Change your name or personal details on your passport

How it works

You need to get a new passport if you change any of the following:

  • your name
  • your gender
  • your appearance, if you cannot be recognised from your passport photo any more (for example, you’ve had plastic surgery)

You will not be allowed to travel if you book your travel under a different name from what’s on your passport.

It costs £75.50 to apply online or £85 to apply with a paper form from the Post Office.

You’ll be sent a new 10 year passport. Time left on your old passport will not be added to your new one.

Changes you do not have to report

You do not have to tell HM Passport Office or get a new passport if you:

  • change your address or contact details
  • get a new job
  • change your appearance slightly - for example, dye your hair or grow a beard
  • change your marital status (divorce, marry or form a civil partnership) but keep your name
  • change your title, for example, doctor or professor
  • become a national of another country as well as the UK
  • emigrate

How to apply

You can either:

If you’re using a paper form, fill in and sign your passport application using the name that you want to see printed on your passport.

If you’re sending documents with your application they need to be originals, not copies.

Countersignatures

You must get a countersignature if your appearance has changed and you cannot be recognised from your existing passport.

You do not need a countersignature if you’re changing your name or adding a title.

Unexpired visas

Unexpired visas in your old passport may become invalid if you change your name. Check with the embassy or consulate of the country that issued the visa.

If you have a non-British passport

If you have dual citizenship (‘dual nationality’) and have a non-British passport, the name on your non-British passport must match the name and gender you want on your British passport.

If it’s different, change the details on your non-British passport before you apply for a new British passport.

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