The standard service#
GOV.UK's advice is to allow three weeks for a standard application, and to expect to be told within three weeks if HM Passport Office needs more information, which then adds time. Applying online costs £102 and by paper form £115.50. A change of name is a new 10-year passport; time left on the old one is not carried over, and the new passport has a different number.
Your original deed poll goes with the application and is posted back separately once the passport has been printed, so allow for the deed being away for the whole period.
If you need it faster#
- 1 week Fast Track covers a change of name. The earliest appointment is the day after you apply, and the passport is delivered by courier a week after the appointment. £192 for an adult, £156.50 for a child.
- 1 day Premium is only for renewing an adult passport with no change of details, so it does not cover a name change. £239.50.
Both are booked online, with an appointment at a passport office. GOV.UK says not to pay for an urgent service if you have already applied and are waiting, because it will not arrive sooner and each additional application costs a £34.50 admin fee.
Before the passport: the document in the new name#
HM Passport Office asks for one document showing you already use the new name. That is usually a bank statement, a payslip or a letter from HMRC or your council, so the first fortnight after signing the deed goes on getting one of those. Who to tell, and in what order puts it first for that reason.
Booking travel#
GOV.UK is plain: the name on your passport must match the one you use when you book, and you should not book travel until you have a valid passport. If a trip is already booked in your old name, keep the old passport until you are back, and apply afterwards; if it is booked in the new name, the new passport has to arrive first.
Marriage and civil partnership#
A passport in a new married name can be issued up to three months before the ceremony, post-dated so it cannot be used until afterwards, on a form signed by the person conducting the ceremony. Some countries will not issue visas for a post-dated passport.
