Passport Name Change 2026: Which Form Do You Need? (Marriage or Divorce)
You got married, or divorced, and your name changed. Your passport still says the old one, and somewhere in the back of your mind there is a trip you have already booked. The thing that makes this stressful is that the airline ticket has to match the passport, not your new driver’s license and not your marriage certificate. Most people assume this is one form. It is not. There are three different paths, and picking the wrong one gets your whole package mailed back weeks later.
Three forms, and the two dates that decide which one
Open your passport, find the issue date, and put it next to the date your name legally changed. If it has been less than a year since both of those dates, Form DS-5504 may be your path, and it carries no base application fee. Both halves have to be true. If you married before this passport was issued, this is not your form even though the book is new.
If more than a year has passed, you may be eligible for Form DS-82, the renew by mail form. May, because there is a checklist: you have to be able to send in your most recent passport, it has to have been issued within the last 15 years, issued when you were 16 or older, and it cannot be reported lost or stolen or badly damaged. If you cannot meet that list, you are applying in person on Form DS-11. One thing to know before you go looking: you cannot do a name change through the standard online renewal. The online system specifically excludes applications that change personal information like your name. If you are starting from scratch instead of changing a name, our guide to getting a US passport in 2026 covers that path.
What actually counts as proof
On DS-5504 and DS-82 you need an original or certified copy of your marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order. Certified means it came from the office that holds the record and carries a seal plus the signature of the issuing official or judge. It does not have to be raised or embossed, but a photocopy you made yourself does not count. The in-person path works differently: if your name changed by marriage and you already hold valid identification in your new name, you can apply on DS-11 and fill out the marriage details section on page 2 instead of producing the certificate. Two more notes. If you are going back to a previous name after a divorce, the decree has to actually say your name is restored. And you will need a passport photo taken within the last six months.
What it costs and how long it really takes
Form DS-5504 has no base application fee. Form DS-82 is $130 for an adult passport book, or $160 for a book and card together. Form DS-11 is that same $130 plus a separate $35 acceptance facility fee paid where you apply. Expedited service is $60 on any of them. Optional one to three day return delivery of a book is $23.36, and it is not offered on a card only application. Mail-in applications do not take credit cards, so plan on a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order made out to the U.S. Department of State.
On timing, routine processing is currently four to six weeks and expedited is two to three, but those numbers cover the government’s side only. The State Department says to allow up to two weeks for your application to reach them and up to another two weeks for the new passport to come back, so a routine mail-in name change can realistically run eight to ten weeks door to door. On the mail-in paths you send your current passport in with the application, and once you have applied you cannot use that old passport for travel. If your trip is inside 14 calendar days, the State Department runs urgent travel appointments at regional passport agencies. Availability is limited, so check immediately rather than counting on it. If you are working against a holiday departure, our 2026 passport deadline guide lays out the real cutoff dates.
The mistake that actually strands people
The common advice is to leave your passport alone and travel under your current name. That only works if the ticket was booked in that same name. If you already booked the trip under your new married name, the old passport does not match. Customs and Border Protection tells travelers to buy the ticket in the exact name on the passport they are traveling with, so fix the reservation before you go rather than showing up with a marriage certificate and hoping. While you are looking at that passport, check the expiration date too, because some countries require at least six months of validity beyond your travel dates.
Then there is the downstream nobody plans for. When the new passport arrives it has a new number, and your Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI record needs those new details. TSA PreCheck needs the name change too, or you stop getting the benefit. None of it updates itself. Our Global Entry renewal guide walks through keeping that record current.
Download the free step-by-step guide
Our free companion guide puts every form number, fee, deadline, and phone line in one place, plus the pieces we could not fit in the video: the Form DS-60 affidavit route, marriages that took place outside the United States, foreign visas in the old passport, and the order to handle Social Security, the DMV, and the State Department. No email required.
Explore more free walkthroughs on our Free Government Guides page.
