name change on green card. too late?

[ni4na]

My Japanese wife's green card was approved and been mailed to our US address just fine. However, we didn't realize she could have put her name with my last name on the green card application. E.g., she is Hanako Yamamoto. My last name is Doe. She wanted to change her name for life in the US to Hanako Doe, but we didn't realize we were just supposed to write that on the green card application, so now she is still Hanako Yamamoto.
To do a green card name change, you have to fill out the form and pay the fees (I-90). One of the required documentation is evidence of legal name change. OUR QUESTION: since we have only the koseki (the one and only Japanese gov't documentation of marriage) as documentation indicating our marriage, should it be enough for the I-90 green card name change? Relatedly, could we file the I-90 as an error made by USCIS, since the documentation we could provide would be identical?

[rayb]

Ni4na,

You made the error on the application paperwork, not USCIS.

You have two choices:

1. Submit an I-90 ($540) for the name change and expect to wait a long time before you get a changed Green Card, or
2. Wait until "Removal of Conditions," two years from issue date of Green Card, and and indicate on the form I-751 that the name should be changed.

If your wife is getting a 10-year card then you are left with either an I-90 reissuance of the card or wait until she applies for Naturalization 3 years from issue of the card (if you are a U.S. citizen).

--Ray B

My Japanese wife's green card was approved and been mailed to our US address just fine. However, we didn't realize she could have put her name with my last name on the green card application. E.g., she is Hanako Yamamoto. My last name is Doe. She wanted to change her name for life in the US to Hanako Doe, but we didn't realize we were just supposed to write that on the green card application, so now she is still Hanako Yamamoto.
To do a green card name change, you have to fill out the form and pay the fees (I-90). One of the required documentation is evidence of legal name change. OUR QUESTION: since we have only the koseki (the one and only Japanese gov't documentation of marriage) as documentation indicating our marriage, should it be enough for the I-90 green card name change? Relatedly, could we file the I-90 as an error made by USCIS, since the documentation we could provide would be identical?