Name Change during US Citizenship: How to get correct documentation for OCI?

[samv]

Hi All:

I have a weird problem. My wife became US citizen many years ago. She took the opportunity to change her maiden name to my family name during naturalization.

So all her documents prior to becoming US Citizen show her maiden name and her documents after becoming US citizen show the new name.

Things were working fine and she has a PIO card which she could obtain many years ago without any problems.

Now she has to convert her PIO to OCI ! One of the required documents is that she is supposed to get "an endorsement of the name change during naturalization". I don't know which document that will be because we were given no document that says her name 'XYZ' is changed to 'ABC' at our ceremony in California!

So I am struggling to find out who I should contact to get this one. Before I started calling people up, I waned to check on this forum to see if someone else ran into similar issue and how they solved it.

Thanks

[GutsyGibbon]

Hi All: I have a weird problem. My wife became US citizen many years ago. She took the opportunity to change her maiden name to my family name during naturalization.

The Judge present during the naturalization signs and seals the affidavit for name change. It is a regular sheet of paper with an embossed seal and signature. I used this document while dealing with Indian Consulate.

[okonomi]

Hi All:

I have a weird problem. My wife became US citizen many years ago. She took the opportunity to change her maiden name to my family name during naturalization.

So all her documents prior to becoming US Citizen show her maiden name and her documents after becoming US citizen show the new name.

Things were working fine and she has a PIO card which she could obtain many years ago without any problems.

Now she has to convert her PIO to OCI ! One of the required documents is that she is supposed to get "an endorsement of the name change during naturalization". I don't know which document that will be because we were given no document that says her name 'XYZ' is changed to 'ABC' at our ceremony in California!

So I am struggling to find out who I should contact to get this one. Before I started calling people up, I waned to check on this forum to see if someone else ran into similar issue and how they solved it.

Thanks

submit a notarized affidavit (see format in link) with the story in a concise statement.

Your N-400 application would contain the name-change request when it was made. If you had kept a copy of N-400 application (for a future great great grand child), you can submit a copy of that as well.

As an aside, all name change requesting applicants would have to go through a judicial ceremony under the jurisdiction of a US federal court. That court will have the name changes on their record. Contact that court.[QUOTE]PACER (Public Access Court Electronic Records)
PACER is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Party/Case Index via the Internet. A log-in and password, issued by the PACER Service Center, is required for access to PACER. If you do not already have a PACER account, you may register on-line by clicking here. For fees associated with PACER, click here. PACER provides criminal and civil cases filed on or after July 1, 2000 and all documents are stored in Abobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can obtain it for free here.

You can also utilize your congressional rep office's constituent service to get that document.

[samv]

Thank you for your help. I will try some of these and repost how it went for the benefit of others

[SSRK]

SAMV---on the back of the naturalization paper, certificate or whatever it is called these days, the name change (from--- to) should have been typed --that's the way it was done a few decades back. that's your legal proof of name change. good luck.

[okonomi]

SAMV---on the back of the naturalization paper, certificate or whatever it is called these days, the name change (from--- to) should have been typed --that's the way it was done a few decades back. that's your legal proof of name change. good luck.

The name-change information on the back of the Naturalization Certificate was discontinued decades (late 1980's or was it early 90's.. ?) ago. Now, a photo copy of the back of the modern Nat. Certificate can get you only the water-mark of the paper. :(
Since there are two kinds of Naturalization Oath Ceremonies ( Administrative, and Judicial), those who request name changes on their N-400, are sent to Judicial ceremonies (those that are conducted by the Federal District Court, and not by an officer of the USCIS), and their name changes are in court documents.

[SSRK]

Oko--It's nice to know the process has changed these days----my comment was based on my experience a very very long time back----but, the second line on your reply is kind of a smart alec comment--isn't that obvious if the back side of the Nat.cert is blank that you'd get just get the water mark or whatever---BTW, I thought you are not supposed to photocopy the Nat Cert!

Really, what's the need to state something that is so obvious & put a sad face, when we all know you are very smart (Katradhu kaimmanazhuvu, kalladhadhu ulagazhavu) -a little bit of humility doesn't hurt--don't you think? I mean it in a good way--something to consider.

[okonomi]

.....BTW, I thought you are not supposed to photocopy the Nat Cert! .....

These days it is OK to copy the Nat Cert.
Weirdly enough, a few years ago, for the OCI applications one has to copy the front & BACK of the naturalization certification, even though the back is blank. And people's OCI application had been returned for not submitting a copy of the back of the naturalization certificate ( very likely for the water-mark it shows, and demonstrates the authenticity of the document).