Issue with FNU in Florida DMV
u/tjsanfordflr/immigrationFeb 21, 2026
I had to fix my SSN by matching with i94 ( no more fnu) and then DL issued me by matching with new ssn. It went through secondary review after which they issued DL.
Answered August 2026
A passport split alone is not enough; you may leave the older I-797 unchanged for SSA only when a qualifying legal name change happened after it was issued and you can prove the old-to-new link.
“My passport has no surname, so my visa, I-94, and I-20 use 'FNU' as my first name. However, my new I-797 uses 'No Name Given'. The California DMV wants me to change my SSN to match the I-797 to transfer my driver's license. If I split my name in my passport into a first and last name, can I update my SSN without amending the I-797?”
Summary
You are not stuck, but you need one clean document chain rather than another placeholder. The manageable choices are to correct a USCIS mistake or complete a genuine, documented legal name change before asking SSA and DMV to use the split name.
You have three possible routes, and the right one depends on whether “No Name Given” is a USCIS mistake, the correct display of your present one-name identity, or a name you genuinely change after approval.
Correct a USCIS mistakecleanest
Use this if the filed application/petition and supporting documents did not say “No Name Given.” Submit the USCIS Typographic Error e-request with the receipt number, A-number if any, erroneous item, filing date and email. If the error is on the I-94 at the bottom of an , file Form I-102, select Part 2, Item 1.f, and include the original I-94, a dated signed explanation and proof of the correct name. The current G-1055 lists $0 when replacing an I-94 for USCIS error.
Make a real legal name change after the I-797documented change
Use this only if you truly adopt separate first and last names. A qualifying after the I-797—most directly, a U.S. court order—lets SSA process the new name even though the older immigration document has the earlier name. California's court route requires a petition, newspaper notice, a hearing if ordered, and a decree; the court says it generally takes up to three months. With the decree, reissued passport and current DHS status document, SSA can update the without first changing the older I-797. DMV will still need the document chain linking the old and new names.
Split the name only in the passportnot enough
Do not rely on this alone. SSA requires an acceptable event document when the requested SSN name differs from the immigration document, and a reissued foreign passport is not one of the event documents listed in SSA POMS RM 10212.010. Without an old-to-new legal bridge, the new passport and unchanged I-797 remain conflicting evidence.
Keep one legal name and align the recordsif one name
Use this if the I-797A still shows your actual single name in the surname field and “No Name Given” only as a given-name placeholder. SSA's rule is to process the name on the immigration document when it can be derived from the passport; take the current I-94, passport and Form SS-5 to SSA instead of inventing a split. This route depends on the exact I-797A field layout.
A passport that merely repartitions the same one name is not, by itself, SSA proof of a post-I-797 legal name change.
Read the full explanationHide the full explanation
Watch out for
A new passport is not the missing bridgeSSA generally treats the foreign passport as evidence of your legal name, but it will process an SSN application in a name different from the current immigration document only when a legal name change happened after that immigration document was issued. SSA also requires evidence of the ; its listed events include a U.S. court order, marriage, divorce and certain other records—not a reissued foreign passport by itself (SSA POMS RM 10212.001, .010 and .020).
Check whether this is an I-797AAn ordinary I-797 communicates receipt or approval, while an is issued as a replacement I-94. If “No Name Given” appears on the I-94 at the bottom of an I-797A, that is a USCIS-issued I-94 issue, not merely a label on an approval notice (USCIS Form I-797 Types and Functions).
USCIS error and later name change are differentIf USCIS introduced “No Name Given” even though the filed form and supporting documents used something else, use the USCIS Typographic Error request; if the wrong record is the I-94 attached to I-797A, Form I-102 is the specified correction route. If you changed your name only after approval, USCIS treats that as changed information rather than agency error.
FNU is not the current SEVIS ruleDHS's current SEVIS standard says a person with one name must have that name in the surname field, and lists FNU as an invalid entry. Once your official name is settled, have the school update SEVIS and reprint the I-20 rather than carrying the old FNU format forward.
DMV checks SSA firstCalifornia DMV verifies the name on the DL/ID application against SSA and says it will deny the application when they do not match. Bring the old-to-new legal-name document as well, because DMV may require proof of every former name change.
Next steps
These steps identify the controlling document, fix or legally bridge the name, update SSA, and then complete DMV verification.
Before changing any record
Identify the I-797 type and exact name fields
Read the form number at the top. If it is I-797A, the bottom portion is a replacement I-94; if it is ordinary I-797 or I-797B, it communicates an approval but is not itself the replacement I-94. Compare the filed name with the issued notice: a USCIS-added difference is an error; a name adopted later is a legal-change case.
Requirements
The complete I-797, including its bottom section
A copy of the petition or application that produced it
Your passport, visa, current I-94 and I-20
Error branch
Correct USCIS's error if USCIS created it
For an error on the notice, submit the Typographic Error request at https://egov.uscis.gov/e-request/typo. If the error is on the I-94 at the bottom of I-797A, file Form I-102 with Part 2, Item 1.f selected; attach the original I-94, a dated signed statement identifying the correction, and evidence of the correct information. Form G-1055 lists the fee as $0 when the replacement is for USCIS error.
Requirements
Receipt number
A-number, if any
The item containing the error
Filing date and email address
Filed form and identity evidence showing the intended name
True name-change branch
Create legal old-to-new proof before splitting the name
Do not start with the passport alone. One recognized option is a California court order: file an adult name-change petition, publish the required newspaper notice, attend a hearing if ordered, and obtain the signed decree; California Courts says the process generally takes up to three months. Use the decree to obtain the new passport. The exact passport procedure depends on the issuing country and is unresolved because your nationality was not provided.
Requirements
A qualifying SSA document
A decree or event record that states both the prior and new legal names
A reissued passport in the new legal name
After correction or legal change
Update the Social Security record
Request the corrected card through SSA; if the online process does not accept the case, make an appointment at a Social Security office. There is no SSA fee. SSA accepts only originals or copies certified by the record custodian. In the legal-change branch, show that the event happened after the I-797; that is the exception allowing SSA to use the new name while the older immigration document still has the earlier name.
Requirements
Completed Form SS-5
Original or custodian-certified name-change document
Current unexpired foreign passport
Current unexpired DHS document such as I-94, I-766 or I-551
Documents connecting every prior name to the new name
After the official name is settled
Update SEVIS and reprint the I-20
Give the final identity documents to your school's designated school official for the SEVIS update and a reprinted I-20. If you remain a one-name person, DHS requires that single name in the surname field and treats FNU as invalid; if you completed a legal name change, use the new passport name.
Requirements
New passport or corrected USCIS document
Legal name-change proof, if applicable
Current I-20
After SSA has completed the update
Return to California DMV with the complete chain
Complete the DL/ID application and visit a DMV field office with the originals. DMV verifies the application against SSA and may require all former-name documents. The current fee table lists $37 for changing information on an existing California DL/ID; a first California driver's-license application is listed at $45.
Requirements
Current driver's license
Corrected SSA record/card
Current passport and DHS status document
Every old-to-new name-change document
For REAL ID: one identity proof and two California residency proofs
Others who faced this
You are not the first to go through this. Here is how it went for others who asked the same thing.
Legal sources
This answer rests on SSA's POMS and Form SS-5, USCIS forms and fee schedule, DHS SEVIS standards, California DMV instructions, and California Courts guidance.
SSA POMS RM 10212.001
SSA permits a different SSN name only for a legal name change occurring after the immigration document was issued.
SSA POMS RM 10212.001
RM 10212.001
The only time you may process an SSN application in a name that does not agree with the name shown on the immigration document is if the person's name was legally changed after the immigration document was issued.
SSA POMS RM 10212.001
When passport and immigration-document formats differ but describe the same name, SSA uses the immigration-document name if it can be derived from the passport.
SSA POMS RM 10212.001
RM 10212.001
When the name shown on the immigration document differs from the name shown on other evidence submitted for an SSN, process the SSN in the name on the immigration document as long as the name can be derived from the other evidence (e.g., foreign passport).
SSA POMS RM 10212.020
A new-name identity document does not eliminate the need for proof of the legal event that changed the name.
SSA POMS RM 10212.020
RM 10212.020
Always require acceptable evidence of the name change event, and new name (name to be shown on SSN card).
SSA POMS RM 10212.010
SSA's official event list includes a U.S. court order but does not list a reissued foreign passport as a name-change event.
SSA POMS RM 10212.010
RM 10212.010 chart
US court order for a name change |RM 10212.080 |
Form SS-5
A noncitizen applying at SSA must show both current DHS status evidence and a foreign passport.
Form SS-5
Form SS-5, page 2
If you are not a U.S. citizen, we must see your current U.S. immigration document(s) and your foreign passport with biographical information or photograph. You must provide a current unexpired document issued to you by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showing your immigration status, such as Form I-551, I-94, or I-766.
USCIS Typographic Error e-Request
USCIS provides an online service request when USCIS itself made the typo on a notice or document.
USCIS Typographic Error e-Request
If your document has incorrect information because of USCIS error (for example, USCIS made a typo), you may submit a Typographic Error service request.
USCIS Form I-797 Types and Functions
An I-797A is materially different from an ordinary I-797 because it carries a replacement I-94.
USCIS Form I-797 Types and Functions
I-797, Notice of Action |Issued to communicate receipt or approval of an application or petition. | I-797A, Notice of Action |Issued to an applicant as a replacement Form I-94.
Form I-102 Instructions
These are the required materials for correcting inaccurate information on an I-94 that USCIS issued.
Form I-102 Instructions
Form I-102 Instructions, page 5
If you want USCIS to correct inaccurate information that USCIS issued on your Form I-94, Form I-94W, or Form I-95, attach your Form I-94, Form I-94W, or Form I-95 to your application. Also attach a statement dated and signed by you, citing specifically what information on your Form I-94, Form I-94W, or Form I-95 requires correction. You must also attach evidence verifying the validity of the information submitted for correction purposes.
USCIS Form G-1055
The current USCIS fee schedule makes the I-102 replacement fee zero when the replacement is for USCIS error.
USCIS Form G-1055
Form I-102 fee table
If you are filing for a replacement for USCIS error. $0
California DMV DL/ID Name Update
California DMV checks SSA before completing a DL/ID name transaction and denies a mismatch.
California DMV DL/ID Name Update
Step 1
When you apply for a new DL/ID card using your new name, the first thing DMV will do is verify your information with SSA, so make sure you have informed SSA of your new name. If your SSA information does not match your new DL/ID application information, your application will be denied, and you will receive a Request for Verification of Information letter from DMV telling you what to do.
DHS SEVIS Name Standards
Current DHS SEVIS rules put a single name in the surname field and do not permit FNU as an entry.
DHS SEVIS Name Standards
Exceptional Situations—Single Name
Single names must be entered in the Surname field, regardless of whether they are listed as given or family names in the passport VIZ. Invalid entries: FNU
California Courts Adult Name Change
A California court decree is an available way to create the U.S. court-order evidence that SSA recognizes.
California Courts Adult Name Change
Adult name change overview
In California, you can ask for a court order to change your legal name. To do this, you file a petition with the court and publish a notice in a newspaper. Then, you'll either have a court date (a hearing) where a judge will make a decision, or the judge may make a decision without a hearing. Once the judge decides, you pick up a court decree (court order) with your new name.
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; rules and fees can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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