Changing my last name

Hi Guys and Gals,

So I've been married now for a little over 6 months and happily residing in London with my husband. We've come a long way to be right where we are now, (fiancee visa application, marriage, spousal visa, etc. etc.) and now I'm wondering if anyone can help me on my next step.

I'm wanting to change my last name to my husbands name, the thing is, I don't know how to go about doing it. I've read that I can do it by sending an application along with my passport to the U.S. embassy but I can't seem to find any answers on whether or not that would change my name 100% or just on my passport. I want it to be my legal name both here in the UK and in the US.

I know also once my name changes on the passport it will need to change on my residency card, but one step at a time.

Can anyone give me advice on how to complete this process thoroughly?

Thanks alot!! 

Hi Guys and Gals,

So I've been married now for a little over 6 months and happily residing in London with my husband. We've come a long way to be right where we are now, (fiancee visa application, marriage, spousal visa, etc. etc.) and now I'm wondering if anyone can help me on my next step.

I'm wanting to change my last name to my husbands name, the thing is, I don't know how to go about doing it. I've read that I can do it by sending an application along with my passport to the U.S. embassy but I can't seem to find any answers on whether or not that would change my name 100% or just on my passport. I want it to be my legal name both here in the UK and in the US.

I know also once my name changes on the passport it will need to change on my residency card, but one step at a time.

Can anyone give me advice on how to complete this process thoroughly?

Thanks alot!! 

Did you not change it on your marriage license?

I am getting married in a few weeks and here is my plan (I am also changing my first and middle names, just because I love to be complicated):

I will change my last name to his last name on the marriage license.

THEN I will do a deed poll in the UK to change my first and middle names. This must be witnessed by a solicitor (found that somewhere on the embassy webpage. Will look for more info on that tomorrow).

Then I will get a new passport.

Then a new BRP. I reckon the total time for all this will be at least 6 months... and cost a couple hundred pounds.

Then I will worry about things like SSN...

It doesn't need to be anywhere near as complicated as all that.

To start using your new name officially in the UK:

- Just start using your new name. Contact your bank/utility companies/store cards/anything else with your old name on and ask to change it. That's all you need to do.

You do NOT need to change your name on your passport unless you are desperate to, as it can be a hassle to do it. There is no issue at all with keeping your passport and visa in your maiden name, but using your married name officially for everything else. You just need to make sure you book any travel in the name on your passport, and if you need to show ID for other things with your married name on, just show your passport plus marriage certificate.

If you do wish to change your name in your passport, it would have been best to do it BEFORE you applied for your FLR(M) visa, because if you change it now, you will be required to change in on the BRP within 3 months (or you can be fined £1,000)... and it will cost you £107 and you will be without your passport and visa for a few weeks while it is processing.

So, if you would prefer not to do that, just wait until just before your next visa application to change it in your passport, so your visa is automatically issued in the new name and you don't have to worry about changing your BRP.

Not sure what you need to do about changing your name in the US though (i.e. on your SS card etc.).

Not that she needs confirmation, but ksand is 100% correct.

I've been married nearly 2 years now in the UK and all my US stuff is still in my maiden name (including passport and BRP) and most (but not all) of my UK stuff is in my married name.

I had no problems changing my name with bank, doctor and utilities when I got married - I just had to go around with my passport (maiden name) and marriage certificate (to show my married name) or send in copies but most of the time, it was just informing them that I'd gotten married and wanted to change my name.

Easy peasy.

I'm saving my US name change stuff for a trip home but I'll probably wait until after I get UK citizenship this time next year. I'm not in a rush for that. I imagine it will be a bit of a hassle and would rather do it all at once (SS number, bank, driving license, student loans... yikes).

My (US) passport is still in my maiden name so I book travel in that name and I've had no problems.

Not that she needs confirmation, but ksand is 100% correct.

I've been married nearly 2 years now in the UK and all my US stuff is still in my maiden name (including passport and BRP) and most (but not all) of my UK stuff is in my married name.

I had no problems changing my name with bank, doctor and utilities when I got married - I just had to go around with my passport (maiden name) and marriage certificate (to show my married name) or send in copies but most of the time, it was just informing them that I'd gotten married and wanted to change my name.

Easy peasy.

I'm saving my US name change stuff for a trip home but I'll probably wait until after I get UK citizenship this time next year. I'm not in a rush for that. I imagine it will be a bit of a hassle and would rather do it all at once (SS number, bank, driving license, student loans... yikes).

My (US) passport is still in my maiden name so I book travel in that name and I've had no problems.

No it doesn't NEED to be as complicated as my plan, but I have been wanting to change my first and middle names anyway for the past 15/20 years (since I was a kid anyway). I have never been called my first name and I am really sick of having to use my first name for all thing legal. So I am determined to change them all in one go, but that suits my situation.

So my name will go from:
First name Middle name Surname

to:

Middle name Surname Married name

Oh and here is the link about deed poll from the embassy site:
http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/acs/passports/amendindex.html

Thanks for all your replies.

The thing is, I do have my husbands name on my marriage certificate but I mean when it comes to official things, like work, banks, NIN here in the UK, I have to use what's on my passport, not what's on my marriage certificate.

I know about the deed poll, but I wasn't 100% sure if I could apply for that to change my name all the way (if that makes sense).

I don't mind sending in my passport and BRP for the changes, or spending the money on it. It's worth it if I can officially call myself by his name.

Also, for ssn, do I need to be in the US to apply to change my name on that?
I don't have anything else there, except my drivers licence, but that's due to expire in a couple years any way and I'm really not all that bothered about it.

I did the passport and brp change after I got married (more specifically after I got a job so it was affordable) and it was a hassle but definitely possible. First step was do a normal passport renewal through the Embassy and fill the application in with my new name and send the marriage certificate with it. Then I did the BRP which took a few weeks but wasn't as bad as I feared really (though if you've got the money to spare you can pay extra to do in person now).

You won't need a deed poll, just the marriage certificate.

Regarding SSN, it's next on my list so I haven't actually done it yet...but if you go to http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/faqs/faq_fbu_ssn.html and scroll down to number 6 for instructions on that. I've been debating if it was better to do this or wait until my text trip home.

The only other thing I have to do is a bank account back home and my student loans...my bank said it's easier to just change with them next time I'm home and I was waiting for student loans til I did SSN as those are tied together.

The thing is, I do have my husbands name on my marriage certificate but I mean when it comes to official things, like work, banks, NIN here in the UK, I have to use what's on my passport, not what's on my marriage certificate.

Why do you have to use what's on your passport? I don't think anyone here on the forum has had any issues with changing their name without changing their passport before.

Normally, you just have to show your marriage certificate along with your passport as proof of your new name.

I know about the deed poll, but I wasn't 100% sure if I could apply for that to change my name all the way (if that makes sense).

No, there is no need to change your name by deed poll at all.

As I said, just start using the new name.

physicskate will be doing it because she wants to change her other names as well, but for something as simple as just going from maiden to married name, there is no need to use deed poll.

I don't mind sending in my passport and BRP for the changes, or spending the money on it. It's worth it if I can officially call myself by his name.

If you're happy to do it, that's fine (it used to take at least 4 months for processing which is why most people didn't bother). I'm just saying that it's not necessary.

You can officially call yourself by his name whether you change it on your passport or not.

I have bank accounts in my married name as well as utilities, NIN, NHS, drivers license, insurance etc etc.  All I have ever done is to show my passport and marriage certificate if needed.  I don't plan on changing my name on my passport until I get to citizenship.  It's never ever been a problem with anyone.  I have opened 5 different bank accounts and have never had anyone question the use of my marriage certificate.  Oh, and I've been married twice since I got my passport. 

For those who said you don't need to bother changing your passport, IIRC that applies only to strictly marriage-based (maiden to married, or vice-versa if divorcing) name changes. If you're changing your name by deed poll (in the UK) or a court-ordered name change (in the US) then you must update all your IDs (like what physicskate is planning on doing).

A married surname is like an "assumed" name in that you don't have to change everything over if you don't want to, while changing your name legally or by deed poll changes it at the root and you no longer have the right to revert back to your former name without going through the process again. (In the US, in many states, you can even get an amended birth certificate reflecting the new name when legally changing it - this is frequently done with adoptions and transgender people. The old name may or may not be visible depending on the state's rules and the circumstances of the name change.)

I changed my US passport by hyphenating the maiden name and my married name before the settlement applications were submitted. I had no trouble changing my name with the US Dept of State and submitted a certified copy of my marriage license along with the name change form. There was no cost involved because I renewed my passport just two months earlier.

Kind regards,

Freespirit02