After all the time and focus that took to get your green card and later your citizenship, it is so taught to see that the USCIS actually messed up and gave you the wrong name. Well, we can fix that.
Clerical errors on naturalization certificates can be corrected using Form N565. For this purpose, we should have a copy of the documents or forms filed by the applicant in his petition for adjustment of status and in the request for citizenship. If the applicant does not have these documents, we would work with whatever we have. Why is this so important? Under 8 CFR §334.5, no change to the applicant’s name may be effected where the applicant stated that the name was correct on the original application. In other words, to make a change to the Naturalization Certificate, we must prove that the mistake was made by the USCIS, not the applicant. In fact, In Matter of ___ (AAO Feb. 27, 2003), a request to change a name was denied where the applicant sought the certificate with a different birth date than the one used to file his AOS petition and his naturalization application.
It is very important that your Naturalization Certificate has your correct name, this is important because this document will be used later to issue your passport, it will be used to complete other immigration petitions for family members, to prove your status if necessary, to get other official documents and more.
