters cause I'm tired of people butchering my name...
anyways...My questions are : Can I do it now after the naturalization and how do I go about it? How long does it take and how much approximately it's gonna cost? I was told if I lose my Naturalization certificate it's gonna be $555 to have it replaced! So would I have to pay that amount to get a new Naturalization certificate with my new name?
I'm not 100% set on it ,just testing the waters.Cause I'm gonna have to change my DL,maybe house mortgage/deed,passport,etc...and If i change my last name - my wife has to change all her documents.Is it even worth it?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
 


FlyingRon

Senior Member
You can go apply for a name change, but you're not going to get your naturalization certificate changed (ever). You can consult a lawyer or one of the countless sites on self help to make the name change petition.

Once you get the order, before you leave the court house, get a bunch of extra "true copies" of the order. You'll need that (possibly with copies of your naturaliztion) to show to people: DMV, banks, etc...
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? FL

I was aksed if I wanted my name chaged at the interview and I didn't even know that was a possibility and authomatically replied no.But now I'm thinking "why not"? I wanna change couple of letters cause I'm tired of people butchering my name...
anyways...My questions are : Can I do it now after the naturalization and how do I go about it? How long does it take and how much approximately it's gonna cost? I was told if I lose my Naturalization certificate it's gonna be $555 to have it replaced! So would I have to pay that amount to get a new Naturalization certificate with my new name?
I'm not 100% set on it ,just testing the waters.Cause I'm gonna have to change my DL,maybe house mortgage/deed,passport,etc...and If i change my last name - my wife has to change all her documents.Is it even worth it?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Personally, its my own opinion that a name change is far more hassle than its worth. My ex changed his name when he got his green card but he had nothing in the US at that point that required any changing. I kept my married name when we divorced because I wanted to have the same name as my child and didn't want the hassle of changing my name on everything.
 

WhyMeAgain30

Junior Member
Personally, its my own opinion that a name change is far more hassle than its worth.
yeah,that's what I was thinking.I own a house,businesses,etc...so it may be more of a hassle.I love my name,it's just a different spelling and some people have a problem with it.I guess I'm gonna have to live with it..lol...
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
yeah,that's what I was thinking.I own a house,businesses,etc...so it may be more of a hassle.I love my name,it's just a different spelling and some people have a problem with it.I guess I'm gonna have to live with it..lol...
I have the same problem that you have. My last name gets butchered all the time. Its the last name that I got when I married and I kept it. There are actually some advantages to having a somewhat unique last name. You never get confused for someone else.
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
I caution you, that if you go through with a name change, to be careful that translations of the supporting documents if your originals don't use the Roman alphabet, and therefore have names transliterated, use the same transliterations as used in your other paperwork. (Chinese or Arabic, for example.)

One of my in-laws naturalized under her (hyphenated) married name. After her divorce, when she remarried she changed her name. Apparently in the paperwork she handed to social security for the name change, there was a slightly different spelling of her mother's maiden name on the transliteration of some document, and somehow social security gave her a new social security number! It took a while to resolve, but it was resolved.
 

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