Legal Question in Immigration Law in Texas

I want to file a request / application for my mother to receive her US Residency. I currently live in Texas and my mother lives in Honduras.

I have an important question with respect to the name that my mother has and what is the best route for filing the application.

My Honduras birth certificate shows my mother�s name to be �Alba Genoveva Gamez Contreras�. However, several years later my mom changed her name to �Alba Consuelo Gamez Castaneda�.

So now her current Honduras passport, government ID and her current USA Tourist Visa (B1) show her with the new name. Which doesn�t match my birth certificate�s mother�s name.

The question is which name I should use in her US Residency request / application?

Her name like it appears in my birth certificate? Or her name like it appears in her current passport/ID?

And if I use one of the names, how should I explain that she also has another name?

My mother told me that another option could be for her to change her name back to the one in my birth certificate. But then she would need to get a new passport, ID and ask the US Embassy in Honduras for a new US Tourist visa with her new name. She is concerned that the US Embassy will question why she changed her name and is asking for a new US Tourist visa under a new name.


Asked on 8/29/13, 7:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marlene Hemmings Marlene Hemmings, Attorney at Law

As long as your mother has all of the legal documents to prove she officially/legally changed her name, that is all the evidence you will need for the I-130 petition. She does not need to change her name back. There should be nothing to worry about.

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Answered on 8/30/13, 6:54 am


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