Guidance for surname change?

Question

Can anyone guide me on how to change my surname for visa purpose? My situation is like this:

I am living in India and by birth an Indian but my husband is not an Indian. He is living in USA.

What procedure is required to change my surname? I want to change my surname in my passport too. I visited an attorney who totally misguided me. Please help me.

I need to change the surname in India.

Answer 1

Do you have a marriage certificate?
If you don't, you can get one in India or whereever you got married, and in the marriage certificate itself you can indicate to go by your married surname from now on.
For the passport, simply give the marriage certificate,with an application form and the subscribed fee and you will get a new booklet. ( check the new passport issuance rules and timelines for more information)
Without a marriage certificate you would need to go thru a name change whcih is length procedure and (listed by the others) and requires to go to the judge.

Having said all this, you don;t really need to change your surname to come as a dependent on your husband's visa or greencard. The surname change is purely for your own satisfaction. A marriage certificate is all you need.

Answer 2

The procedure is simple indeed. You have to go to a Notary Public (or a Magistrate) in India and swear before him the change in your surname. Then you have to publish the fact of change of name (surname in this case) mentioning your old and new names. Then contact the passport office who issued your passport and submit the affidavit and fill in the prescribed form and pay the fees.

Answer 3

In the US, you wold just go down to the courthouse and fill out the paperwork, pay the filing fees ($75 or so) and have a short session before a judge. Some may make you advertise the name change in the paper in case you are trying to avoid creditors, but not all will do that.