Skip to content
Change Your Name

How to change your name in the Philippines

Philippine law changes nobody's name on its own. A married woman may take her husband's surname or keep her own, a first name can be changed at the local civil registrar, and any other change of name or surname needs a court order. This guide starts where most people start — a marriage celebrated and registered here — then covers a marriage that ends, a change for any other reason, and a marriage celebrated abroad, and gives the offices in the order they ask for each other's paperwork.

After marriage

If you married in the Philippines, the marriage is already a civil-registry record and there is nothing for you to file. Article 23 of the Family Code puts the duty on the person who solemnized it: give one of you the original of the marriage certificate, and send the duplicate and triplicate copies to the local civil registrar of the place where the marriage was solemnized, not later than fifteen days after the wedding. Article 30 allows thirty days instead where the marriage was in articulo mortis or neither of you could reach the registrar. Your part is to keep the original certificate the officiant handed you and, a few weeks later, to check with that registrar that the entry exists.

What every office after this wants is not that certificate but a copy issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority on security paper, and that copy takes months to exist. The local civil registrar sends its registered records on to the PSA in batches, and no statute puts a deadline on that leg, so the wait is administrative rather than legal. PSA's authorised online channel asks people to wait out a posting period before ordering: two to four months where the place of marriage is in Metro Manila, at least six months where it is in the provinces, counted from the transmittal date. Order earlier than that and the search comes back with no record.

The name itself never changes on its own. Article 370 of the Civil Code says a married woman MAY use her maiden first name and surname with her husband's surname added, her maiden first name with her husband's surname, or her husband's full name prefixed by a word such as Mrs. The Supreme Court in Remo v. Secretary of Foreign Affairs (G.R. No. 169202, 5 March 2010) read that word as permissive: a wife has the option, not the duty, to use her husband's surname, and keeping your maiden name on every record is fully lawful. There is no registry declaration to sign and no deadline: the PSA marriage certificate is the proof, and you exercise the choice record by record as you renew each one. Article 370 speaks only of a married woman, so a husband who wants his wife's surname has no marriage-based option and falls under the ordinary rule in Article 376, that no person can change a name or surname without judicial authority; that is the court route below.

Decide before the passport step, not after. Section 5(d) of the Passport Act (Republic Act 8239) lets a woman revert to her maiden name where the marriage has ended by death, annulment, a declaration of nullity or a divorce recognised here, and Remo held that while the marriage subsists she may not resume her maiden name on a replacement passport. The Department of Foreign Affairs also publishes a reversion for reasons outside those cases, on a notarised affidavit of explanation stating you have not used it before, and that one may be used once. So the choice is not quite irreversible, but the passport is the point at which it hardens.

After the PSA copy, the order below is the one the offices themselves impose: the national ID and the passport next, because they are the identity documents everything else copies, then the funds and your tax registration, then the accounts that just need to see an ID.

After divorce

There is no absolute divorce for non-Muslim Filipino citizens. The Supreme Court put it flatly in Republic v. Manalo (G.R. No. 221029, 24 April 2018): Philippine law does not provide for absolute divorce, so Philippine courts cannot grant it. What exists instead is a declaration of absolute nullity of a void marriage, annulment of a voidable one, legal separation, and recognition of a divorce obtained abroad. Nullity and annulment are filed in the Family Court of the province or city where the petitioner or respondent has lived for at least six months; under the Supreme Court's rule on those petitions (A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC), the court issues the Decree only after the entry of judgment has been registered, and the winning party must then register the Decree with the civil registry where the marriage was recorded and with the national statistics office, which is what puts the annotation on the PSA marriage certificate. Names follow Article 371 of the Civil Code: on annulment a guilty wife shall resume her maiden name and surname, an innocent wife may resume it, and she may instead keep using her former husband's surname unless the court decrees otherwise or either of them marries again. Article 372 is the opposite rule for legal separation, where the wife continues using the name she used before, and Article 373 lets a widow go on using her deceased husband's surname. A divorce granted abroad is not self-executing here: in Corpuz v. Sto. Tomas (G.R. No. 186571, 11 August 2010) the Court held that a registry annotation made on the strength of the foreign decree alone is void, and that a judicial recognition proceeding is needed first, at which the decree must be authenticated and the foreign divorce law itself proved, because Philippine courts do not take judicial notice of it. Manalo settled that it makes no difference whether the alien spouse or the Filipino spouse obtained the decree. For Muslim Filipinos the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (Presidential Decree 1083) does provide divorce in its several forms, granted or confirmed by the Shari'a courts and entered by the Circuit and District Registrars, who send copies to the Civil Registrar General. No source read here sets a deadline for any of this. The passport office works only from PSA documents, so whichever route applies, the annotated PSA marriage certificate is what you present. Section 5(d) of the Passport Act (Republic Act 8239) is the provision behind that: it lets a woman revert to her maiden name on a death, an annulment, a declaration of nullity or a divorce recognised under Philippine law, on the certificate or decree authenticated by the Office of the Civil Registrar General. The Department of Foreign Affairs also publishes an Affidavit of Explanation for a reversion outside those cases, usable once.

For any other reason

Two doors, and which one you use depends on which part of the name you are changing. Article 376 of the Civil Code is the general rule, that no person can change a name or surname without judicial authority, and Article 412 says no entry in a civil register may be changed without a judicial order. Republic Act 9048, as amended by Republic Act 10172, is the exception: it lets the city or municipal civil registrar, or a Philippine consul general abroad, change a FIRST NAME or nickname and correct clerical or typographical errors, including the day and month of birth and the sex where the mistake is obvious, with no court involved. The grounds are closed, and there are only three: the first name is ridiculous, tainted with dishonor, or extremely difficult to write or pronounce; the new first name has been habitually and continuously used and you are publicly known by it in the community; or the change will avoid confusion. Anyone with a direct and personal interest may file, in person, at the registry office that keeps the record, or, if you have moved, at the registry where you now live, or at the nearest Philippine consulate if you live abroad; you may use this route only once. The petition is a sworn affidavit supported by a certified machine copy of the record and at least two public or private documents showing the name you use. A change of first name must also be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation and backed by a certification from the law-enforcement agencies that you have no pending case or criminal record; the registrar posts the petition in a conspicuous place for ten consecutive days, and the Civil Registrar General has ten working days from the decision to impugn it. The Act authorizes the registrar or consul to collect a reasonable fee and exempts an indigent petitioner; at a Philippine post abroad the fee is USD 150 for a change of first name and USD 50 for a correction of a clerical error, and a migrant petitioner pays an extra service fee of PHP 500. A SURNAME is different: it stays with the courts, under Rule 103 of the Rules of Court. Republic v. Gallo (G.R. No. 207074, 17 January 2018) sets out the split and the grounds the courts accept: the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or hard to write or pronounce; the change follows legitimation or adoption; it avoids confusion; you have used a Filipino name since childhood without knowing; you sincerely wish to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of former alienage; or the surname causes embarrassment and there is no fraudulent purpose. The petition goes to the Regional Trial Court of the province where you have been a bona fide resident for at least three years before filing, and the court orders the notice published once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, with the hearing date, in the words of the Rule, not to fall within thirty days before an election nor within four months after the last publication. None of the sources read here publishes a single national filing fee for either route inside the Philippines.

If you married outside the Philippines

This section is for a marriage celebrated OUTSIDE the Philippines. If you married here, it is not your path: your marriage is already on the register and the section above is the one to read.

Article 26 of the Family Code says a marriage solemnized outside the Philippines, in accordance with the laws in force where it was solemnized and valid there, is also valid in this country. The exceptions are the marriages Philippine law treats as void anyway: a party under 18, a bigamous or polygamous marriage, mistaken identity, a subsequent marriage void under Article 53, psychological incapacity, incest, and the public-policy bars in Article 38. Validity is one thing and a Philippine record is another. To get the record you file a Report of Marriage with the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General that has jurisdiction over the PLACE where you married, not the post nearest your home; posts take these by mail. You send four notarized originals of the Report of Marriage form, one original and four photocopies of the foreign marriage certificate, four photocopies of both parties' passport data pages, the Filipino spouse's PSA birth certificate on security paper with four photocopies, proof of Philippine citizenship, a self-addressed prepaid return envelope and a USD 25 money order; some posts also ask for a PSA Certificate of No Marriage. If either of you was married before, you add the death certificate or the decree of annulment, nullity or divorce with the PSA marriage certificate for that marriage. Filing late costs nothing in money, but more than a year after the wedding the post wants a notarized affidavit explaining the delay. The post takes three to five business days once the papers are complete, and PSA can issue a copy about six months after approval. The Philippines has been in the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2019, so an apostille from the competent authority of the country or state that issued the certificate replaces consular authentication; in the United States that is usually the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Posts do not ask for an apostille on every ordinary foreign certificate, but they do ask for one where the ceremony itself was unusual, and their civil-registry pages name online, proxy and self-solemnized marriages from particular US states as the cases that need it. One thing should be said plainly about an online ceremony run by an officiant in another country while you were physically in the Philippines. Article 26 turns on the law of the place where the marriage was solemnized, and posts do register these marriages, but no Philippine appellate court has ruled on a ceremony where a spouse appeared by video from Philippine soil, and consular registration is an administrative act, not a judgment. If the marriage were ever contested, in a bigamy case, an inheritance dispute or a petition for nullity, a court would decide the question for itself, and where you were standing during the ceremony is the point a challenger would raise. Most couples never face it, and the Report of Marriage is what gives the marriage a Philippine record; registration is what puts the marriage in PSA records, not what makes it valid.

What to bring

  • If you married in the Philippines: the original marriage certificate the person who solemnized the marriage handed you on the day
  • A PSA-issued copy of your marriage certificate on security paper. This is the one document every office below asks to see, and the one that takes months to exist, so order it first
  • Your PhilID or ePhilID, and one other government ID with your photograph
  • Your Taxpayer Identification Number, your SSS number, your PhilHealth number and your Pag-IBIG MID number, so the update forms can be filled without a second trip
  • After a marriage ends instead: the court decision with its certificate of finality, and the PSA marriage certificate annotated with it
  • For a change of first name at the civil registrar: the sworn petition, a certified machine copy of the record, at least two public or private documents showing the name you use, proof of the newspaper publication, and a clearance showing no pending case or criminal record
  • For a change of surname: the verified petition to the Regional Trial Court, and afterwards the decision with its certificate of finality
  • If you married OUTSIDE the Philippines, these as well, for the Report of Marriage: your marriage certificate (a certified copy from the office that issued it in the country or state where you married), one original and four photocopies; order two certified copies, because the one you send does not come back
  • An apostille on that certificate from that country's or state's competent authority (in the United States, usually the Secretary of State of the issuing state), where the post asks for one
  • Report of Marriage form, four originals, typed and notarized
  • Passport data pages of both spouses (four photocopies each)
  • PSA birth certificate of the Filipino spouse on security paper (one original and four photocopies)
  • Proof of Philippine citizenship at the time of marriage, if it is not obvious from the passport (four photocopies)
  • PSA Certificate of No Marriage (CENOMAR) for each Filipino spouse, where the post asks for one
  • If either of you was married before: the death certificate, or the decree of annulment, nullity or divorce, with the PSA marriage certificate for that marriage
  • If you are filing the Report of Marriage more than a year after the wedding: a notarized affidavit explaining the delay
  • Fee of USD 25 by money order payable to the post, and a self-addressed prepaid return envelope

Steps, in order

  1. Step 1

    If you married outside the Philippines: have the certificate apostilled or legalised

    The competent authority of the country or state that issued it

    The Philippines has been in the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2019, so an apostille replaces consular authentication for a document from another member country. Order a certified copy of the certificate from the office that issued it where you married, then have that copy apostilled by that place's competent authority; in the United States that is usually the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Order two certified copies, because the one you send to the post does not come back. Check the list published by the post that covers the place of marriage before you pay for an apostille: posts ask for one where the ceremony was online, by proxy or self-solemnized, and not for every ordinary certificate.

    Official page
    https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/authorities1/?cid=41

  2. Step 2

    If you married outside the Philippines: order your PSA birth certificate, and a CENOMAR if the post asks

    Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

    The Filipino spouse's PSA birth certificate on security paper is on every post's list, and some posts also want a PSA Certificate of No Marriage. Both can be ordered online and delivered in the Philippines or abroad. Order them before you fill in the Report of Marriage so the spelling and the dates match.

    Official page
    https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/

  3. Step 3

    If you married outside the Philippines: file the Report of Marriage

    The Philippine Embassy or Consulate General with jurisdiction over the place of marriage

    The report goes to the post that covers where you married, not the post nearest your home, and posts take it by mail, so you can do this from the Philippines. Send four notarized originals of the form, the certificate with four photocopies, the passport and birth certificate copies, proof of citizenship, the fee and a prepaid return envelope. There is no monetary penalty for registering late, but more than a year after the wedding the post asks for a notarized affidavit explaining the delay. The post sends the approved report on for recording, and the PSA copy follows in the next step.

    Form
    Report of Marriage (ROM)
    Fee
    USD 25, plus USD 10 for expedited release (2026)
    Time
    3-5 business days at the post once the papers are complete
    Official page
    https://philippineembassy-dc.org/report-of-marriage/

  4. Step 4

    Check that the marriage reached the civil registrar

    Local Civil Registry Office of the city or municipality where you married

    Nothing below can move until the marriage is a registered record, and for a wedding in the Philippines that is somebody else's job. Article 23 of the Family Code makes the person who solemnized the marriage give one of you the original certificate and send the duplicate and triplicate copies to the local civil registrar of the place where it was solemnized, not later than fifteen days after the wedding; Article 30 allows thirty days where the marriage was in articulo mortis or neither of you could reach the registrar. A few weeks on, call or visit that registrar with the date and both names and confirm the entry is there. A late filing does not void the marriage, but the record has to be registered before any office will act on it. If you married abroad and filed a Report of Marriage, the post that took it stands in for the registrar here.

    Time
    The officiant has fifteen days from the wedding
    Official page
    https://lawphil.net/executive/execord/eo1987/eo_209_1987.html

  5. Step 5

    Order the PSA copy of your marriage certificate

    Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

    Every office in the steps below works from a PSA copy on security paper: not the certificate the officiant handed you, not the church's, not the local registrar's. The registrar transmits its records to the PSA in batches and no statute sets a deadline for that leg, so the wait is administrative. PSA's authorised online channel asks you to wait out a posting period before ordering: two to four months where the place of marriage is in Metro Manila, at least six months where it is in the provinces, counted from the transmittal date. A marriage reported to a Philippine post abroad instead takes about six months from the post's approval, and is issued as a Report of Marriage. Order online or at a PSA outlet. If the search still comes back with no record well after that, ask the local civil registrar to endorse the record to the PSA.

    Fee
    PHP 365 per copy delivered anywhere in the Philippines through PSA's authorised online channel (2026); a PSA outlet sets its own counter fee
    Time
    2-4 months for a marriage registered in Metro Manila, at least 6 months in the provinces
    Official page
    https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/

  6. Step 6

    If the marriage ended: get the decree, and have a foreign divorce recognised

    Family Court, or the Regional Trial Court for a decree obtained abroad

    A petition for declaration of nullity or for annulment is filed in the Family Court of the province or city where you or your spouse has lived for at least six months. The court issues the Decree only after the entry of judgment has been registered, and the winning party must register the Decree with the civil registry where the marriage was recorded and with the national statistics office. A divorce obtained abroad is different: it cannot be annotated on the strength of the decree alone, so file a petition for judicial recognition first, with the decree properly authenticated and the foreign divorce law itself proved in evidence. Muslim Filipinos use the Shari'a courts under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, and the Circuit and District Registrars enter the divorce and send copies to the Civil Registrar General.

    Official page
    https://lawphil.net/courts/supreme/am/am_02-11-10-sc_2003.html

  7. Step 7

    To change a first name: petition the civil registrar

    Local Civil Registry Office, or a Philippine Consul General if you live abroad

    File a sworn petition in person at the registry that keeps the record, or at the registry where you now live if you have moved, or at the nearest Philippine consulate. Support it with a certified machine copy of the record and at least two public or private documents showing the name you use, publish it once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, and attach a clearance showing no pending case or criminal record. The registrar posts the petition for ten consecutive days, and the Civil Registrar General has ten working days from the decision to impugn it. You may use this route only once, and only on one of the three grounds in the Act.

    Form
    Verified petition under RA 9048, as amended by RA 10172
    Fee
    The registrar sets its own reasonable fee inside the Philippines and an indigent petitioner is exempt; at a Philippine post abroad it is USD 150 for a change of first name, plus a PHP 500 migrant service fee (2026)
    Official page
    https://lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2001/ra_9048_2001.html

  8. Step 8

    To change a surname: petition the Regional Trial Court

    Regional Trial Court of the province where you have lived for at least three years

    A surname cannot be changed administratively. File a petition under Rule 103 of the Rules of Court in the province where you have been a bona fide resident for at least three years before filing, on one of the grounds the Supreme Court accepts: the name is ridiculous, dishonorable or hard to write or pronounce, the change follows legitimation or adoption, it avoids confusion, you have used a Filipino name since childhood without knowing, you sincerely wish to adopt a Filipino name to erase signs of former alienage, or the surname causes embarrassment with no fraudulent purpose. The court orders the notice published once a week for three successive weeks, and the Rule says the hearing date shall not fall within thirty days before an election nor within four months after the last publication. None of the sources read here publishes a single national filing fee.

    Official page
    https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2018/jan2018/gr_207074_2018.html

  9. Step 9

    Register the order so the PSA record carries the annotation

    Local Civil Registry Office where the record is kept, and the PSA

    A court order or a registrar's decision only reaches the rest of your life once the civil register carries it. Bring the decision with its certificate of finality to the registry that holds the record, have the entry annotated, and then order a fresh PSA copy on security paper. Every office below works from that copy, and the passport office will not accept a non-PSA document as the basis for a name.

    Official page
    https://www.psaserbilis.com.ph/

  10. Step 10

    Update the national ID

    PhilSys Registration Center (PSA)

    Do this before the passport: the PhilID is the identity document the passport appointment and most counters will accept, and updating it is the quickest of these steps. PSA updates demographic information in the National ID, name and marital status included, at its registration centers, and publishes the list of centers that offer updating. Appear in person with your PhilID or ePhilID and the PSA document behind the new name. Your PhilSys Number stays the same. Ask the center what, if anything, an update costs; PSA publishes no figure this guide could read.

    Official page
    https://philsys.gov.ph/registration-center/

  11. Step 11

    Decide on the passport name, then apply

    Department of Foreign Affairs, by appointment; your Philippine Embassy or Consulate if you are abroad

    The name on the passport follows the name on your PSA documents, and a non-PSA document cannot be the basis for a change. If you are taking your husband's surname, bring the PSA-authenticated marriage certificate; after a nullity, annulment, recognised divorce or court order, the annotated marriage record; after a death, the marriage certificate and the death certificate. If you keep your maiden name the marriage certificate is not needed for the name at all. Two married-name formats are allowed: your first name, your maiden surname as a middle name and your spouse's surname; or your first name, your maiden middle name, your maiden surname, a hyphen and your spouse's surname. Think before you choose: under Remo a return to the maiden name while the marriage stands is refused, and the reversion the Department publishes for other reasons takes a notarised affidavit and may be used once.

    Fee
    The Department of Foreign Affairs publishes the peso fee and the release times on its passport site; at a Philippine post abroad the fee is USD 60 (2026)
    Official page
    https://www.passport.gov.ph/

  12. Step 12

    Update SSS

    Social Security System (SSS)

    File a Member Data Change Request with the PSA document behind the change to update your name and civil status. Bring the original or a certified true copy of anything you photocopy.

    Form
    SSS Form E-4
    Official page
    https://www.sss.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/E4-Member-Data-Change-Request.pdf

  13. Step 13

    Update PhilHealth

    Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth)

    Download the PhilHealth Member Registration Form, tick FOR UPDATING at the top right, fill in only the fields you are changing, attach the supporting document and hand it in at the nearest PhilHealth office; you get a printed updated Member Data Record back. If you are adding a spouse as a dependent, the marriage certificate is the document that proves the relationship.

    Form
    PMRF (PhilHealth Member Registration Form)
    Official page
    https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/members/formal/amendment.php

  14. Step 14

    Update Pag-IBIG

    Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund)

    File the Member's Change of Information Form at a branch or through Virtual Pag-IBIG, with the PSA document as the support for the change of name and civil status.

    Form
    MCIF (PFF049)
    Official page
    https://www.pagibigfund.gov.ph/document/pdf/dlforms/providentrelated/PFF049_MembersChangeInformationForm_V10.pdf

  15. Step 15

    Update your BIR registration

    Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), your Revenue District Office

    BIR Form 1905, under Application Forms on the BIR site, has fields for the old or maiden name, the new or married name, civil status and spouse information. File it with your Revenue District Office together with the PSA document. Your TIN does not change.

    Form
    BIR Form 1905
    Official page
    https://www.bir.gov.ph/bir-forms

  16. Step 16

    Update your driver's licence

    Land Transportation Office (LTO)

    A change of name or civil status is a counter transaction at any licensing centre rather than something that waits for renewal. Bring your current licence and the PSA document behind the new name, and ask the centre for its current list before you travel, since the LTO revises it by advisory.

  17. Step 17

    Correct your voter record

    Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Office of the Election Officer for your city or municipality

    Your voter registration carries your name and civil status. Ask the election officer where you are registered what they need to correct the entries; bring the PSA document and your ID.

    Official page
    https://www.comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=VoterRegistration

  18. Step 18

    Tell your banks, employer, insurer and school

    Each institution

    Each sets its own rule. Most want your updated PhilID or passport and the PSA document, and many let you keep the account name as it is. Do this last, since these are the records that copy whichever ID you have just replaced.

Questions people ask

We married here in the Philippines. What do we have to do?

Nothing, to register it. Article 23 of the Family Code makes the person who solemnized the marriage send the duplicate and triplicate copies of the certificate to the local civil registrar of the place where it was solemnized within fifteen days, and keeps the original for you. Check with that registrar a few weeks later that the entry is there, then wait for the record to reach the Philippine Statistics Authority and order a PSA copy on security paper. That copy is the document the passport office, PhilSys, SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG and the BIR all ask for. No apostille, no embassy and no Report of Marriage come into it; those belong to a marriage celebrated abroad.

How long before the PSA has our marriage certificate?

Months, and the wait is administrative rather than legal: the local civil registrar transmits its records to the PSA in batches and no statute sets a deadline for that leg. PSA's authorised online channel asks people to wait out a posting period before ordering, two to four months where the place of marriage is in Metro Manila and at least six months where it is in the provinces, counted from the transmittal date. Ordering earlier usually returns no record. If it is still missing well past that, go back to the local civil registrar and ask them to endorse the record to the PSA.

We married abroad. Is the marriage recognised in the Philippines?

Under Article 26 of the Family Code, a marriage solemnized outside the Philippines in accordance with the law of the place where it was solemnized, and valid there, is valid here too, unless it falls in the void categories such as a party under 18, a bigamous marriage, incest, or the public-policy bars in Article 38. Validity is automatic; the Philippine record is not. File a Report of Marriage with the post that covers the place where you married so the marriage reaches PSA records.

We married online or by video. Does that count?

Article 26 looks at the law of the place where the marriage was solemnized, and Philippine posts do register these marriages, listing online, proxy and self-solemnized ceremonies among the cases they accept with an apostilled certificate. What does not exist is an appellate ruling on a ceremony where a spouse appeared by video from Philippine soil, and consular registration is an administrative act, not a judgment. If the marriage were ever challenged, in a bigamy case, an inheritance dispute or a petition for nullity, a court would decide the question for itself.

Do I need an apostille?

Not on every certificate. The Philippines has been in the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2019, so where an apostille is required it comes from the competent authority of the country or state that issued the certificate, which in the United States is usually the Secretary of State of the issuing state. Posts ask for one where the ceremony was online, by proxy or self-solemnized. Read the list of the post that covers your place of marriage before paying for one.

Do I have to change my name after marriage?

No. Article 370 of the Civil Code says a married woman MAY use her husband's surname, and the Supreme Court in Remo v. Secretary of Foreign Affairs read that as an option, not a duty. Keeping your maiden name on every record is lawful and common. Article 370 speaks only of a married woman, so a husband who wants his wife's surname has no marriage-based option and would have to petition a court under Rule 103.

Can I keep my maiden name on my Philippine passport?

Yes. A married woman who keeps her maiden name does not need the marriage certificate for the name, though she may be asked for it to record her status. Be careful in the other direction: under Remo, once the husband's surname is on the passport, a return to the maiden name is treated as needing a reason such as death, divorce, annulment or nullity. The Department of Foreign Affairs publishes an affidavit form for reversion, but what a post accepts is for that post to say.

My marriage ended. Can I get my maiden name back?

It depends on how it ended. On annulment, Article 371 of the Civil Code says a guilty wife shall resume her maiden name and an innocent wife may resume it, or may go on using her former husband's surname unless the court decrees otherwise or either of them remarries. After legal separation, Article 372 keeps the name as it was. A widow may keep using her deceased husband's surname under Article 373. Whatever the route, the passport office works from the annotated PSA marriage certificate, so register the decree with the civil registry first.

I was divorced abroad. Is that enough?

Not by itself. In Corpuz v. Sto. Tomas the Supreme Court held that a registry annotation made on the strength of a foreign decree alone is void, and that a judicial recognition proceeding is required first, at which the decree is authenticated and the foreign divorce law is proved in evidence, because Philippine courts do not take judicial notice of it. Republic v. Manalo settled that it makes no difference whether the foreign spouse or the Filipino spouse obtained the divorce. Once recognised, the decree is registered and the PSA record annotated, and that annotated record is what every Philippine office will ask for.

Can I change my name for some other reason, without a court?

Only the first name, and only on narrow grounds. Republic Act 9048, as amended by Republic Act 10172, lets the local civil registrar or a consul general change a first name or nickname when it is ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce, when you have habitually used the new one and are publicly known by it, or when the change avoids confusion. It takes a sworn petition, two supporting documents, publication once a week for two consecutive weeks, and a clearance showing no pending case or criminal record, and you may use it only once. A surname is a court matter under Rule 103.

Do I have to change my name on every record at once?

No. The records above are independent of each other and each takes the PSA document on its own schedule. The one order that matters is the PSA record first and the passport next, since the passport is the ID the others copy. Many people change the passport and national ID and leave older accounts as they are.

I hold both Philippine and US citizenship. What changes?

The Philippine side is unchanged: get the marriage, decree or order into PSA records, and the Philippine passport follows those documents. Your US records and US passport follow US rules, which is what the US checklist covers. A US court order changing your name does not change your Philippine record on its own. Use the same name on both passports where you can, since airlines and immigration match the two.

Build my checklist for the Philippines

The steps above become a checklist you can work through and tick off, with the office, the form and the fee on every one. It is free, and it is the whole plan if the Philippines is where your records are.

Build my checklist for the Philippines

If you live in the United States

If you are a Filipino citizen living in the United States, your US records change with the US checklist: Social Security, your state licence, banks, and the rest. The Philippine side is separate and worth doing anyway. A marriage celebrated abroad is reported to the Philippine post with jurisdiction over the PLACE of the wedding, not the post nearest your home, and posts take it by mail; without the report the marriage never reaches PSA and a Certificate of No Marriage will keep saying you are unmarried. Your Philippine passport keeps its name until you renew it, and at renewal the name follows your PSA documents, so bring the PSA marriage certificate or the Report of Marriage, which the issuing post will accept for up to a year from its issue date. If you want a first name changed, you may file the petition in person at the nearest Philippine consulate, which charges USD 150 for a change of first name and USD 50 for a correction of a clerical error, plus a PHP 500 migrant service fee. The one thing a US court cannot do for you is change your Philippine record: a US name-change order, and a US divorce decree, both have to be brought home, the divorce through a petition for judicial recognition and a surname through a Rule 103 petition, before the civil registry will annotate anything and before a Philippine passport can carry the new name.

Your US records, from Social Security to your state license and the everyday accounts, change with the US checklist; it prepares each form and letter in the order the agencies check them.

Start the US checklist

Change Your Name is a self-help form-preparation service, not a law firm; this page is general information about the Philippines, not legal advice.

Sources

Guide checked . Rules change; the sources above are the ones to re-read.