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I am now eligible to apply for US citizenship and I want change my name. I am currently living in CA, and I have heard different people saying there is a fee I need to pay if Iwant to change my name. However, I could not find that on the uscis website... can someone here tell me more information? Thank you.
I am going through the naturalisation process myself! Currently in line for interview. I did not want to change my name but as far as I can see from the forms, it is free.
Of course, other places my charge a fee (such as to renew your foreign passport in your new name etc).
USCIS is not authorized to legally change your name. You must do this through the state (civil) courts.
When you apply for the name change, and everything goes well in the interview, you will be sworn in at a special ceremony for those who have changed their names. Your new name will be on your naturalization certificate.
If you wait until after your interview to change your name, the old name will appear on the certificate and you will have to pay a fee to get a replacement, which is several hundred dollars and a long wait. This will make your life very complicated with the DMV, social security, etc if you decide to wait.
be sure to check with the state court in your area of California and inquire about how to get the process started.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gil3
USCIS is not authorized to legally change your name. You must do this through the state (civil) courts.
No idea how it is today, and it may well be as per this poster.
But ...
When I became a citizen, a long time ago (1965), I did change my name, and it was done right after my *exam*.
NO extra fee involved. He actually asked me if I wanted to change it since it was a difficult name to pronounce.
The funniest/strangest thing was that my *examiner's* last name was *Itoh*, and he was really hard to understand !!!
After that I just waited until any official documents came up for renewal, and with my Certificate as proof, I just used the new name.
Even tho it was a long time ago,
I will never forget the joke he told me ...
This old Chinese person had a last name of Ferguson.
People always asked him why Ferguson, and his answer was:
Well, person before me goes thru line and he says his names is Ferguson.
Then my turn comes up and I say Sam Ting.
So now my name Ferguson !!!
I am now eligible to apply for US citizenship and I want change my name. I am currently living in CA, and I have heard different people saying there is a fee I need to pay if Iwant to change my name. However, I could not find that on the uscis website... can someone here tell me more information? Thank you.
Hi Mangogo, did you already go through the naturalization process? I am also in CA and will be applying for citizenship soon. I wanted to ask you - did you end up changing your name and if so, did you have to take the oath of allegiance at a court? My only concern with that is, do you have to wait longer to take the oath since the courts have smaller capacity? Or can you change your name and still take the oath at the convention center? Also, how long did the whole process take you?
You can change your name as part of the naturalization process(it's on page 1 of N-400). But only, if you take the Oath of Allegiance from a judge, at a ceremony in court. Don't forget to checkmark YES on your N-400 application and write down your desired future name...
I just went through my interview for citizenship but because of name change the ceremony will be delayed. could you please tell me what is standard wait time for the ceremony to take place??
I am now eligible to apply for US citizenship and I want change my name. I am currently living in CA, and I have heard different people saying there is a fee I need to pay if Iwant to change my name. However, I could not find that on the uscis website... can someone here tell me more information? Thank you.
when you go for your FINAL interview to take the civics test (I remember this because the IO asked me) if I wanted to change my name - but I had already taken on my husbands last name, so I said 'no'.
i am planning to change my name when applying for citizenship but since i am married, do i have to take my husband's last name the way it is now spelled or can i change it to the spelling which he is planning to apply to correct/change? any help would be appreciated.
I have a friend whose family name was D'Ath, but when his great-grandfather came to the U.S., some immigration official decided that the apostrophe was inappropriate and substituted an "e".
So now we're all hoping that at least one of his children enters the medical profession.
Or gets a doctorate in any subject. Even a doctorate in economics would be cool if you could be Dr. Death.
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Longer wait to do that?
