Documentary evidence of name change

[calculus]

The name on my birth certificate is different from my official name. My official name is the used on all my school records, passport and other records.

I received an RFE on my I-485 application requesting documentary evidence of legal name change. Since the name on my birth certificate was never used in any of the official records, no legal name change was ever done. What would be the best course of action?

I had submitted affidavits from both my parents stating that the official name is correct one. Obviously that is not sufficient.

[Belle]

Find out the procedure to officially change your name in your state. That may be the ultimate answer. Also, how different is the name you used from your birth name?

[nda050325]

The official name is the one which is on the birth certificate. Any other name, which you have used cannot be treated as official.

To my knowledge you would need to submit atleast one of the following certificates:

1) A letter from the hospital / municipality / corporation where you were born, stating the date and time of your birth, and both parents' names.

2) A notarized affidavit (signed by a notary public) or State gazette notificaiton, if you have one.

3) A newspaper notification including both the names and the information in #1. This has to appear in atleast two newspapers, one needs to be in the regional language.

[calculus]

The names are quite different. If the birth certificate name is Alex then official name is Benjamin. So as per your suggestion, I should officially apply for name change. That is apply to get my name changed from Alex to Benjamin, although I have never used the name Alex on any of the official records. I have less than a month to respond to the RFE. So I think the best I can do is apply for name change and submit evidence of application for name change.

The thing is I don't know if it will be sufficient, as it is after the fact. Anyway thanks for the suggestion.

Originally posted by Belle:

Find out the procedure to officially change your name in your state. That may be the ultimate answer. Also, how different is the name you used from your birth name?

[calculus]

A related question. My 6yr H1B expires in June, 2011. I understand I can get a 3 yr H1B extension based on my approved I-140. If my AOS application gets denied for some reason, can I continue working until the expiry of the extended H1-B?

I have an approved EAD which may not be of any use if AOS gets rejected. But, I don't know if that is the case with an H1B extension as well.

Originally posted by Belle:

Find out the procedure to officially change your name in your state. That may be the ultimate answer. Also, how different is the name you used from your birth name?

[Belle]

Once you get your H1 extended, you can use it up.

Let us know how it goes - this is really an unusual situation. You may want to get a consultation with a good lawyer, too, because I was honestly just freestyling with advice.

[calculus]

I will keep this thread updated on how things progress.

I was not planning on applying for H1 extension as I have the approved EAD. But with this situation, it seems that I would need that additional safety net.

[calculus]

Here is the update on the case. My application got approved based on the RFE response.

I submitted the following documents:

A letter from the municipal chairman of the municipality that issued my birth certificate. The gist of the letter was that the person named in the birth certificate and the official name in the school transcripts, drivers license and other official records refer to one and the same person.

Primary, secondary and high school transcripts (2nd Grade, 6th grade, 10th grade, 12th grade)

All these transcripts had my name, date of birth and my father's name recorded correctly.

Indian drivers license, which had my name, DOB and father's name.

It is impossible to know if this is sufficient documentation for similar cases. Earliest available records have more weight compared to later ones.

The best thing to do is to get an official name change if the name on your birth certificate is substantially different from your official name. But the official name change could take as much as 6 months. So it is better to get this done while you are waiting for your priority date to become current.