Passport Information for Newly Married Ladies

[EggDropErin]

I have seen some conflicting information on here about this subject, so I thought I would post information from my own experience.

 

Less than one year ago, I got married and changed my name. Due to the fact that I am going on a cruise in January, I needed to change the name on my passport. You can do it for no charge as long as it's been less than 1 year since your passport was issued. There is a form online at http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds5504/ds5504_2663.html that you must fill out and submit your old passport, 2 new passport pictures, and a certified copy of your marriage license along with it.

 

I am trying to remember the dates as close as I can as I have the mail receipt at home, but this is a very close if not right on guess of the dates...

 

I mailed my passport information on October 19. I sent it priority mail with delivery confirmation just to make sure that I had a record of it being sent. On October 24, the package was received and signed for according to USPS. Then the waiting game began.

 

Last week, I called the 800 to check the status of my no-fee passport application. I wanted to make sure they had received it and were processing it. I didn't expect it to be done. The woman that I talked to said that they only had a record of my original passport and that they had not received anything from me since then. She asked me when I had mailed everything, and I stated that it had been nearly a month previously. The woman said that they should have received it by then and they should have a record of it. She then began to stammer and didn't know what to tell me. She told me to call back tomorrow. Maybe they'd have it then.

 

Well, I waited until Monday of this week to call back. I was pretty nervous. I am pleased to say that I got good news. My passport was mailed out this past Tuesday, and I had it on Thursday (yesterday). Thank goodness! I got a completely new passport along with my old passport. The old passport had wholes punched in it and they stamped it on the inside voiding it.

 

I was surprised that I received it in about a month. Pleasantly so.

 

Other experiences may very, but that was my very recent experience.

[wrp96]

Erin, do you mean August instead of October?

[MCManders99]

I had to get my passport changed after I got married last year. I never had to send in new pics. I just sent them my passport and marriage certificate and they certified it with a stamp on the back page. I got my passport in Nov 04 and had it changed in June 05 right after my wedding in May. I didnt have to pay anything either. This must be new.

[Happy ks]

Erin, do you mean August instead of October?

 

Must be, I read her post twice and checked the original date, thinking it may have been from 2005 ;) . Then I thought, no, she meant September, then I looked at my calendar and th 24th isn't until this Sunday :) .

 

Erin, is there something big happening in October!?!

[EggDropErin]

LOL Oops! I am home now, so I have my receipt. Mailed them on 9/23, and they were signed for on 9/29. Received them this past Wednesday. Sorry...when I'm on here from work I have to try to type inbetween answering phone calls. I'm an operator and we answer over 5000 calls per day...so I bet I've posted some interesting stuff inbetween calls. :D

[Happy ks]

Erin, you are too funny :D

 

TODAY is 9/23 ;)

[EggDropErin]

Erin, you are too funny :D

 

TODAY is 9/23 ;)

 

Ack! Must have been 8/23. LOL Again, I'm at work. Sheesh. Really, I'm not normally this bad....I hope!

[mlbcruiser]

Thank you for this very informative post! My dd was married in May of '05 and until recently couldn't find her passport. Due to the new requirements I had urged her to look for it because she and her husband are planning a trip to the Bahamas in a few months and it didn't even cross my mind that her name had changed and it might be an issue! I have sent your post to her. Thanks for putting out the word !

[EggDropErin]

You're welcome. I had always wondered exactly what the process was myself.

[srafnel]

To chime in a little late on this one:

 

I cruised for my honeymoon in May of last year...ladies...keep your maiden name on all your cruise documents/passport, etc. They will still push the beds together for you ;)

 

Changing the name on my passport was fairly easy. I had mine since 2000, so I had to mail away new photos, marriage license, and my old passport and pay a $76 (? I may be a bit off...) fee for a reissue. I had it back in about 2 months (my cruise is in 29 days!).

 

For what its worth, I live in DC, the passport was issued by the State Department (about a mile from my apartment) and I still had to mail the thing to Pennsylvania!

[EggDropErin]

 

 

 

For what its worth, I live in DC, the passport was issued by the State Department (about a mile from my apartment) and I still had to mail the thing to Pennsylvania!

 

Funny how that works, isn't it!