Step-by-Step Guide to Changing your Name Post-Marriage
Step 1 - Social Security
Print out and complete form SS-5 for a name change.
Take this form and an approved form of identification (my Texas drivers license was sufficient) and name change (marriage license) to your local social security office. Check if any are taking appointments. At this time, those in the Austin-area are not. I drove by the North location at 8:05am on a Friday. They open at 9am. There were ~55 people in line already. I just kept driving. A friend had been there the week before and it took her six hours. No thank you. A bit later in the morning, I tried the Oak Hill location and was relieved to see there were only nine people lined up outside. It took me 1:45 total there to get in and get out. An hour of that was inside. The outside wait at Oak Hill is on a shaded sidewalk - far better than the North location that provided little to no shade. My visit to the SSA was Friday, August 12, and my new card came in the mail Monday, August 22.
One friend said she mailed her documents (sent passport instead of drivers license) to the San Marcos SSA office and received everything back and updated in 2-3 weeks. So, this is always an option. I do not fully trust our mail these days and wanted to reduce the number of times I put important documents in the mail. Turns out too that had I done it this way, I would have had to wait longer to do my drivers license as I would have been without my marriage license until they sent it back.
TL;DR: Items needed: drivers license, marriage license, form SS-5. Take to any social security office to initiate name change. New card will arrive by mail in 1-2 weeks.
Step 2 - Texas Drivers License
I was originally under the impression that I needed my new social security card in hand to change the name on my drivers license. Then I stumbled on a tidbit of info that I really just needed to wait ~48 business hours or so for my information to be updated in the SSA database after visiting the social security office. You can check if your information is updated by logging into your my Social Security account.
Getting an appointment at a DPS office may be a bit difficult. Had I known what I know now, I would have scheduled one several weeks ahead of time and let that be my deadline for getting to the social security office. You sign up for an appointment here, and can go to any location in Texas. When going through the online appointment sign up, it will make you think you can make your change online and not have to schedule an appointment, but this isn't true. Just say "yes I want to come in person anyway" when it asks you something along those lines.
I originally scheduled an appointment at the N. Lamar location for late September - that was the earliest available when I looked on August 12. I dug a bit more and was able to get an appointment in Marble Falls for August 26. Online, it says that you can go to a location first thing in the morning and see if you can grab an earlier (i.e. same or next day appointment). I had a friend who was able to do this, so I thought I could too. Thursday, August 18 I went to the N. Lamar location around 8:30am (they open at 8:00am) and was told to look on the check-in computer to see if I could get an earlier appointment. Soonest offered was late September. So, that was another wasted hour (add it to the hour I spent doing the SSA office drive-by).
As my passport was really my biggest factor in my process, I was motivated to get the drivers license taken care of ASAP. I needed my marriage license for the drivers license, but also needed to mail it in for a new passport. So, drivers license obviously had to come first. After my failed attempt at the N. Lamar location, I hunted a fair bit in the area for sooner appointments. I was able to find one in Lockhart that afternoon. It was a 45 minute drive and would have been a ten minute appointment had I known I needed to have a form filled out to get helped. All in all, my trip was less than two hours and totally worth it.
They cut the corner of my current license and returned it to me while also giving me a paper temporary paper license. My new license arrived the following Friday (eight days later). NOTE: They take a new picture. I had just renewed my license in the last year or two so was hoping that wasn't the case. Alas, my new picture is lovely.
TL;DR: Items needed: marriage license, form DL-14A, current license. Take to any DPS location to get new license. Appointment likely needed, depending on location.
Step 3 - Passport
My passport was set to expire in March 2023. This has been my "deadline" all along on getting my name changed. I basically waited to the last minute considering we got married in May 2020. Covid was my excuse for a long time on not taking are of everything, but my time has come. Many countries won't allow you in if your passport expires in fewer than six months. So I cannot really expect to travel past September on my current passport.
I renewed my passport via mail. Information about various ways to renew is available here.
To start, use the online form filler to complete form DS82. Get new passport photos taken. I went to Walgreen's. It took ten minutes and cost $16.99 (a bit ridiculous if you ask me). Take your printed form (including picture), marriage license, current passport, and check to the post office and mail it to the address provided on form DS82. You can select regular or expedited service - each has its own unique address. Currently, expedited service is 5-7 weeks and regular is 8-11 weeks. My documents will be returned to me at some point during this process as well - possibly with the passport, or possibly as a separate mailing.
I mailed my documents using on Friday, August 19 using USPS Priority Mail at the recommendation of the mail clerk. The tracking was going well with a predicted delivery date of August 22. It arrived at some hub in Philadelphia on August 21 and by August 22, there was no longer an anticipated delivery date. The hub was a different zip code than the address to which I sent the documents so I didn't feel too great about that. By the 24th I started to worry when there had been no movement in three days. On the 25th, I remembered there may be a way to check the status online. Thankfully I came to this website and was able to see that my application was received on August 24. Upon checking my bank account, I noticed they also cashed my check that day. Funny they will take your money immediately, but make no promises on when you shall receive any goods.
My passport arrived Thursday, September 8. Much quicker than the advised 5-7 weeks. My passport card (that I accidently paid for, thus received) arrived Monday, September 12. My original documents (old passport and marriage license) were the last to arrive. They came on Tuesday, September 27. So the entire process took 5.5 weeks, but I had a usable passport in hand much sooner than that.
TL;DR: Mail form, passport, marriage license, check to address provided on form.
Step 4 - Everything Else
Each of these vary by provider so I don't have detailed information, but just make sure you keep a running list of what you need to change. None of these required heavy lifting - at most I had to send a copy of my marriage license.
- Booked travel (I did not have any active travel that I had to change - this is more to keep in mind when booking ahead - do you book under your new name or old? Essentially you need to book under whatever name will be on the ID you use to travel that day....for a while I would have needed to travel domestically under my married name and internationally under my maiden name as my drivers license had changed but not my passport)
- Banks
- Credit Card Companies
- Employer (and possibly linked health insurance and other benefits)
- Church
- Doctors' Offices (will not change until insurance has been updated)
- Frequent flier accounts (travel under new name will not get you credit until you specifically update your frequent flier profile)
- If you currently have booked plane tickets, you will need to do a little research. If you have a ticket with your old name on it, you just need ID to match that ticket. So, if your drivers license has your new name on it, that will not work. But, if you wait a while to update your passport, you can use that to travel (even in the US).
- Airlines used to be notorious for charging stupid fees to change your name. I have experience with Southwest and United as noted below, but am unsure what other airline policies are. Assume they are not going to be in your favor, and that they are hard to find.
- Global Entry - I have TSA Precheck via Global Entry. The Precheck is very important to me. After a good bit of digging, this turned out to be the easiest step in this whole process. To change your name on your Global Entry, simply go to any Global Entry office (The office at ABIA is open M-F 8am-2pm) and present your new passport. I did also show my old (expired) Global Entry card, but I do not believe that was required. The kind man said I only needed a new card if I regularly drove across the border. Which I do not. If I wanted a new one with my new name, I could order from my online account for $25. Note your KTN does not change 1) when you have to renew your Global Entry and/or 2)) when you change your name. Pro-tip: When I went, I was able to park in the Red Garage (closest to the walkway with the art structures along it) for super cheap and run in. I was parked less than 20 minutes.
- Southwest Airlines - I have two tickets currently booked under my old name. I navigated to Personal info under Profile Details to begin the process. I had to go to the Help center linked in the name section. There it guided me to submit my marriage license and/or old and new identification documents to request a name change. There was an optional place to include an upcoming flight, so I included a flight I have booked for November.
- United Airlines - The process was very similar to Southwest, except that it was noted quite prominently that tickets already issued cannot be changed. Of course, I cannot find anywhere on United's site whether or not this can be done with a fee, or if you literally have to forfeit the entire cost of the ticket and start over. Several third party sites are suggesting a $200 fee for each way of travel, but I cannot verify this anywhere on united.com. Two angry thoughts here: 1) Thanks United for burying this information or making it completely unavailable, and 2) If men regularly changed their name, the info would be easy to find and changes would be free.
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