<p>What is the protocol for a young man that uses his American name but whose citizenship papers are in his Chinese name?</p>
<p>Does it take long to get a name change?</p>
<p>Are their admissions/SAT problems with having two names?</p>
<p>Asking for a friend.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this helps, but my friend is Chinese American, and he uses an American name, but he never officially changed his name. He just uses his Chinese name on all the official documents, but introduces himself by his American name. Or, if someone sees his name written and asks him how to pronounce it, he just responds: “Oh, you can just call me [American Name].” He’s been doing it through high school, college, and now in the working world, and there has never been an issue. He’s been very successful.</p>
<p>College application forms, including the Common Application, say to use your official legal name. Do so.</p>
<p>There is usually also a space for “preferred name.” This is where you put your American first name.</p>
<p>And at interviews or in class, you can say, “My name is XXXX, but I go by George.”</p>
<p>It might cause difficulties to change your legal name in the middle of the college application process. A person who wants to change his or her legal name might be better off doing it at a less complicated time.</p>
<p>I think you need to use your legal name, keep in mind that you have to show an ID at the test center and it should match the name on the test.</p>
<p>You may need to take care of this to vote in a number of states. Remember, you have to show proof of citizenship in a number of states now.</p>
<p>I have lots of students whose legal name on their college registration paperwork bears little or no resemblance to the name that they use in class. This is no big deal. Use the legal name as it appears on the passport/citizenship paper/driver’s license on the applications, exams, and school records, and tell the instructor once you get to college what you want to be called.</p>
<p>If some of the HS records have the other name attached to them, include a note in the “extra info.” space indicating that the school name and legal name are different. The admissions office will be able to sort it out.</p>