Changing the name on your U.S. passport
Which passport form applies when your name changes — DS-5504, DS-82 or DS-11 — decided by when your passport was issued and how old you were. What each costs and what to send.
Which passport form you use depends on two dates: when your current passport was issued, and when your name changed.
Use DS-5504 if your passport was issued less than a year ago and your name changed within a year of that. There is no application fee for this one.
Use DS-82 if your passport was issued in the last 15 years and you were at least 16 when it was issued. This one goes by mail and the renewal fee applies.
Use DS-11 in every other case. It is filed in person at an acceptance facility and carries two fees.
Your current passport goes in the envelope with the application, so do not start this in the weeks before a trip.
What U.S. Department of State requires
| What | Value | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forms | DS-5504 · DS-82 · DS-11 | DS-5504 (official PDF) | |
| Free route | DS-5504 only | DS-5504 (official PDF) | |
| How | By mail, or in person on DS-11 | DS-5504 (official PDF) | |
| Typical wait | Several weeks, routine | DS-5504 (official PDF) | |
| Order | After Social Security | DS-5504 (official PDF) |
DS-5504 — the free one, and the narrow one
DS-5504 exists for a passport that has only just been issued. Both conditions must hold: the passport was issued less than a year ago, and the name changed within a year of that issue date.
There is no application fee unless you ask for expedited service.
Complete it in black ink. Do not correct or white out — start a new form if you make a mistake.
DS-82 — renewal by mail
DS-82 is the mail-in route and every condition has to hold, including the one people miss: you must have been at least 16 years old when the passport you are sending in was issued.
The passport must also have been issued within the last 15 years, and you must be able to send it in undamaged.
Enclose the certified name-change document. A photocopy is not accepted, and the certified copy is returned to you.
DS-11 — in person
DS-11 is the form when nothing else fits, and it is accepted in every case.
Do not sign it in advance. You sign in front of the authorized agent at the acceptance facility.
Two fees apply: the application fee to the State Department, and a separate execution fee paid to the acceptance facility.
What people forget afterward
TSA PreCheck and Global Entry are not updated for you. Once the new passport arrives, update those separately.
Airline loyalty accounts hold a name that must match the passenger name on the ticket. Those are separate updates too.
Straight to the source
- DS-5504 (official PDF)
- DS-82 (official PDF)
- DS-11 (official PDF)
- Change or correct a passport — State Department
- Current passport fees
Checked .
This one does not differ by state
Passport processing is federal and identical in all fifty-one jurisdictions. A per-state passport page would be this page with a state name typed into it, which is the definition of a page that should not exist.
The forms above are free. Doing it everywhere else is the work.
You can do all of this yourself with the links on this page — every underlying form is free. What we sell is the evening back: the official forms filled in from your answers, the steps in the order that works, and a written letter for every bank, employer and insurer you have to tell.
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