People change their names for various reasons. Some of them may be personal, while others are a result of a change in marital status. When you change your name you will be required to change your legal documents also. This includes a passport name change and other documents. This name change can be simple and may not cost you anything, based on the length of time since you first obtained your passport.
A passport name change and a name change on your license and other legal documents are required by law. These changes will include your social security card and state identification. It will be necessary to prove that your name has been changed and what your name was originally.
You do not, however, want to get rid of your old documents. You may need these at a later time, such as processing a license in another state if you relocate. Several states make it necessary to provide documentation of your previous name when applying for a license in that state.
There are a few different ways that a passport name change can occur. Which method you will need will be based on the time period that has elapsed since you originally obtained your passport. The length of this time period affects the fee required for the passport name change.
If it has been less than a year since you first received your passport, you will not need to pay a fee and the application you need will be different than if you have had your passport for a longer period of time. The proper form in this case is the DS-5504 form. This form will need to completely filled out and mailed in. You may also be required to provide two photos that are recent and meet passport specifications.
If it has been less than a year since you obtained your original passport then there will not be a fee for processing your passport name change. This information and documentation needs to be addressed to the National Passport Processing Center, Post Office Box 90107, Philadelphia, PA, 19190-0107.
If you have had your passport in excess of a year, then you will need to handle your passport name change in a different manner. DS-82 is the correct form for this process. This form will require a fee and also two recent and correctly sized color pictures. This form gets mailed to the address indicated on the application.
It is absolutely necessary that your documents be certified copies, not notarized photocopies. If they are not certified copies they will not be accepted and you will have to do the process over again. You may need to acquire your documents, such as your marriage certificate, before submitting the necessary paper work.
In the case that you do not have this documentation, you can obtain your documents at the county clerk’s office in the county where you were married. Keep in mind that the typical processing period for a U S passport name change is 3 to 4 weeks. It you need this sooner you can pay a fee to speed it up a week or so. You may also contact the Congressional office in your state to get the us passport process expedited.