Name change on Permanent Resident card

Do you have a Certificate of Citizenship or a Permenant Resident Card?

both, but they have her Taiwanese name on them.

The law is very clear on this matter, as I understand it. If your child's American name did not appear on any of her foreign documents, and especially on her Taiwanese passport, it is not, and cannot be used as, her legal name on official documents until you do a legal name change in your state of residence. What your state did, in granting a state birth certificate in the American name, without any legal name change order, is probably improper. But this is no big deal, at least for the moment. The first thing you should do is to get your child a SSN in the name that is on her Taiwanese documents. You'll need the SSN as soon as you can get it, to do your taxes. When you go to the SS office to get it, you can often persuade the clerk to tell you the NUMBER immediately, so you can enter it on your tax form, and the card will be mailed to you in a couple of weeks. It doesn't really matter which name is on the SS card right now; you can get a new card with the same SSN and the American name immediately and at no cost after you do a legal name change. It should not give you any problems with the IRS or any other entity, doing it this way. When you file your 1040, list your child by her American name, but put the Taiwanese name in parentheses; some people also do it the other way around. All children need to have an SSN to be claimed as dependents, and technically, although the IRS is currently allowing the ATIN to be used temporarily in some international adoption situations, the ATIN is properly used only for domestically adopted children. Once you have your SSN and have done your taxes, if you don't have time beforehand, you can begin researching how legal name changes are handled in your state. Remember that readoption is NOT the only way to do a legal name change, so if readoption is particularly difficult or costly in your state, you don't have to do it that way. However, do be aware that many parents DO prefer to readopt, even if their children come home on IR-3 visas and don't need readoption, because it offers other advantages besides the ability to do a legal name change. As an example, it gives an American adoption decree that can easily be replaced if lost or destroyed, and that is easily recognizable if you need to prove that you are the legal parent of your child for school registration, hospital admission, etc. If you choose NOT to readopt, all you need to do is call your state court and find out how to do a legal name change. Remember that many people, not just internationally adopted children, do legal name changes. Almost anyone, even someone who simply does not like his/her name, can legally change his/her name, as long as the name change is not being done for illegal purposes. Doing a legal name change is usually simple and cheap, and a lawyer is not generally needed. Your courthouse can give you any forms that need to be completed. And once you file them with the court, a judge will review them and issue a name change order. It is possible that you will not even need to appear in court. A legal name change does not do anything to reaffirm your adoption, but it does give you a piece of paper that you can use for such purposes as getting your child's American name on her certificate of citizenship and getting the SS card reissued in her American name. FORGET about changing your child's name on her green card (permanent resident card). The permanent resident card should never have been issued, since your child entered the U.S. on an IR-3 visa. Your daughter became a citizen automatically as soon as she entered the U.S., and was never a permanent resident alien. A COC should have been sent to you automatically, if the adoption occurred within the past few years. (Earlier, you would have needed to apply for the certificate.) When you apply for a certificate of citizenship for your child, if you never got one, you will have to submit proof of a legal name change, or else the certificate will be issued in the foreign name. The state birth certificate usually is NOT sufficient, if the American name was not on any of the foreign paperwork and there was no readoption. If you already have a COC, but in the foreign name, you will have to go to the USCIS website and find the form used to change the name on the certificate. Fill it out and submit it with the necessary fee items, and you will (eventually -- the process isn't very fast) get a new COC with the American name. I hope this helps. Sharon

I am confused about how you have both, but it sounds like what you really need is a COC in the new name. It is USCIS form N565, but without any 'proof' of that name change I think you may have an issue. You might want to cross post this on the Guatemala forum. (Or I can link it for you. Just let me know.) I have this niggling feeling that there is something about the name changes and issuing of BC's in MO that make it 'special.' I know it has come up, but I can't remember the details. I do know that there are people on the Guat forum from MO who can answer in detail specific to your situation though so you know what your options are to get the documents you need. Like Sharon said though, you can definetly get a SS# now in her current legal name and then update with SSA later.

Thank you so much. Now I know what I will have to do to finish this up.