I-130 petition for my wife

[Manthan]

Hello Everyone,

I am a US Citizen living in USA and I just got married in India to an Indian citizen on 12/31/12. My wife already had a passport with her maiden name before we got married. My question is, Is It necessary for her to change last name (as most do after marriage) in passport?

If she does not change her last name,

1) Will she get a green card under her maiden name when she comes to United States?
2) If green card is under her maiden name, all her other stuff such as driving licence, credit card, etc will be under same maiden name and all her credit will be built on that last name. So, when she becomes a US Citizen and changes last name then, how does all her credit built over last few years transfer over to this new last name?
3) Are there any major dis advantage for not changing her last name at this point of time?

Thanks for your help!

[dhira_98]

It is up to you and your wife if she wants to change her last name. Most likely she will get US visa regardless of last name change. But make sure that your wife use SAME LAST name on all the documents she is going to obtain and file with immigration, etc. It will be a mess if she will use two different last name on different documents. IT IS very easy process for a woman to change her last name on the passport after marriage in INDIA. So if you are planning to change her last name DO IT NOW on the passport and use new last name on all the forms you are going to file.

3). Major disadvantage is that everywhere you go or Call for service such as doctor's office, hospital, bank, insurance office, utility company, etc, They will be asking you. " Mr Manthan how are related to Miss Sharma".

[Manthan]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, she is going to use same last name on all of her documents and all the forms i submit from my side also.

As far as process to change last name on passport in India, we inquire about it and i am hearing that sometimes it may take up to 6-7 months to process. Some say it takes about two months. So, I do not know the exact processing time. That's why I am little hesitant to ask her to change the last name in passport

It is up to you and your wife if she wants to change her last name. Most likely she will get US visa regardless of last name changes. But make sure that your wife use SAME LAST name on all the documents she is going to obtain and file with immigration etc. It will be a mess if she will use two different last name on different documents. IT IS very easy process to change her last name on the passport in INDIA.

[dhira_98]

At Jalandhar, PUNJAB Passport Office, It takes about two weeks. I suggest you to go to passport office and ask them in person.

[dhira_98]

If you are filing I-130 for her. It is going to take atleast 6 months to approve the petition ( More if your are filing at VSC) and another couple months to send Ds-230. I suggest you to make copy the first page and last page (Bio Pages) of her passport and Then Send it to Passport Office for name change. You can send this photo copy when you file DS-230. By the way, Passport office does not issue new passport for name change, they just HAND WRITE NEW Name on the endorsement page (page 3 or 4).