Jess2

Very long story but cutting it short... I need to get my uk passport renewed, my visa is still valid for 3 years, I am now married can I get a new passport with my marital name on even though my visa is in my maiden name?

Will the name change effect my EAD ?

Pulaski

Yes.

No.

You may need to carry a copy of your marriage certificate with you to prove that the old you and the new you are the same person. You will need to carry both your old and new passports anyway for as long as you need to use the visa in the old passport.

Jess2

Ok do think it's easier to just renew it in maiden name?

Pulaski

That's your call to make. Unless you intend to go through life always using your maiden name, and there's nothing wrong with that, there are always going to be transitional issues while you switch over from your maiden to married name.

If you have already switched your bank and credit cards to your married name I would recommend switching your passport to match, as you could experience problems buying airline tickets using a credit or debit card with a name different from the one on your passport.

Jess2

Ok thanks for the advice, one last question how do I go about it? Can I send off for it from here (USA) and where do I get the form from?

Pulaski

You can renew a British passport from anywhere in the world, but I've never done it myself. You should be able to find the information on the British Embassy web site, or use Google to search for <renew British passport>.

There was another recent thread on the topic, because the requirement is to use A4 paper, which isn't widely available in the US..... people's experience is that using "letter" size paper, and compressing the form slightly is acceptable.

sir_eccles

gov.uk website. It's all done centrally in the UK now, no longer at the individual embassies.

Pulaski

Right. I was only suggesting the British embassy in DC as a starting point for the information. And given that the fees and forms are different for overseas applications, you can't just pull up any ol' application form and use that.

sir_eccles

No you're right, however the gov.uk website asks you what country you are in and serves up the correct form for you rather than going to an out of date and confusing consular website.

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports