Can I change my name on my passport before the wedding?

How early can I apply?#

Up to three months before the ceremony. GOV.UK says you can get a passport in your new name either before or after a marriage or civil partnership, and HM Passport Office's notes on the form describe the early route as one for people going abroad straight after the ceremony. It issues a new ten-year passport in the name you will take, post-dated so that it is valid only from the date of the ceremony. There is no discount: the notes say the full application fee is payable, and GOV.UK lists that as £102 online or £115.50 on a paper form.

You cannot yet prove you use the name, and you do not need to: HM Passport Office's guidance to its staff treats the form as the evidence of the change and normally asks for nothing more. A passport usually arrives within three weeks of your documents reaching the passport office, longer if it needs more information, so apply early in the three months.

HM Passport Office describes the result as a passport in a future married or civil partnership name, such as your partner's surname or a double-barrelled one. Its guidance treats a surname that runs both names together as one word as a new name, needing a change of name deed and proof of use, so a merged surname starts with a deed poll.

The form, and who signs it#

The form is PD2, which GOV.UK calls the "passports for newly weds and civil partners" form. It has two parts:

• Part 1 is completed by the minister of religion or registrar who will conduct the ceremony, confirming that it has been arranged and on what date.
• Part 2 is yours. HM Passport Office's notes say to fill it in using your current name and signature, not your future name. You declare whom you are marrying and when, and agree to return the passport at once if the ceremony does not take place on that date.

The passport application itself is completed in full in the name you will take after the ceremony, signature included. The PD2 goes with it, together with the fee, photographs and supporting documents.

What happens to my current passport?#

You send it with the application, and it is cancelled: HM Passport Office's notes say you will no longer be able to use it for travel. The new passport cannot be used before the ceremony. So from the day you apply until the ceremony you have no passport you can travel on, and any trip abroad before the wedding, a hen or stag weekend for instance, has to come before the application goes in.

Give notice of the marriage first if you can, while the passport is still in your hands: GOV.UK lists a valid passport or a UK birth certificate among the originals to bring, and notice has to be given at least 29 days before the ceremony.

Booking the honeymoon#

GOV.UK's rule is that your booking and your passport must carry the same name. That leaves two consistent choices:

• Book in your new name and travel on the post-dated passport, which is valid from the day of the ceremony.
• Book in your current name and travel on your current passport, changing it once you are home. HM Passport Office's notes say you can carry on using your current passport after the ceremony if you do not want to replace it yet, though some countries may insist that your travel documents match your passport, so check with the country's consulate before you book. Travelling on a passport in your old name goes into this.

GOV.UK also says not to book travel until you have a valid passport, because a new passport has a new number, and that some countries will not issue visas for post-dated passports. A visa already in your current passport may become invalid when you change your name; the embassy or consulate that issued it can tell you. The travel checker sets out the choices for your honeymoon booking.

Changing your name by deed poll before the wedding instead#

A deed poll is the other way to have the new name before the day, and it changes your name when you sign it: GOV.UK says a signed deed poll can be used as proof of your new name straight away. It suits anyone who wants the name in use before the wedding, and it is the route for a name the certificate will not show, such as a merged surname or a new first name. The passport then follows the usual route for a change of name, with the deed poll and a document showing the name in use, and it is valid as soon as it is issued rather than post-dated. With us a deed poll is £18.50.

Make it before you give notice. GOV.UK lists proof of any change of name, such as a copy of a deed poll, among the documents to bring. The General Register Office's guide for authorised persons, who take a registrar's place at many religious weddings, says each of you is asked before the ceremony the name by which you are known and whether you have been known by any other, and that the names must agree with the schedule. For Church of England and Church in Wales weddings, its guidebook for the clergy says names are entered as the couple give them, with an earlier name linked by "formerly known as" unless the person objects. Keep the deed poll with the marriage certificate afterwards: it is the document that joins your new name to your old one. If a name on the certificate comes out wrong, see can the name on a marriage certificate be changed?

When should I tell everyone else?#

After the ceremony, once you have the certificate. On the post-dated route nothing changes before the day. GOV.UK explains that the signed schedule goes to your local register office to be added to the register, and only then can you get the certificate; the register office can tell you how, and how long it takes. The certificate is what you send to the organisations that hold your records. DVLA charges nothing to change a licence but wants original documents, not photocopies, so order more than one copy.

A workable order is the bank, your employer and HMRC first, then the driving licence, then everyone else: changing your name after marriage sets it out. If you made a deed poll instead, you can start on the day you sign it.