You have heard the stories of how immigrants had their name changed as they went through Ellis. Rockowskus became Rock. Smyth became Smith.
The US government wants me to be “Almear”. The INS somehow messed up my green card even though when I look at all of the forms they are spelled correctly, and I have Almear on it. Grr. Having to get this changed will be a royal pain in the backside. Nothing with the INS is simple, easy, or fast. They make the IRS look like a well oiled machine!
The problem got worse today, as I had the pleasure of doing the DMV jig in California. Taking another “test” on how many pounds a 5 year old has to be before you need a proper restraint and all that jazz. Turning your wheels in various directions depending on if you are uphill, downhill, and if there is a curb. Once I had passed the test, they got to work on my new license. They spelled my name “Almear”. They said that since they were using my Green card as the official document they had too!
I don’t want to have Almear smear through my real name, so I had to tell them to only give me the temporary license, and I need to work with the INS to fix the green card, and then I can change the license. I can’t wait :/
November 29th, 2007 at 7:02 am
I can sympathize. When I moved to Canada from the US 10 years ago they spelled my first name incorrectly on my drivers license. I didn’t notice until I left the office. I was told that to change it I would have to find a Justice of the Peace and jump through all this red tape hassle even though I had a birth certificate and a password that showed the correct spelling!
Anyways, I have lived with it all this time, but recently I lost my wallet and I went back to the motor vehicle office to have it replaced. I was served by a girl in training and her supervisor who were having a little party of their own – making jokes and such. I joined in the fun, and made a joke about the name mistake. The supervisor looked at me for a moment, typed furiously for a few moments, and it was done. It was amazing how good that made me felt.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:33 am
Congrats on the green card! I shouldn’t be too far behind ya.
May 1st, 2008 at 1:12 am
Why do they have to change our names? Is it really necessary to change names if doesn’t sounds American? Haven’t they realizes the problem it will cause in the future. This would cost and waste our time on processing again. If I’m on your shoes I don’t want to have any name smear on my real name………
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jhazline_20
New York Immigration Lawyer Marina Shepelsky, located in Brooklyn, assists clients from the New York metro area and across the United States in all immigration and naturalization matters http://www.e-us-visa.com
June 29th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
thanks for share