485 filing in Married name ... Passport in Maiden name

[sp_0826]

Need some advice. My wife's passport and her Visa documents are in her maiden name and we want to file her 485 in married name. We can get the name changed in the passport to reflect her married name, but visa docs will remain in her maiden name.

Would this be an issue when we file 485 using her married name ??

Appreciate your suggestions on this.

[a_kapoor]

File it in Married name and you can later get it on passport etc. no issues at all.

[tusharvk]

it is high time that municipalities in india start issuing marriage certificates showing the changed name of the wife. This is what some of the other countries allow.

Anyway, if you keep your old and new passports and evidence that the name change happened, it will not be a problem. If your wife is indian citizen, she will have to apply for name change at the indian consulate.

[sp_0826]

Yes. We are planning to change her last name to the married name, but wanted to confirm any problems when filing 485, because her Visa documents would still be in her maiden name.

Also what if her passport and Visa docs both have her maiden name, can we still file her 485 using her married name and include marriage certificate ??

[Belle]

Ask a lawyer, but I think if she has the marriage certificate it should not be a problem.

[tusharvk]

just to seek clarification:

if the green card is issued in married name and the passport is still in maiden name, how can the person travel and such?

The situation is somewhat trickier for cases where both first and last names are changed due to marriage.

[Belle]

"if the green card is issued in married name and the passport is still in maiden name, how can the person travel and such?"

With a marriage certificate you can. It will likely result in a secondary inspection, though.