If you've had your name changed because of a court order or if
you're a woman who has recently been married, then you will need to have
a passport name change. What is a passport name change? This is
basically just a procedure you need to go through to have the name in
your passport changed from your former to your new one. You have several
options of going about this, which will depend on the date when your
passport was issued, and the presence of legal documents that prove your
name change. We'll talk about them more in this article.
Before
anything else, you need to check when your passport was issued. The
reason for this is that people whose passports we issued within one year
follow a different procedure from those whose passports are more than a
year old. To check when your passport was issued, all you need to do is
look for it in your passport which is indicated along with your
personal information.
Now, onto the first option. If your passport
was issued within one year, here are the requirements you need to
fulfill: present your current and valid passport, two recent color
passport photos, as well as the legal documents that prove your name
change. These will either be a court order or a marriage certificate,
depending on what's applicable to you. Then finally, you also have to
accomplish Form DS-5504, the form you fill in when applying for a
passport name change.
You won't have to pay any fees when going
through this type of application. This is unless you choose to have your
application expedited, which does come with a fee. An expedited
passport application is the option you need if you want to cut the
processing time of your passport from four to six weeks to just two to
three.
Meanwhile, if your passport was issued more than a year
ago, then you will submit a slightly different set of documents. In this
procedure, you will submit: your current and valid passport, two recent
color passport photos, documents that prove your name change (i.e. your
marriage contract or a court order). These are basically the same
documents you submit in the previous option.
However, instead of
the DS-5504, you will submit form DS-82. This is the form that you use
when applying for a passport application by mail. Also, you will need to
pay the applicable fees to have your passport processed.
There
are times when those applying for a passport name change don't have the
legal documents to prove it. If you're in a similar situation, you'll
need to submit a different set of requirements: your current and valid
passport, two recent color passport photos, the completed Form DS-11,
and pay the applicable fees. In place of the legal document normally
required, you will need to submit three public records with your date
and place of birth and that indicates the exclusive use of your new name
for at least five years. You will then have to submit these
requirements in person once you accomplish them.
When applying for a passport name change,
the ones we discussed above are the options available to you. Just make
sure you are aware of the considerations you need such as the date when
your passport
was issued, and the legal documents that show your name has changed.
Once you have determined them, you'll then know what kind of option you
have to choose.
