Replacing a passport when changing your name - what to look for

Changing the name is a crucial step, which is most often taken in two cases: due to a wedding and for personal reasons. In both situations, you need to remember that this solution entails some problems. The fact is that the current legislation gives a positive answer to the question: “Do I need to change my passport when changing my name?” Is it possible to travel abroad with an old passport and in what cases - find out in this article.

Why you can not use a passport for the old name

Consider the situation from a legal point of view. State institutions have the right to issue a document for traveling abroad only on the basis of an internal passport, by transliterating all personal data into English. This means that in the databases of all migration services and customs, a person with an old name does not exist, and his documents are not valid.

If you do not replace your passport when changing your name, departure from the country is an action that violates passport control.

In addition, if you are planning a trip to the Schengen countries, the old passport will become an insurmountable obstacle. It will need to be replaced not only before departure from your home country, but also before you want to get a visa to enter these countries.

What you need to replace your passport

To replace a document for traveling abroad with the old name, you can contact the FMS department directly or join the online queue, which has recently been available both in Russia and Ukraine. This will save time, in addition, on the website of the migration services of these countries, you can calculate the cost of obtaining a passport (it is the same for everyone, regardless of which account you receive abroad).

To obtain a new document, residents of Russia need:

1. State duty receipt.
2. Photo on the profile.
3. Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation, in the case of marriage / divorce - already with a stamp confirming the conclusion / dissolution of the marriage.
4. Old passport.
5. A request for replacement.

It is important! When filling out the questionnaire, be sure to ensure that your first and last name in Latin letters are spelled correctly and the same for all family members. This will avoid problems in the future.

Before contacting the FMS with a request to change your passport, you must redo your internal passport.

For residents of Ukraine, this list is slightly different:

1. INN
2. Internal passport.
3. Application for a new overseas.

Note! The first two documents must be registered with a new surname.

All documents must be submitted in person to any department of the State Migration Service, in the event of marriage or divorce, within a month after registration with the registry office. If the application is submitted later, an additional fee will be payable in the amount of 17 to 54 UAH.

If your old passport had visas that you don’t want to lose, add a statement to all of the above asking for the return of a replacement document.

When an old foreign country allows you to leave the country

There are only a few situations in which it is not necessary to change the passport after changing the name. Let's consider them in more detail:

1. When flying to the country of mass tourism (visa-free). These include Turkey, Thailand and Egypt. To get to one of these states with an old document, in addition to it, you must present a marriage certificate and internal passport.
Important! This option is not suitable if you are traveling with a child. According to the law, in this case, you need to provide a few more documents with which customs officers can make sure that the child is really yours and you are the person for whom you impersonate. Otherwise, they will refuse you the right to visit even a visa-free country.



2. If you have an open visa, you have the right to visit the state even with an old passport, but provided that you have not changed your internal passport.

If you have one surname in your internal passport, and another in the foreign passport, you will not be allowed to go abroad. Legally, a person with an old surname no longer exists, therefore, it is absolutely necessary to change the passport itself and apply for the visa again.

Passport Replacement After Wedding

It would seem that if you are planning to spend your honeymoon abroad, you must urgently change all the documents. In fact, no, according to the current legislation of both Russia and Ukraine, when you change your name, your old passport will be valid for another month. Therefore, first go on vacation, and only then at the passport office.

Now that you know if you need to change your passport when changing your name, we want to give you the last advice. If a flight to another country is very important, and there is no opportunity to urgently receive new documents, do not change your last name during registration at the registry office. Remember, you can change it at any time of your happy life.