Many states grant a legal name change when the Foreign National spouse gets married—this new married name is usually printed on the marriage certificate if you apply for the license requesting the name change. If the new name is printed on the marriage certificate, it gives the Foreign National the right to elect to use their spouse’s last name or to hyphenate their name with their spouses name. Whatever decision is made at this point, the Foreign National should going forward, consistently use the name they opt to take. 

This year for the first time in my career as an Immigration Attorney, I’ve been contacted by multiple individuals who have gained US Citizenship without a problem, but upon applying for a US Passport, are being investigated by the US Passport Office for their immigration status. We knew that a De-Naturalization Task Force had been established to strip citizenship from those whose basis for being Permanent Residents was fraudulent. However, we had not seen this coming.