What Is Name Change and Passport Renewal All About?

Has your name changed and a passport renewal application is what you need? Perhaps you need to change the name in your passport after a divorce? Or have you changed your name after marriage? We’ve got you covered.

In this blog post, you’ll learn all about a name change and renew passport successfully after that. Find out if you need to change the name in your passport after a gender change, for example, and what form is needed to change your name on a passport.

Name changes and passport renewals

A passport is supposed to be the best way of identification, containing accurate, up-to-date information, along with current passport photos and other details useful while you travel internationally.

When you consider that an alteration to your face may result in the need for a new passport photo, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that a name change will require swapping your current passport for a newer one as well. 

Unless you plan on staying in the U.S. and don’t foresee any situation in which a passport book might come in handy, remember about the passport renewal. In fact, even if your future involves staying in the country, you might seriously consider taking care of your passport just in case. It pays to be prepared, right?

Consider your children as well, since should their name change for whatever reason, the same rules apply to them. Perhaps your name changed after getting married and your children wish to change theirs too? Or maybe the opposite, the name changed after a divorce and youngsters under your care want to share it with you?

In both cases, minors will be required to take the same path you took in the process of name changing and acquiring new passports.

Passport renewal with a name change – fees included

If you have renewed a passport before, but must know that for the application process to get rolling you need to cover passport fees. The cost of a name change passport is something you should take a quick look at before applying.

There is a certain dynamism to them, but one thing that remains the same is that a number of them are obligatory.

Acquiring a valid passport will indeed demand a payment that can prove quite costly.

• $130 – application fee (adults)
• $100 – application fee (minors)
• $30 – passport card issuance (adults)
• $15 – passport card issuance (minors)
• $35 – execution fee
• $60 – expedited service costs

Bear in mind, that if your name has changed you might need to apply for a new passport card as well. It can be just as useful as a passport book when traveling abroad to certain countries, like Canada or Mexico. Consider the whole potential cost of a name change on a passport.

Please, also be advised that when submitting the application in person, you will be charged with additional fees, namely the execution fee.

What you absolutely need to know, however, is that there is a precedent for a passport renewal that involves no payment at all.

Should you request a corrected passport no longer than a year after your most recent passport was issued, the acceptance facility staff will attend to you free of charge. Thus, the cost of a name change on passports is non-existent. Instead, you will be asked to provide a valid name change document. In the next section, you will learn about documents needed for a name change passport that are acceptable. 

All the remaining information regarding passport fees in the year 2023 is available online. You can visit our site and familiarize yourself with the financial aspect of passport applications.

Passport renewal with a name change – forms required

Now that you know how much you’ll have to pay for the incoming passport renewal, we can move forward to another matter of significant importance – documents needed to change the name on a passport, starting with the correct form.

The first step on every passport’s journey is finding the right application form and in your case, when you’re correcting information due to a name change, you need to pick the right one.

Form DS-82

Perhaps the one you’re most familiar with, Form DS-82 is considered the most convenient of them all. It’s the correct way to do a name change on a passport. It allows an applicant to pack everything required for the name change passport renewal in one mailing envelope and send it down to the National Passport Processing Center via USPS.

You can check here to see if you’re eligible to use it.

Form DS-11

Another document you might be familiar with, Form DS-11, also known as the U.S. passport application form. It applies to those American citizens who are on their way to issuing their first passport ever. Using this particular form is how to change the name on a passport in person.

It is also used at the acceptance facilities when the applicants appear in person or when the individual requesting to have their passport corrected has no original documents to prove their name change.

Its functionality remains identical to DS-82 for all intents and purposes, as it allows issuance of a passport book as well as a passport card, with the difference being the additional cost of $35, regardless of the expiration date of the submitted passport.

Form DS-5504

What sets the two forms we’ve mentioned a second ago apart from Form DS-5504 are the passport fees. To specify, this form applies to individuals who visit the passport agency or center to correct information in their passports after it was issued less than a year ago.

The routine service in this instance revolves around the key piece of information – when was their current passport issued. If it happened less than a year ago, there are no fees involved in the application. You might decide to pay either way, should you wish for the new passport’s arrival sooner.

You might also in interested:

DS-82 Passport Form

Expedited US Passport Renewal

Documents needed to change the name on a passport

Now that you’ve figured out which form applies to you, you need to collect other items to identify yourself before the clerk at the passport facility of your choice. There are a number of documents required for a name change in passport, as you’ll soon find out.

1. Should you have any previous experience with passport applications, you are aware that the first step is to prove your citizenship. Naturally, your passport book is the most obvious choice of all required documents and it even needn’t remain valid, mind you. As a side note, a birth certificate, original or a certified copy, will do as well.

Keep in mind that when submitting Form DS-11, a photocopy of your U.S. citizenship evidence is required as well. In that case, remember about the front and backside of your passport book.

The same form will also require another ID and a photocopy of it, so don’t forget about this detail. You can use your driver’s license or a passport card.

2. Another one of the supporting documents required for a name change in passport is a single passport photo, compliant with the rules established by the government of the United States.

Be certain that the passport photo is valid and ready for approval and placement on a legal document.

Once you’ve compiled these documents required for a name change in passport, you should move to the next step, which is locating additional papers.

The name change evidence requirements

To renew your passport, both in person and through the postal facilities, you must provide various items to complete the application. In this instance, when the applicant needs correction and a new passport with a changed name, that includes the original or certified copy of a name change document.

Remember about this requirement and be certain you have an appropriate paper in your possession. It remains a key component in the name change renewal process.

Circumstances resulting in name change

The procedure of the name change is something that is often begun as a result of different circumstances, like a change in marital status. 

Even though the essence of the renewal application remains the same, there are different papers documenting and justifying the name change. Some are more versatile while others only refer and apply to one situation and no other, like the proof of marriage. Below you’ll find each of the circumstances discussed more in depth, along with the documentation involved in the renewal process.

Name change passport renewal after a marriage

One of the instances, when you might change your name is marriage. After all, it is common knowledge that one of the newlyweds assumes the name of the other or combines the names into a hyphenated form. This, of course, requires a new passport.

Once you have the marriage certificate, you’re all good. That document alone is enough as your name change evidence and it will allow you to renew your passport.

Be aware that you can also submit a certified copy of the marriage license or a certificate and it will be accepted as well.

The bottom line is that a passport name change will require a marriage certificate.

Name change renewal after a divorce

While we’re talking about name change documents, we must also remind you that divorces too can result in such a switch, as someone might decide to revert to their original, maiden name, for example. Passport name change after a divorce isn’t unheard of and it will require renewal.

Once you arm yourself with the divorce decree and the name change decree, you’re ready to head to the nearest passport office and start the renewal proceedings. As long as what you’ve brought classifies as a legal name change document, the application will be accepted.

Name change renewal after a gender transition

Not every reason for a name change has to be due to marriage and a good example are individuals who transitioned into another gender. Once the legal proceedings related to gender and name change are completed you can apply for a passport renewal. Just be aware that changing the gender on your passport requires Form DS-11, which means you’ll be doing it in person.

Be certain to bring the gender change decree to the scheduled meeting, along with other items confirming your new name. Like other name change acceptable documents, you can decide to bring the original or a certified copy. The clerks at the regional agency and other facilities offering passport services will honor a proper copy as well.

Name change renewal after legal name alteration

We must also consider people who change their name not because of marriage or divorce proceedings, but because they simply choose to. After all, such a thing is by means a fully legal affair.

To give you an example, perhaps a U.S. citizen wishes to change their Polish name’s spelling to avoid pronunciation errors. In such a case, once the name change has been finalized, now’s the time for a passport renewal.

To be able to conclude the application you must bring the name change decree along with everything else needed for the renewal, like the soon-to-be old passport. In this instance you’re not required to present any other form of evidence, as what we’ve already listed will be deemed fully acceptable.

Name change and passport renewal application 

As you can see, what follows a name change is a passport renewal, so should yours change, you know exactly what to do.

Prepare your marriage certificate, divorce decree, or a name change decree and head to the nearest passport office. You can change the name on a passport at a post office too.

Then just remember to show your valid documents to the clerk or send everything required and you’re all set.

FAQ