Passport Name Change

Go with whatever place your marriage license was issued. My fiance dropped a hyphenation on his last name so we recently had his passport changed. If your passport is currently valid you will actually be sending in the documents by mail. You will send your marriage license in with the application and they will return it to you by mail when they finish processing your application.

Certified means its filed with the County (I'm not sure if it has to be filed in the county where you were married or where you reside). Once filed, they can give you a certified copy. Place of name change I would assume would be the County where the license is filed. Give your home County a call and ask them tomorrow if you should file it with them or with the County where the marriage took place.

Thank you ladies. If i'm looking at this stuff right to change my name on both my passport book and card it would cost me $140, or $110 just for the book. I'm so mad at myself, because had I changed my name and filled out the forms within one year of it's issue date it would have been free. I just got my passport issued November 19, 2009, and the wedding was on October 30, 2010. I think I may hold off on changing it now, until I know i'm going out of the country, which doesn't appear to be anytime soon. I didn't think it would cost that much.

You can still change it for free! It goes off of when you changed your name. So if you changed your name in Nov 2010 you have til Nov 2011 to do it for free. You need to go to the courthouse and get a copy of your marriage license. It's acouple dollars. They don't accept photocopies. I think they also wanted a copy of my drivers license with my new last name. I also had to submit the current passport ( which they ended up returning, too). Make sure you send this all certified and insure it in case it gets lost so you can at least be reimbursed if you have to start the process over again.

It's free to change your name on your passport within a year of your marriage. You need to request a certified copy of your marriage cert from the county clerk, and take it with you to the post office when you do it. They just charge you for a new photo, that's it.

The passport website is confusing me

I guess I will have to call the county of where our wedding was being it's a good 12 hour drive.

http://travel.state.gov/passport/correcting/correcting_2654.html

I was filling out the DS-82 form is this correct?

Getting married does NOT change your name, that is a whole separate process completely. Marriage just makes the name change process "easier", that's all. The "place of name change" is the United States Social Security office location where you applied for the name change. This changes your name for your social security number, and that is federal. The passport is federal. When you apply for the passport, your marriage license (or other marriage document) MUST be certified. This usually means it will have an embossed or color stamped seal (or some other method for indicating the document's certification) A photo copy of the certified document is not acceptable. Good luck!

I think John may be wrong. If you look at your marriage cirtificate it says: "Bride's declared surname". If this is your new name and not your maiden name then the marriage counts as a declaration of name change which means you use your marriage liscense info. In my case, I was married in Hawaii, my SS office where I changed my name was in California and I didn't change my name with SS until a year after my marriage. But apparently I declared my name change on my marriage liscense application (I don't remember doing it btw) So I'm going to use my marriage liscense info (Hawaii location and marriage date). Wish me luck!

I called the US Passport customer service line on behalf of my wife and the representative stated that the place indicated on the certified marriage certificate should be entered for Place of Name Change on the passport renewal form. Although the woman's name at birth, i.e. maiden name, is reflected on the certificate, the husband's surname is also included, so they can use that to confirm the name change on the passport. No additional documentation is needed. My wife is submitting form DS 82 since her current passport was issued over 1 year ago.

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Actually, what John mentioned is incorrect. Your name changes when you get married (if you choose to change your name). That is because the only documents that can be used as legal proof of a name change as an adult are 1) Marriage Certificate, 2) Court Order, or 3) Divorce Decree. All the other paper work and applications you fill out with various agencies (social security administration, DMV, passport agency, banks, etc.) are considered "Notifications of Name Change." Those agencies will deny your name change request unless you have one of the 3 documents listed above.

-->> https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/what-do-i-enter-for-place-and-date-of-name-change-of-form-ds82.html

As a side note - while the marriage certificate is legal proof of a name change, it does not FORCE you to change your name. If you keep using your maiden name and you don't notify any agencies of a name change, then legally your name will remain the same. You could always adopt your husbands last name later (although you might run into some snags if you renew your passport or drivers license in you maiden name after you get married and then try to change it a few years later). Once you take your husbands last name, you cannot change your name again (even to go back to your maiden name) without a court order or divorce decree.

It is true that you should update your name with the Social Security Administration first. This is because other agencies may cross-reference their database to verify that your name matches.

It is also true that you need a certified copy of you marriage certificate. You should be sent one official copy after you get married. You can also request additional copies, usually for a small fee. Here is a useful website if you are wondering how to get additional copies:

-->> https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/index.htm

Also, some states will list your new name on your marriage certificate and some won't. If it's not listed, you will still be able to use it at any government agency as proof of name change since it lists your husbands name. You can only use a marriage certificate to adopt your husbands last name in some way (changing your last name to his, adding his last name after your last name, or replacing your middle name with your maiden name while taking his last name). If you want to change your name in any other way you'll need to get a court order.

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What about the Date of name change part of this question? All of our wedding stuff took place in Texas. We got our marriage license on May 20, 2019, got married June 1, 2019, and filed the marriage license for recording June 3, 2019. No idea if it took place when we got married (our signatures are not on our marriage license for the day of the marriage and my maiden name is printed on the license. In fact, the first time I signed for my name change wasn't until after the social security card change when I changed my driver's license!) or is it when we filed the marriage license for recording?

View Quoted Comment Incorrect. Within a year of the passport being issued it is free. I just did mine. Passport issued October 2018, married June 2019, changed passport January 2020.

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Since your marriage is the event that qualifies you for a legal name change, the "Date of name change" is your marriage date. This is regardless of when you got the license, when it got filed, or when you actually started using the new name.

View Quoted Comment Yes, my county clerk's office confirmed this. Thank you for the response.

From travel.state.gov "If you are requesting the change more than one year after your passport was issued..."

The 1 year deadline is for when your passport was issued, NOT when you got married. Anything after 1 year from the issue date will require a $110 passport book fee.

As for the name change, I think it's dependent on state. I got married in Missouri and my marriage license does not say anything about an "assumed surname." That being said, I do believe that the marriage certificate counts as your proof of name change even though that's not when your name changes legally. John was partially right, but the passport application is pretty clear that your social security card cannot be used for proof of a name change so I believe the date and location listed on the marriage license will be sufficient for form DS-82.

Also from travel.state.gov - "Your original or certified name change document, such as a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order"

I'll be mailing mine in tomorrow so can update you in a few weeks if that's not accurate.

I'm in the process of changing my name and realized I have no idea what my legal signature is anymore. Is it my new one of my old one?? I signed my new name on my passport application but my marriage certificate has my old one. And then when I went to go fill out the check for the payment I put my new one, but now I'm worried the bank won't accept it since I haven't changed i there yet. Anyone have any insights??