About changes to names and personal details on passports :Cross Stitch – Travel and transport
If you change your name or certain other personal details, the information on your passport will be out of date. Find out what type of changes affect your passport and when you need to get your passport amended.
If you have a passport and intend to use it before it expires, you should get it amended if certain personal details change. You should get your passport amended if you have:
- changed your name – whether by deed poll or through marriage or civil partnership
- had your UK nationality status changed (ie from a British subject to a British citizen)
- altered in appearance so much that you can’t be recognised from the photo in your current passport
- changed gender (through gender reassignment), even if you have not changed your name
When you don’t need to get your passport changed
You don’t need to get your passport amended or notify the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) if you have:
- changed your address, phone number or email address
- changed your job or employment status
- changed marital status (unless you have changed your name too)
- changed your title
- acquired nationality of another country as well as your British nationality
- emigrated
If you recently changed your name or plan to do so in the near future, you’ll have to change the name on your passport. If you don’t, you may be unable to travel abroad.
When you apply to change your name, your current passport will be cancelled and a new standard ten-year passport issued. IPS will credit your passport with extra time (up to a maximum of nine months) to cover any time left on your old passport.
If you have a child on your current passport, they cannot be included on your new passport because of changes to passport rules. You will need to apply for a child passport on their behalf.
Follow the link below on applying for a child passport.
If you wish to change your child’s name on their passport or yours, you should call the Passport Adviceline on 0300 222 0000 for help.
You should think carefully about whether to change the name on your passport before the ceremony or wait until you’ve returned from a foreign trip.
This is because the name on your passport should match the name in which you booked your travel. If the name on your passport does not match the booking:
- some countries may not let you in
- some travel companies may not let you board their flights
This may be the case even if you carry your marriage or civil partnership certificate with you. You should check with your travel agent or the consulate of the country you plan to visit.
IPS can change the name on your passport up to three months before the ceremony. They will cancel your old passport and issue you a new one. But the new passport is ‘postdated’. This means you cannot use it before the day of the ceremony. Some countries will not issue visas for postdated passports. You should check with the consulate of the country concerned.
When you apply to amend your passport, IPS cancels your current passport and issues you a new one. This means that any visas in your current passport may become invalid. You should ask the consulate that issued the visa whether you can use an unexpired visa in a cancelled passport. If not, you will have to reapply for the visa for your new passport.