Did You Know That You Could Request A Passport Name Change?

There are instances where an individual must alter their name on their existing passport. The most frequent of these is due to marriage, but there are the occasions where an individual has legally had their name changed by court order and must update their passport to reflect this. A American passport name change is not that difficult to accomplish and can be done either by the individual or through a passport service provider.

Whichever way an individual decides to go, there are necessary steps that cannot be missed. First, an individual must produce a court document that authenticates that there was a legal name change and the exact date the signing. A person can send in an original or certified copy of a marriage license or court document that reflects the name change.

Many people do not like to send in the originals to affect these changes, which makes using the certified copies a more viable option. These can be obtained from the court records office where either the marriage or name change ruling took place. They are usually relatively inexpensive and can give the passport holder some peace of mind when submitting the documentation.

A passport name change necessitates sending in the DS-5504 document to the service provider or Department of State. This application is for people who have a valid U.S. passport in their possession, but need to make some changes. Individuals can look on the Internet, find the form and download it. The forms must then be completed in their entirety before they are sealed and mailed to the service provider.

As this is applying for a completely new passport, photos will be necessary to accompany the paperwork. These should be done by a professional that understands all the requirements for passport photos. The only other thing to remember is that there will need to be two of them and they must be identical.

Be sure to choose a traceable mail service like FedEx or UPS when sending the paperwork and old passport in. These are highly sensitive documents containing personal information and every precaution should be taken with them. This will allow not only the passport holder to track their package but also the service provider or passport agency.

While the government does not charge extra money for this service, it can take up to two months to complete. There is a rush service available for an additional $60.00, and this 'rush service' still takes a month to go through. Many private passport services can help speed this process along when they cut through all of the red tape for a modest charge.

The U S passport name change procedure is relatively painless no matter which method is chosen. The real question being is how quickly this needs to happen for the American passport holder. For those that need a more immediate response than the standard time period, the private service providers make the better choice all the way around.