Changing Your Name on a US Passport After Marriage: Which Form, and When It Is Free

Marriage is the most common reason to change a name on a US passport. The Israeli Interior Ministry updates your ID, but the US passport doesn't update itself, and until you update it, it stays in the old name. The right form depends on one question: how long ago the passport was issued.

Less than a year: Form DS-5504, no fee

If the passport was issued less than a year ago, and the name changed less than a year after it was issued, you file Form DS-5504. There is no fee for this service, and you receive a new passport in the new name for the full validity period. That's why families who renew a passport before a wedding come out ahead: the change afterward is almost free.

More than a year: a regular renewal with the new name

If more than a year has passed, the change is made as part of a regular renewal. Anyone who meets the conditions for renewal by mail files Form DS-82 and pays the regular renewal fee ⁦($130 for an adult)⁩. Anyone who doesn't, for example because the passport is too old or damaged, files a DS-11 in person. Either way, you attach the document proving the name change.

The document that proves the change

• A certified copy of the marriage certificate, with the seal and signature of the issuing authority
• A certificate that isn't in English, such as a rabbinate marriage certificate, needs a certified English translation
• Your current US passport, sent with the application and returned separately
• A current passport photo

Before rushing: should you change it at all

There's no obligation to update the name on your US passport. If you prefer, you can keep the previous name until the next renewal. What really matters is consistency: the plane ticket has to be in exactly the name on the passport you're flying to the US with, and a US citizen must enter and leave the US on her US passport. Booking a flight in the new name while the passport still has the old one can leave you stuck at the counter.

And the children

A parent's name change doesn't require changing anything on the children's passports. But on the next passport application for a child, the parent's name has to match the documents submitted, so it's worth keeping a certified copy of the marriage certificate within reach.

How we help

We check which form fits your dates, arrange the certified translation of the marriage certificate, fill in the application and make sure the name matches across every document. If there's a flight coming up, we'll tell you in advance which name to book it in. An initial check with no commitment.