Is it possible to legally change your surname? If so, how difficult is the process?
Yeah, it's pretty trivial. Depends on what State you live in, but typically it involves submitting a petition to the court, paying some fees, waiting a couple of months, and then attending a final hearing. Again, it depends on the state, but it might cost a couple of hundred bucks, though you can get the fees waived if you can't afford them. Then you have to get your driver's license and SS card changed.Deciding what name to pick is up to you.
Why do people not know the difference between a non resident alien and an illegal?
I was on an F1 visa in the US and was a 'non-resident alien.' I had to file taxes every single year even though I earned nothing. It shocks me that I continually read about ignorant people claiming that non-resident-aliens should 'go home'. What on earth? Being on a student visa or work visa does not make you illegal. That ought to be clear from the name. I'm not sure where the confusion comes from. Non-resident means that my permanent base, my home, is my home-country for all legal intents and purposes. With a student visa a person plans to finish their education and return home when it is done. I'm wondering where the confusion comes from. The only name to call the other kind are 'illegals' because they are people that are undocumented, entered the country falsely OR outstayed their visa and now are not supposed to be in the US. Illegals and non-resident-aliens are absolutely two different categories. Why the difficulty?
Ex-Wife Refuses to change last name back to maiden after divorce.?
My husband's ex-wife refuses to change her last name back to her maiden. This really doesn't bother us except the fact that she uses the last name to sign up for instant check cashing places that require no social security number, and we have bill collectors calling here all of the time for her because she still claims to be married to my husband.And i ask them why they are calling our # and they say "this is the # and address she gave us". She has never lived here! They have been divorced for 5 years, and we are currently getting calls. We have changed our number 3 times, but somehow (his parents probably) she gets ahold of the number and our address. It is also in the divorce papers that she is to go back to her maiden name. What can be done? Is it breach of contract, since it is in a legal document? She has been in the paper for bounced checks numerous times under our name too. The only time she uses her maiden name is for her food stamps and state help. Thanks in advance!
Green Card holder want to change last name after divorce.?
You will ideally do this as part of the naturalization process, free of charge. Otherwise you would first spend $450 on a new Green Card that you then surrender when naturalizing. Makes no sense. Part of the naturalization process is that you can be "reborn" as an American with any name you want, so that's the perfect time to take care of this.
Is it possible for a foreigner to adopt a native Japanese name?
For example, an American who wants to go to Japan and wants a native name such as: Megumi, Kei, Hikari, Haruka... etc. without translating it into katakana? By the way, can "Sora" be a name for a girl? Is it common? Thanks so much!
If I enter the US with a B1/B2 visa, is there a way for me to change it to a permanent residence status?
This is a very interesting question - one that I am certain many viewers have in their mind. Of course, entering on a visitors visa means that when you obtained that visa and upon entering the United States your 'intent' was non-immigrant - that is, your intent was and is to return home after your temporary stay; you've also agreed to abide by your visa's specific limitations and requirements. For example, B-1/B-2 status does not allow employment. That said, in the real world it is fully understood in the law that entrants after they have been here for awhile may have a change of mind about their stay. Sometimes people want to extend the status for a few more months, they decide they want to change their visa so they can attend school full-time, or occasionally visitors meet and fall in love and want to remain after marriage. To answer your question specifically, extending or switching to a new non-immigrant status is called a 'change of status' and applied for on form I-539. However, changing to a permanent resident category from B-1/B-2 status, if immediately eligible, is applied for under INA 245a 'adjustment of status' on form I-485. An example of this would be a subsequent to entry marriage to an American citizen. There are many more complexities here, including priority dates, visa petition requirements, maintaining status, but the main concept underlying all of this is that adjustment of status is discretionary - and with few exceptions, marriage to a U.S. citizen being one, one must be 'in status' when the application is made.
A question about Petition to Remove Conditions on Permanent Residency?
Telephone the INS to see ALL that will be necessary to achieve what you want. If they require documents that you don't have copies for (i.e joint tax return), then start calling the agencies that you sent them to. IRS is pretty good about answering your questions and sending copies, although good luck with INS. Be sure you have a pen and paper ready before you start and write down dates, times and names of people you spoke with, as well as what they told you. Keep a record of EVERYTHING. ALWAYS. FOREVER and EVER. especially if you are working toward citizenship. If you can't get satisfaction, then have your wife call her congressman.