name change request ignored

[Nikhil Patel]

Hello,

I had requested a name change in my n-400 application. Nothing fancy. I needed to just drop few letters. But during the citizenship interview at the Santa Clara, CA office, the interviewing officer said they can't honor this request because judges in california do not work with the USCIS agency. And he said I will have to go to the court and file a separate form and fees there. He said it's not that bad because I am still young and can pay the fees. Was I treated fairly? I have my reservations and feel that I might have been lied to.

What should I do now if it is still possible to change name through USCIS? I just passed the interview today and the oath ceremony will be in a month or two.

Thanks

[rayb]

Nikhil,

I doubt that you were treated deliberately unfairly or lied to, but judges in California do routinely allow name changes requested by USCIS during Naturalization processing, and the Sacramento USCIS office regularly honors such requests from N-400 applications. But your interviewer probably had some reservations because your request may have been considered frivolous, rather than "culturally" compelling. For example, middle names of Filipino women are generally changed to their formal family names when marrying. This is recognized by some USCIS staff during Naturalization processing, but whether to request a USCIS-requested court change is done at discretion of USCIS staff person.

--Ray B

Hello,

I had requested a name change in my n-400 application. Nothing fancy. I needed to just drop few letters. But during the citizenship interview at the Santa Clara, CA office, the interviewing officer said they can't honor this request because judges in california do not work with the USCIS agency. And he said I will have to go to the court and file a separate form and fees there. He said it's not that bad because I am still young and can pay the fees. Was I treated fairly? I have my reservations and feel that I might have been lied to.

What should I do now if it is still possible to change name through USCIS? I just passed the interview today and the oath ceremony will be in a month or two.

Thanks

[Nikhil Patel]

Ray, thanks for the response.

Actually, the immigration officer who interviewed me asked me the very first question "so you would like to request a name change?" and it seemed like he was going to allow that. In reply, I said, "yes, if possible" because I did not want to sound very aggressively demanding. But I think he perceived my answer as some kind of weakness and came up with a lot of different reasons(excuses?) to not offer this option. The main reason he gave was that, in California, judges don't work with USCIS because they are too busy. He told me that I need to go to the local county court and request a name change because they are a different agency. The court may want to do further background checks. I said it would cost me additional money so he went on to say that I was relatively young and had a good job so it should not be a problem. He said this option could be of convenience to older people. I tried to get a clarification from him on this because I felt he was unfairly denying me this option(like you said, I also thought it was up to him whether to allow a name change or not). So then he said, "the name-change option only works in some other states. In California, the judges just don't work with USCIS (this stopped 10 years ago, he said) so no one can change the names as part of N-400 application processing. The judges might just be too busy or the courts just want to make more money through application fees. It's like your private sector." (all his words)

So I am confused now. You are saying that people in Sacramento can change names for cultural reasons and I thought the same because I saw this option on N-400 application form. But this immigration officer said no one in California can change names because judges are not present at the oath ceremonies in CA. It only works in other states.

This is why I feel I have been treated unfairly. I didn't get a proper explanation from the officer that matches with other people's experiences I read online. Should I file a complaint?

Nikhil,

I doubt that you were treated deliberately unfairly or lied to, but judges in California do routinely allow name changes requested by USCIS during Naturalization processing, and the Sacramento USCIS office regularly honors such requests from N-400 applications. But your interviewer probably had some reservations because your request may have been considered frivolous, rather than "culturally" compelling. For example, middle names of Filipino women are generally changed to their formal family names when marrying. This is recognized by some USCIS staff during Naturalization processing, but whether to request a USCIS-requested court change is done at discretion of USCIS staff person.

--Ray B

[rayb]

Nikhil,

I don't believe you have a basis for a complaint. The interviewer's decision to not proceed with your name change is within his discretionary authority, and he apparently believed that you were trying to obtain an extra service from USCIS that had nothing to do with your Naturalization application. But for your info, however, the name changes in California are routinely completed through an arrangement USCIS has with local courts. His explanation about judges not being available to do this for the last 10 years is nonsense and was just an excuse for refusing to assist you He was just doing his job, though, and he apparently decided that your name change is something you should do at your own expense with your local court system.

--Ray B

Ray, thanks for the response.

Actually, the immigration officer who interviewed me asked me the very first question "so you would like to request a name change?" and it seemed like he was going to allow that. In reply, I said, "yes, if possible" because I did not want to sound very aggressively demanding. But I think he perceived my answer as some kind of weakness and came up with a lot of different reasons(excuses?) to not offer this option. The main reason he gave was that, in California, judges don't work with USCIS because they are too busy. He told me that I need to go to the local county court and request a name change because they are a different agency. The court may want to do further background checks. I said it would cost me additional money so he went on to say that I was relatively young and had a good job so it should not be a problem. He said this option could be of convenience to older people. I tried to get a clarification from him on this because I felt he was unfairly denying me this option(like you said, I also thought it was up to him whether to allow a name change or not). So then he said, "the name-change option only works in some other states. In California, the judges just don't work with USCIS (this stopped 10 years ago, he said) so no one can change the names as part of N-400 application processing. The judges might just be too busy or the courts just want to make more money through application fees. It's like your private sector." (all his words)

So I am confused now. You are saying that people in Sacramento can change names for cultural reasons and I thought the same because I saw this option on N-400 application form. But this immigration officer said no one in California can change names because judges are not present at the oath ceremonies in CA. It only works in other states.

This is why I feel I have been treated unfairly. I didn't get a proper explanation from the officer that matches with other people's experiences I read online. Should I file a complaint?