Affidavit to affirm friend's marriage - how do I refer to her?

[NewJeffCT]

A friend of mine got her green card a while back and is now submitting a petition to remove the restrictions from her green card. She asked me to be one of the friends who swears in an affidavit that she has a real marriage. That's no problem, but she sent me a draft where she refers to herself as Ms. Zhu (she's from China)...

Now, as many of you know, those godless commie women from China don't take their husband's last name like good traditional Jesus loving women.

But, in putting together an affidavit, should I call her Ms. Zhu (her "maiden" Chinese last name), or Mrs. Zhu or Mrs. Jones (meaning, her hubby's last name)

After my wife went through a nightmarish process for her green card, I tend to worry that if something is slightly off, it could be flagged by immigration.

[eyesroll]

1. Too bad you can't do it in Mandarin.

Just call her Jones Tai Tai ("wife of Jones") and be done with it.

I'd say use whatever name she uses legally. Enough American women don't automatically take their husbands' names these days that it shouldn't be unusual. (Plus I'm sure any immigration official who's ever worked on a case involving a Chinese woman married to an American man would be familiar with the customs.)

[Deep13]

2. If she says "Ms. Zhu" then that's her name.

"Mrs. Zhu" is literally incorrect because Mrs. means "wife of...".

My cousin from UK married an American and moved here. The husband is a naturalized citizen from Cambodia and she kept her birth name.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Ms. Zhu.

Your credibility goes out the window if you refer to her as Mrs. Jones when she doesn't refer to herself that way. It could be construed as trying a little too hard to convince the authorities that she has a real marriage. Last I checked, 10% of married women did not change names, 25% overall use their own surname in some fashion after marriage.
Ms. Zhu is fortunate that she comes from a culture where this is the norm because it bolsters the sense that there's nothing out of the ordinary about her choice.

[tjwmason]

4. Ms Zhu

Because that's her name.

There's no legal obligation for a woman to take her husband's name.

Mrs. is used when she has done so, Ms (no full-stop) when she has not done so.

Also, she's used Ms Zhu and what you use should match up with what she writes.

[FuzzySlippers]

5. We do the Ms (full-stop) here, TJ.

:-)

[tjwmason]

7. Really?

I ask because there's absolutely no reason for Ms to have one - it not being a shortened form.

[FuzzySlippers]

9. Yuppers. I know we Americans don't do English correctly.

:D

[NewJeffCT]

6. I realize that she has no legal obligation

However, I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. I honestly didn't know if Ms. Zhu was correct or not, or if there is some other more appropriate way to refer to her. Since she was not born here, she might not have been 100% aware of what is appropriate or not. But, it seems like Ms. Zhu is fine.

[China_cat]

8. Or, since you are a friend

referring to her by her first name wouldn't be inappropriate.

[Book Lover]

10. Use her legal name

If you are preparing a legal document, use her legal name. Failure to do so may not invalidate anything (I'm no lawyer) but it could cause a delay while the discrepancy is questioned.