Being a girl makes things a little easy if you want to change your name. Although I hear its really difficult to change your name back. The things you need (at least in the state of Florida) are your marriage certificate, social security number, driver's license, proof of your legal status (so if your a citizen your passport or birth certificate, and if you're a legal resident your green card) and lot's of patience.
Since my marriage took place in Pakistan, my marriage certificate is a translation of the traditional Muslim marriage certificate. Muslim's typically have what is called a Nikah and it's an actual contract. It states some interesting information on it, which I could probably write its own post about. Anyways, it is about the size of 2 legal pages combined, next to each other.
After dropping my kids off at preschool this past Wednesday, I took the baby with me to the Social Security Administration office. There's one office in Delray Beach, off of Atlantic and Military, and there is one office in Margate off of Banks and Coconut Creek Parkway. These 2 happen to be the closest to where I live. I decided to go to the Delray office since it normally isn't busy. But just as my luck would have it, I pull up to the office, and saw a huge line outside; I proceed to strap the baby in the stroller. It was really cold and I figured maybe the long line is for something else. Once I got closer to the office I realized the long line was just to get inside of the office. It took 40 minutes just to get inside the doors. Also, if you've got a baby with you and you have a baby bag, be prepared to have the on duty patrol skim through your bag.
Once inside, there is a computer, its more like a touch screen boxy thing where you have to punch in why you are visiting and what you need help with. Since I was changing my name and that was one of the options it was pretty simple. A receipt gets printed out which has a letter and number on it. That number is used to call you to a window. There are applications that need to be filled out if you are changing your name or requesting a replacement card, so the next thing I did was fill out the form and then sat down.
The office was filled with people. There were a few people with little kids like myself, and obviously the kids were getting fussy. Once inside, it took another hour. There is a big screen TV on the wall that displays the number(s) that is (are) being called. Some people were being called by their name and taken to the back of the office, while others were called in no particular numerical order to the windows. The lady behind the glass window that called my number wasn't friendly at all. I proceeded to be as polite as possible and gave her my license, the form I had filled out, and my marriage certificate. She asked if I was a citizen, so I handed her my passport. She asked if I had just gotten married recently, I told her it happened 7 years ago. I found it kind of pointless that the office takes your information, scans it and enters it into their system and then you have to wait 2 days before they can give you a print out that shows your new name associated with the social. Without the print out, you can't change your name on your ID or Driver's License, and without it being on the ID, you can't really prove you've changed your name.
After the 2 days went by, on Friday, I decided to go to the SSA office in Broward County. After my older 2 were at Preschool, I dropped the baby off at my mom's and made the drive down south. The office on Banks and Coconut Creek is a nicer and bigger building. There are two separate waiting areas. I was told to go towards the room on the left, sign in to the computer, fill out another form, and wait there. The much more friendlier patrol told me to sign in for a replacement card. This side of the office had 3 windows. I got to the office around 10:40 and was highly disappointed to see there was only 1 person behind the window. The other 2 places were empty.
Once again I sat down patiently and waited. Some people were getting angry and started complaining at how long they had been there. A few people started to leave. It had been 30 minutes since I had signed in and I was certain I'd be there forever. Finally one more SSA employee started to call numbers out too, and then the third window also had an employee at it. The line seemed to go much quicker now, plus a lot of the customers had already left. When I was called, I handed the lady all my stuff really quickly and told her I applied for a name change 2 days ago and wanted the print out so I could change my name on the license. It literally took maybe 3 minutes from that point. This lady was much more friendly and even smiled a few times. She gave me the print out and I was on my way.
Once in my car, I Google-ed Florida DMV locations, and I got a location that was literally across the street, right on Banks. This saved me time, because I was going to drive to the one that is slightly south of Hillsboro on Military. I found parking right up front. I walked in and was called up right away. There was NO WAIT! I loved it! I told the lady I changed my name and handed her the print out from the SSA and my then license. She asked for my marriage certificate and that was scanned into the system once again. The lady asked if I wanted the name changed on my voter's registration card and made the change from her computer right then and there. Lastly, I was asked to get my picture taken. This was the one thing I was not prepared for; that's right, I had no make-up on, and my hair was up in a messy bun! After my picture was taken I walked up to the cashier, paid and waited maybe another 2-3 minutes until I was given my new license; my DL number now begins with a Z instead of a K, but that's okay.
Once I got home, I faxed all the papers over to my University's registrar's office, so hopefully the University will have my new last name up soon. I just wished the SSA would have made better use of today's technology. It's clear there are new offices and maybe even new ways of doing things, but the office can further improve its process. It is disappointing to know that if you schedule an appointment online for the SSA the wait is 3 months long! Maybe instead of making people wait 2 days to get the information uploaded into their server, perhaps the SSA should let customers upload documents over the internet. This would save so much time. Customers can upload their documents, and then get an email letting them know the information has been accepted by the system, and the customer can drive to any SSA office to request a new SS card after providing originals to be verified.
Some states require you to post your name change in the paper. Luckily that isn't the case in Florida. Don't forget to inform companies of your name change. I called Geico and gave them my new DL number. I also stopped by the bank to document the change there. I will also need to report the change to my neighborhood for it to be in the system so I can get in and out of my community easier, in case there is a new employee working at the gate.
It probably will take some time getting used to being called Mrs. Z---- and using my new last name. It's a good thing College Graduations aren't in alphabetical order like High School Graduations are. In any event, I will now know to look for my name towards the end instead of looking for it in the middle. I also like the idea of having a hyphenated last name, but for now, this Desi Girl has stolen his last name.
