How to Update the Name on Your Passport After Marriage
Updating the name on your passport depends on how long ago it was issued. DS-5504 is free within a year of issue; DS-82 covers most changes after that.
The short answer
To update the name on your passport, the form you use depends on your current passport’s issue date. Changed your name by marriage or court order less than a year after that passport was issued? File Form DS-5504 by mail, and it’s free. More than a year has passed? File Form DS-82 instead, with the standard renewal fee, as long as it’s still eligible for mail renewal. Either way, you’ll need a certified copy of the marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order, not a photocopy.
Getting married or finalizing a divorce brings a stack of paperwork with it, and a passport that still carries a name you no longer use is easy to put off. It only becomes urgent when a booking confirmation and a passport disagree on what to call you.
The form that applies, and whether it costs anything, comes down to one date: when your current passport was issued. This walks through both paths, what counts as proof, and what else needs the same update once the passport is done.
What you need before you start
- Your current U.S. passport book and/or card
- A certified copy of the document proving the name change: a marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order
- One color passport photo, taken in the last six months
- Your Social Security number
- The DS-5504 or DS-82 form itself, depending on your passport’s issue date
Does it matter how long ago your passport was issued?
Yes, and it’s the only thing that decides which form applies. The State Department draws the line at exactly one year from the date your current passport was issued, not the date you were married or divorced.
Inside that first year, the replacement is free. Outside it, the same name change goes through the standard mail-renewal form instead, with the usual fee attached.
Under a year since issue: Form DS-5504, and it’s free
Form DS-5504 covers a name change reported less than a year after your passport’s issue date, as long as your name legally changed in that same window. It’s filed by mail, with no application fee and no execution fee, though a $60 expedited-service add-on is available if you need it back faster.
Submit the form with your current passport, the certified name-change document, and a color photo. The State Department’s own instructions are specific on one point: an original or certified copy only. A photocopy, even a notarized one, gets the application sent back.
Over a year since issue: Form DS-82 covers most name changes
Form DS-82 is the standard mail-in renewal, and it explicitly allows for a name change by marriage or court order. The rest of its eligibility conditions still have to hold. The applicant was 16 or older when the passport was issued, that passport is less than 15 years old, and it hasn’t been damaged, lost, or stolen.
The certified-document rule is the same as DS-5504. A marriage certificate or court order has to be the original or a certified copy, and it needs to show both the old and new names clearly.
Full details on which passport form applies in every other situation are covered separately, since DS-82 also handles renewals that have nothing to do with a name change at all.
When you still need Form DS-11 in person
If the passport now fails DS-82’s other conditions, issued more than 15 years ago, issued before age 16, or reported lost, stolen, or damaged, a name change doesn’t change that outcome. The application still has to go on Form DS-11, in person, at an acceptance facility, passport agency, or embassy.
That also applies to a first-time applicant who is only now getting a passport under a married or post-divorce name. There’s no prior passport to renew, so DS-11 is the only option regardless of the name-change documentation.
What if you don’t have a marriage certificate or court order?
Some name changes never went through a court or a marriage license, an informal or commonly-used name that was never made legal. In that case, neither DS-5504 nor DS-82’s name-change provision applies, because both require certified proof of a legal change.
The State Department’s alternative is Form DS-60, an affidavit completed by two people who have known the applicant under both names. It supplements the regular application rather than replacing it, and it’s a narrower path than simply presenting a certificate.
Passport name change options compared
| Situation | Form | Typical fee | How it’s filed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name changed, passport under 1 year old | DS-5504 | Free (plus $60 if expedited) | By mail |
| Name changed, passport over 1 year old, otherwise DS-82 eligible | DS-82 | $130 book | By mail |
| Passport over 15 years old, under 16 at issue, or lost/stolen/damaged | DS-11 | $165 first-time adult book | In person |
| No certified marriage certificate or court order | DS-60 affidavit, alongside the applicable form above | No separate fee | With the applicable form |
Fees are the State Department’s published figures, checked against the current fee schedule in September 2026. They change without much notice, so treat the table as current rather than fixed. A full fee breakdown, including the passport card option, is in how much a passport actually costs.
Update these other IDs after your passport
A new passport doesn’t update anything else automatically. Most people handle these in roughly this order:
- Social Security card. File Form SS-5 with an original or certified copy of the same marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order. It’s free, and a new card typically arrives in 10 to 14 business days.
- Driver’s license or REAL ID. Requirements vary by state, and some ask for a certified marriage certificate specifically rather than the marriage license issued before the ceremony. What each state actually asks for is worth checking before a DMV visit.
- Bank and credit accounts. Most require the same certified document, sometimes plus the updated Social Security card first.
- Employer payroll and benefits records, so tax and insurance paperwork matches the new legal name.
What counts as proof differs slightly by agency, even though the underlying document is usually the same one used for the passport.
| Agency | Accepts | Fee | Typical turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | Original or certified marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order | Free | 10-14 business days |
| State Department (passport) | Original or certified marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order | Free within 1 year, standard fee after | 4-6 weeks routine |
| State DMV (driver’s license or REAL ID) | Varies by state; some require the certified marriage certificate specifically, not the marriage license | Varies by state | Varies by state |
Can you still fly on a ticket booked under your old name?
Generally yes, if the mismatch is minor. Airlines and TSA work from the same principle: the name on the boarding pass has to reasonably match the government-issued ID presented at security, not match it character for character. A missing or abbreviated middle name rarely causes a problem on a domestic flight.
A completely different last name is a different situation. That can require the airline to verify the booking, involve a supervisor, or issue a corrected boarding pass at the counter. International itineraries are checked more closely, too, since the airline transmits passenger data to border authorities in advance.
If your legal name changed after you booked, contact the airline as soon as you notice. Many carriers correct a minor mismatch for free, especially well before the travel date.
What happens if you wait too long
Nothing forces an immediate update, and an unexpired passport in an old name remains valid for travel on its own. The trouble shows up at the edges. A booking made in the new name can end up against a passport still in the old one, or a renewal can lapse past the DS-82 window while the change sits unfiled.
Waiting past the one-year DS-5504 window doesn’t block the change, it just moves it to DS-82 and adds the standard fee. Waiting past DS-82’s own 15-year eligibility window is the costlier version: an in-person DS-11 appointment instead of a mail-in renewal.
Your name-change application was rejected or sent back
- Check whether the document was certified. An uncertified photocopy of a marriage certificate or court order is the single most common reason a DS-5504 or DS-82 name change is returned.
- Confirm the one-year window with the passport’s issue date, not the date of the marriage or divorce itself.
- Verify the document shows both names. A certificate that only shows the new name, without the old one, doesn’t establish the change on its own.
- Call the National Passport Information Center at 877-487-2778 if the return notice doesn’t explain the issue, weekdays 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, weekends 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern.
- Refile on the correct form immediately. A second submission on the wrong one adds weeks with nothing resolved.
Frequently asked questions
In short
Which form applies to a passport name change comes down to one date: whether the current passport was issued more than a year ago. Inside that window, DS-5504 handles it for free. Outside it, the same change goes through DS-82 with the standard renewal fee, or DS-11 in person if the passport no longer qualifies for mail renewal at all.
Rules and fees change without much notice. This was checked against the State Department’s published instructions in September 2026. If something here no longer matches what you were told, tell us and we will correct it.
