First UK Passport and Name Change

You guys!! I’m a Brit!  The ceremony yesterday was lovely. It’s hard to believe this stressful and long and expensive road is almost over. Thank you for alllll your support over the years. I couldn’t have done it without you!

Obviously the next (and last, thank heavens) step is my UK passport. Eventually I want everything in my married name, but currently my US passport and naturalization certificate are in my maiden name. What’s the cheapest and most painless way to go about it?

Is it possible to renew my US passport in my married name and then apply for my first UK passport in my married name as well?

Congratulations !

What’s the cheapest and most painless way to go about it?

Is it possible to renew my US passport in my married name and then apply for my first UK passport in my married name as well?

I believe your first UK passport can only be issued in the name on both your citizenship certificate and US passport so you will need to use your maiden name for this.

Once you have a UK passport in your maiden name, you can then change the name on both your US and UK passports.

So, you will need to:
- apply for UK passport in maiden name (£75.50 online, or £85 for the paper form, or £94.75 for paper form plus the Post Office check and send service)
- change your name on your US passport (£91)
- change your name on the UK passport (£75.50 online)

Congratulations! 

 Thanks ksand & larrabee!! 

Congratulations !

I believe your first UK passport can only be issued in the name on both your citizenship certificate and US passport so you will need to use your maiden name for this.

Once you have a UK passport in your maiden name, you can then change the name on both your US and UK passports.

So, you will need to:
- apply for UK passport in maiden name (£75.50 online, or £85 for the paper form, or £94.75 for paper form plus the Post Office check and send service)
- change your name on your US passport (£91)
- change your name on the UK passport (£75.50 online)

Excellent. That’s what I’ll do. Especially since I just found out our flights for the summer are booked in my maiden name!

(Going through the application online, however, it seems like it might be possible in my married name? It asks if the name on the naturalisation certificate is my current name, and gives the option to submit previous names...then I assume you would send in the passport entered on and the current foreign passport. It seems like the main restriction is that the UK won’t issue a passport in a name that doesn’t match foreign passports except in special circumstances. It would be interesting for someone to try...but I’ll go the safe route! Haha.)

Thanks ksand & larrabee!! 

Excellent. That’s what I’ll do. Especially since I just found out our flights for the summer are booked in my maiden name!

(Going through the application online, however, it seems like it might be possible in my married name? It asks if the name on the naturalisation certificate is my current name, and gives the option to submit previous names...then I assume you would send in the passport entered on and the current foreign passport. It seems like the main restriction is that the UK won’t issue a passport in a name that doesn’t match foreign passports except in special circumstances. It would be interesting for someone to try...but I’ll go the safe route! Haha.)

Yeah, I believe the name on your passport MUST match the names on the documentation you provide... which for you will be both your naturalisation certificate and your US passport, which themselves must match each other too (so you can't have the naturalisation certificate in one name and your US passport in the other name).

It used to be that you could chose which name you wanted for your naturalisation, so you could have your US passport in your maiden name but have your citizenship issued in your married name, and then just apply for your UK passport in the married name. However, they changed the rules a couple of years ago and now you can only get your citizenship issued in the name on your US passport and BRP, and therefore you can only get your UK passport issued in that name as well.

The only way to get around that is to change your name in your passport before you apply for ILR, so that both your passport and BRP are issue in your married name, and then you can just apply for citizenship and your UK passport in your married name too.