WHAT IS YOUR LEGAL NAME? - TALENT ACQUISITION, THE IMMIGRATION SERIES
- Avodaly - Find A Job, Hire Talent. A Talent acquisition Agency
- Sep 25
- 4 min read
I know that this question seems simple and maybe not worthy of a blog post. I personally and professionally think you should read my blog post and find out!
Further more, if you are in the human resources, talent acquisition professional fields, or seeking a job in the USA, The Immigration Series should be of great value for you.
*** Please note - immigration laws, paperwork, and processes may change on a regular basis. Dr. Moran Sciamama-Saghiv is not an immigration official, nor an attorney or immigration attorney If you require help with your immigration process and/or status, please contact an immigration attorney***
Did you know? - About 47 million people living in the United States are immigrants, which is 14% of the United States population. Every year about 25–35 million people apply for a visa to the United States, and about 2–7.5 million people are actually approved to enter the United States.
Can you have two legal names? How about three legal names? — Do these seem like weird questions to you? - Well, they should not. The difference between these questions being weird or not depends on several factors in your life. Certain circumstances in your life, could cause you to have more than one legal name, as many names as you have citizenships.
The solution to the whole situation begins with understanding something that most people do not know, since they have no reason to know, and is not common knowledge, yet applies to everyone. It applies to how you got your legal name. When you where born, your parents, either one or both filled out paperwork and as part of that paperwork, they have requested for your name to be a certain name.
Wait, what?! What do you mean by “requested”? - Didn’t you mean that my parents told, decided, announced, demanded, and informed the government that my name is this or that? - nope. Sovereign countries and governments usually hold the right to ultimately decide not only how names are spelled but to approve the names of their citizens. Yep, countries hold the right to change names, they simply default not to.
Over time, the fact that countries naturally choose not to intervene in the name choosing process of its citizens, does not mean that right does not exist. If we take this idea a step forward, people that are citizens of more than one country (multi-national), might have their name spelled differently in every country. It might result in one letter being the difference, or a more profound difference all together.
Your legal name in the United States is your name as it appears on the passport that you use to obtain your initial visa to enter the United States for the first time. This may cause some problems or interesting situations, that might demand explanations. Let’s examine what might these situations include.
If in your past, you have officially had published under a certain official name, you place of work or simply integrity and professionalism might deem that you publish under your American legal name. Another situation that could happen is that you have entered the United States before with one passport and now you must enter with the other (the one with the visa). Customs and Border Protection (CBP) might flag you due to this fact, and you will find yourself explaining that.
The fact that countries spell your name differently might result in the fact that your degrees, diplomas, and/or certificates could have your name spelled differently than your legal name in the United States, and that in turn could cause questions to be asked. The difference between how your name is spelled can come up when having documents notarized in the United States. The notary will have to identify you with an American identification document yet will also have to identify you with another means according to the other way of spelling (for example for an embassy or consulate).
While this is not necessarily the case for every person with multiple citizenships, it could be for some, and it is good to be aware of these situations. I have three citizenships, have published books, scientific manuscripts, and online posts. This post brings forth some of the situations that I have encountered since I immigrated to the United States in 2014 and wanted to share with you all.
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