Renewing British Passport

[ozchic]

Hi all
Filling out this form at the moment and hoping for an answer asap. I am renewing my existing passport. I have recently got married so am including my marriage certificate for a name change. I have been married previously - doesn't look like I have to provide details of previous marriage but unsure - have had this application returned to me already as I did not properly complete another section - don't want this to happen again. Anybody got advice?

[kaztuz]

I would imagine they would want your divorce papers, or something like that if you have any as this proves that you have been known by another name, if you are still unsure why don't you use the Post Office service where they check it before sending your application off. If you just take your completed application and any paperwork to your Post Office and just ask them to check it they will do this and advise you if you have done anything wrong.

[Buenchico]

I helped a friend of mine fill in her passport. She's been married 4 times and it was getting very complicated trying to put together all of the relevant marriage and divorce certificates. We eventually decided simply to 'forget' two of her marriages. It didn't cause any problems.

The important thing is to provide documentation to show that the person named in the application is the same person named on the birth certificate. Here's an example:

Jane Smith marries and becomes Jane Brown. She later divorces and reverts to using her maiden name. She then re-marries and becomes Jane Wilson. It won't matter if she omits to mention her first marriage when she applies for a passport because her current marriage certificate will show that Jane Smith (the name on her birth certificate) got married and is now Jane Wilson (the name on her passport application).

However, if she had continued to use the name Jane Brown after her divorce, she would have to include details of her first marriage with her passport application. Otherwise the passport office would see a marriage certificate saying that Jane Brown got married, with nothing to connect the applicant's name to the name on the birth certificate.

So, if you can provide documentation linking the name on your birth certificate to your current name, without mentioning your first marriage, the passport office will be satisfied. You'll only have to mention your first marriage if it's necessary to fill in a gap in your chain of name changes.

Chris

[ozchic]

Hi Guys

Thanks for quick answers. Unfortunately I cannot take it to the Post Office because I live in Australia.
Chris thank you for the indepth answer - I am providing my previous Passport therefore don't think I have to provide birth certificate however previous passport is in previous married name. Think that would have been ok but section asks for maiden name which is different to name in previous passport. Think I will just provide everything I have - I suppose too much is better than not enough.
Thanks again for replies - much appreciated.

[Dee Sa]

enclose old pasport [ of course] new marriage certificate and a covering letter with a phone number that they can contact you if need be.Fill out form in the new name.

[ozchic]

Thanks Dee Sa - sounds like a plan!