States Congressional
Getting Engaged? Begin The Process Of A New Passport Name Change
The reasons for changing your name are many. You may do this as a result of a marriage or divorce, and it may also be as a choice regarding a career. No matter what the reason for changing your name, you will want to change all of your legal documents as well. This includes changing your name on your passport. A United States passport name change is simple, but the process will vary depending on how long you have had your passport.
A US passport name change is just one of the legal documents that you will need to change. You will also need to change your licensee and your social security card. When doing this you will need to prove who you are and that you legally changed your name.
It is a good idea to keep copies of these original documents for future purposes. One example of why you might need these is the case of trying getting a drivers license in a new state. In many cases if you move you’ll need to prove who you were in order to obtain a license or ID.
A passport name change can occur different ways. The method that you select will be governed by the time it has been since you obtained your passport and whether you have legal documentation supporting your name change. The period of time that has transpired since you first filed for your passport will also determine whether you owe a fee for a passport name change.
In the case that it has been less than a year since you received your original passport, you may process the name change with a form DS-5504. This form will need to be completely filled out and mailed in to the proper address along with a certified copy of your marriage certificate or decree for a name change. In some cases it may be necessary to provide two recent pictures.
The DS-5504 form can be mailed into the National Passport Processing Center. In this case there is not a fee for processing the passport name change. You will need to mail this form and the proper documentation to PO Box 90107 in 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.
Be sure to provide certified copies of your marriage certificate or name change document. Notarized Photostatted copies are not accepted. If you don’t have the proper paperwork then you will need to acquire it before sending in the paperwork for the name change.
You can typically obtain this information from the clerk’s office for the county court in the county you were married in. The United States passport name change process will typically take three to four weeks. It is possible to try to rush this, but it will require an additional fee. If necessary you can contact your states congressional office to help rush the process.
The pending Commercial Real Estate Collapse and the state of the Economy