Spouse Name in Passport in Uttarakhand: How to Add, Change or Remove It
For married, divorced and remarried people who want the spouse entry on their passport put right: which paper the passport office lists for each case, how the spouse's name should be spelt, why it does not change your own name, and where a Gazette does and does not come in.
The spouse name in passport is added, changed or removed by a re-issue. To add it, the passport office lists a marriage certificate or a joint photo declaration signed by both spouses. To remove it, a divorce decree. To change it, proof that the first marriage ended and of the new one. No Gazette is needed for the spouse entry.
The last page of an Indian passport has a line for the holder's spouse. A passport made before marriage leaves it blank. One made during a marriage that has ended still names the former spouse. This page explains how the spouse name in passport is added, changed or removed. Changing the spouse name in passport is not a change of your own name.
We do not apply for passports, and this subject needs no Gazette. The papers for each case are from the passport office's own list of documents for re-issue. For your own name, read name change in passport.
What Is the Spouse Entry, in Brief?
- Where it is. On the last page of the passport, with the parents' names and the address.
- What it holds. The name of the holder's husband or wife.
- How it is changed. By a re-issue of the passport, as a change in personal particulars.
- What it is not. Part of the holder's own name.
- Who reads it. Visa officers above all, and anyone checking a family relationship.
Nothing in a passport is altered by hand. Any change to the last page means a new booklet, with a new number.
What Does the Passport Office List?
From the passport office's list of documents required for re-issue, under marriage, divorce and separated cases.
| What you want | What the list asks for |
|---|---|
| To add a spouse's name | A marriage certificate, or a joint photo declaration signed by both husband and wife (Annexure J) |
| To remove a spouse's name | A divorce order or decree |
| To change the spouse's name | A divorce order or decree, or the death certificate of the first spouse, and a re-marriage certificate or the joint photo declaration |
| A woman's change of surname after marriage or divorce | A marriage certificate or the joint photo declaration. A divorce order or decree where the change rests on divorce |
| A full change of name after marriage | The standard name change procedure is to be followed |
| For all | Originals with a set of self-attested copies. Applicants are advised to see their own passport office's page for additional documents |
The first three rows are this page. The fourth and fifth are about the holder's own name, which is a different matter and has its own page here.
Which Papers, and Whose Names Are on Them?
| Paper | Names on it | Read against |
|---|---|---|
| The marriage certificate | Both spouses, as the Registrar wrote them | Your passport, and the name you enter for your spouse |
| The joint photo declaration | Both spouses, as they themselves wrote them | The same |
| The spouse's own passport or Aadhaar | The spouse's name, in its settled form | The name you enter |
| A divorce decree | Both parties, as the court wrote them | Your passport, and the spouse entry to be removed |
| A death certificate | The deceased spouse | The spouse entry in your present passport |
| Your present passport | You, and the present spouse entry if any | All of the above |
Your own name has to be the same on the paper you give and on your passport. Your spouse's name has to be the same on that paper and on your spouse's own identity. Most delays come from one of those four not matching.
What Kinds of Request Are There?
Add
- The passport was made before marriage
- The entry is blank
- A marriage certificate, or the joint photo declaration
Remove
- The marriage has ended in divorce
- The former spouse is still named
- The divorce order or decree
Change
- A remarriage after divorce or after a spouse's death
- One name is to give place to another
- Proof that the first marriage ended, and proof of the second
A fourth kind is not listed, and is common: the spouse's name is right, but misspelt. Ask the passport office how it treats a correction of the entry. Carry the spouse's own passport or Aadhaar and the marriage certificate.
Which Case Is Yours?
| The situation | Route | Gazette? |
|---|---|---|
| Married, and the entry is blank | Re-issue, with the marriage certificate or the joint declaration | No |
| The marriage certificate misspells a name | Correct the certificate first | No |
| Divorced, and the former spouse is still named | Re-issue, with the decree | No |
| Remarried | Re-issue, with proof of both events | No |
| A widow or widower wishing to remove the name | Ask the passport office. Carry the death certificate | No |
| The wife also wants her husband's surname | The same re-issue, as a change of her surname | Usually no |
| The spouse has changed his or her own name | The spouse's papers first, then your entry | For the spouse, if a real change |
| The holder is changing a full name | The standard procedure | Yes |
A Gazette appears only where somebody's own name is changing. The spouse entry itself never needs one.
How Do You Apply?
This is the general method. The passport office's portal and your own passport office's page have the present form and fee.
Step 1: Open your passport to its last page
See what it says for spouse: a name, or nothing.
Step 2: Decide what the entry should now say
A name added, a name removed, or one name replaced by another.
Step 3: Take the spelling from your spouse's own passport, or Aadhaar
Given name and surname, as that paper sets them out.
Step 4: Gather the paper the passport office lists for your case
A marriage certificate or the joint photo declaration to add. A decree to remove. Both kinds to change.
Step 5: Check that paper against both of your identity papers
A marriage certificate that spells either name differently should be corrected first.
Step 6: Apply for re-issue, choosing a change in personal particulars
On the passport office's portal. Enter the spouse's name exactly as you settled it.
Step 7: Take the originals and self-attested copies to the appointment
With your present passport.
Step 8: Read the last page of the new passport when it comes
Then tell your spouse, so that the two passports agree.
How Is a Spouse's Name Added?
- The list gives two papers, either of which serves: a marriage certificate, or a joint photo declaration signed by both husband and wife.
- The declaration is the passport office's own format, Annexure J, with a photograph of the couple together.
- Both of you sign it. So both have to agree, and both have to be available to sign.
- A marriage certificate is the stronger paper, and visa offices ask for it in any case.
- In Uttarakhand, registration of marriage is required. Register it, and use the certificate.
- Enter your spouse's name as on your spouse's own passport, if there is one. Two passports that name each other differently defeat the purpose.
Read name change after marriage and name correction in a marriage registration certificate.
How Is It Removed?
- The list gives a divorce order or decree for deleting a spouse's name.
- Take a certified copy from the court. A photocopy of a lawyer's copy is not that.
- The decree names both parties. Your name on it should be your name on your passport.
- If you took your husband's surname and now go back to your maiden name, that is a change of your own surname, made in the same re-issue on the decree.
- A separation without a decree is not on the list. Ask the passport office what it accepts.
- For a spouse who has died, the list mentions a death certificate where the name is being changed on remarriage. For removal alone, ask.
Read name change after divorce and a name wrong in a court order.
How Is It Changed?
- The list asks for two things together.
- First, that the earlier marriage ended: a divorce order or decree, or the death certificate of the first spouse.
- Second, the new marriage: a re-marriage certificate, or the joint photo declaration signed by both.
- The first spouse's name on that decree or certificate should match the entry in your present passport.
- The new spouse's name is entered as on the new spouse's own identity paper.
- A woman who also changes her surname on remarriage does so in the same re-issue.
Read name change after remarriage and name correction in a death certificate.
Why Is Your Own Name Separate?
- The spouse entry says whom you are married to. Your name says who you are.
- Adding a husband's name does not add his surname to yours.
- No law asks a wife to take her husband's surname, and the passport office does not ask it either.
- A woman who does want his surname asks for that as well. The list accepts the same marriage certificate or declaration for it.
- A full change of name, such as a new first name after marriage, follows the standard name change procedure. That is where a Gazette comes in.
- Say clearly on the application which of these you want. An officer will not guess.
Read is a name change compulsory after marriage and Kumari, Devi and the husband’s surname.
Why Does It Matter for a Visa?
- A dependent or family visa rests on a relationship. The officer looks for it in the passports first.
- A wife's passport that names no spouse, beside a husband's that names her, raises a question.
- So does a spouse's name spelt two ways across the two passports and the marriage certificate.
- Embassies usually ask for the marriage certificate as well, often attested. The passport entry supports it and does not replace it.
- A re-issue gives a new passport number. Bookings and applications already made on the old number have to be updated.
- Plan the re-issue well before travel. You may be without a usable passport while it is being re-issued.
Read visa application name mismatch and flight ticket name mismatch.
Where Does a Gazette Come In?
Not for the spouse entry. Only where somebody's own name is changing: yours in full, or your spouse's, in which case the Gazette is your spouse's.
Step 1: Confirm whose name is in fact changing
Adding a spouse's name is not a change of your name. It needs no Gazette.
Step 2: If your spouse has changed his or her name, that Gazette is your spouse's
Your passport then follows your spouse's updated papers.
Step 3: If you are changing your own full name, fix the exact spelling
The passport office says a full change of name after marriage follows its standard name change procedure.
Step 4: Make the affidavit and publish the newspaper notice
Sign before a notary. Publish in a daily local leading newspaper, and keep the original newspaper.
Step 5: Type the form and sign the undertaking
Two typed copies of the specimen, signed in your old name with two witnesses, and the undertaking.
Step 6: Prepare the CD, photographs and certificate
The same text on a CD in MS Word, two self-attested photographs with identity proof, and a certificate that both copies match.
Step 7: Pay the charge on BharatKosh
Commonly Rs 1,100 for an adult. It is not refunded.
Step 8: Send the file yourself, then apply for re-issue
Send it to the Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi 110054. The spouse entry can be set in the same re-issue.
Which Gazette Should You Use?
None, for the spouse entry. For a change of your own name in a passport, the Gazette of India.
Step 1: Remember that the spouse entry needs no Gazette
A marriage certificate, a declaration or a decree serves.
Step 2: For a change of your own name, remember who decides
The passport office, a central body.
Step 3: Use the Gazette of India
Our passport page explains what is known about a state Gazette there.
Step 4: Contact the Roorkee press only if a state notice suits another purpose
Take the contact from govtpress.uk.gov.in and ask if a private change of name notice is being accepted.
Step 5: Download the notice
Search egazette.gov.in and save the PDF.
For the difference between the two, read Uttarakhand Gazette vs Gazette of India.
Which Mistakes Do People Make?
| Mistake | What to do |
|---|---|
| Thinking a Gazette is needed to add a spouse | A marriage certificate or the declaration |
| Spelling the spouse's name from memory | From the spouse's own passport |
| A marriage certificate with a slip in a name | Correct it before applying |
| Changing your surname when you only wanted his name added | Say which you want |
| A photocopy of the decree | A certified copy |
| Leaving a former spouse's name for years | Remove it before the next visa |
| One passport updated, the other not | Both, in the same spelling |
| Applying a month before travel | Allow ample time |
| Not registering the marriage | Register it. The certificate serves everywhere |
A typical case we handle: a woman in Dehradun was to join her husband abroad. Her passport, made before marriage, named no spouse. A travel agent told her she needed a Gazette to add his name. She asked us what one would cost. She did not need one. Her own name was not changing. She applied for a re-issue with her registered marriage certificate, entered his name as on his passport, and kept her own name as it was. She paid us nothing. This is an illustrative example of the type of case we handle, not a named client review.
When you do not need us
For adding, removing or changing a spouse's name, and for a woman's surname after marriage or divorce. The passport office settles those on its own list of papers. We are useful only where a person's own full name is changing and a Gazette notification is needed.
Which Areas of Uttarakhand Do We Cover?
All 13 districts: Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh. A re-issue is applied for on the passport office's portal. Send photos of your passport's first and last pages on WhatsApp and say what you want changed, and we will tell you if a Gazette has any part in it.
People Also Ask About the Spouse Entry
How do I add my spouse's name in my passport?
By re-issue, with a marriage certificate or the joint declaration.
What is Annexure J for a passport?
A joint photo declaration signed by both husband and wife.
How do I remove my spouse's name after divorce?
By re-issue, with the divorce order or decree.
Is a gazette needed to add a spouse name in passport?
No.
Does adding my husband's name change my surname?
No. Your own name is separate.
Is it compulsory to add a spouse's name?
We found no rule that requires it.
Does a married person need a marriage certificate to get a passport?
No. The Ministry of External Affairs' simplification of the passport rules in December 2016 says married applicants are not required to provide the erstwhile Annexure K or any marriage certificate. A certificate is still the listed paper if you choose to add your spouse's name.
Must a divorced or separated person name the former spouse?
No. The same 2016 simplification says the application form does not require the spouse's name for separated or divorced persons, and that such applicants need not provide even the divorce decree. The re-issue list names a decree for deleting an entry already printed, so ask your passport office which it applies to you.
When did these simpler passport rules take effect?
The Ministry announced them on 23 December 2016, effective from 26 December 2016.
Do passport annexures have to be signed before a notary?
No. Since the 2016 changes, the annexures are self-declarations on plain paper, and no attestation or swearing before a notary or magistrate is needed.
What was Annexure K?
A declaration earlier asked of married applicants. The Ministry said in 2016 that married applicants would no longer be required to provide it.
Can a married woman keep her maiden name in her passport?
Yes. Changing a surname after marriage has always been a choice, and adding a spouse's name does not change her own. A mother who keeps her maiden name should see that her child's birth certificate names her the same way; read our page on a child's passport.
Find Out If a Gazette Has Any Part in It
Send photos of your passport's first and last pages and say what you want changed. We will tell you, free, which paper the passport office lists for it. For the spouse entry, and for a surname after marriage or divorce, there is nothing to pay us for, and we will say so.
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- 📍Dehradun District Court, 47/9, Haridwar Road, Near Prince Chowk, Court Road, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001
Spouse Name in Passport: Frequently Asked Questions
What does spouse name in passport mean?
Which paper is needed to add a spouse's name?
Which paper is needed to remove a spouse's name?
Which papers are needed to change the spouse's name after a remarriage?
Do I need a Gazette or an affidavit?
Does adding my husband's name change my own name?
Is it compulsory to add a spouse's name after marriage?
Our marriage is not registered. Can the name still be added?
My husband's name is spelt differently on our marriage certificate and his passport. Which do I use?
My husband has died. How is his name dealt with?
We are separated, not divorced. Can I remove his name?
Is a new passport booklet issued?
Should both of us update our passports?
Does the spouse entry matter for a visa?
Can extra papers be asked for?
Do you apply for passports?
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Who Wrote and Reviewed This Page?
This page is written by the Documentation Desk Team of UttarakhandNameChange.com, the team that prepares Gazette files for people across Uttarakhand.
It is reviewed by Advocate Vipin Chauhan.
The papers for adding, deleting and changing a spouse's name, for a woman's change of surname after marriage or divorce, the standard procedure for a full change of name, the originals with self-attested copies, and the advice to see one's own passport office's page, are from the passport office's list of documents required for re-issue. That registration of marriage is required in Uttarakhand is from our page on marriage. We could not confirm what is asked to remove a deceased spouse's name without remarriage, to remove a name on separation without a decree, or to correct a spelling in the entry. Why the entry matters for a visa is general guidance. The passport office is the authority, and its officer decides.
Official Sources
- Passport Seva: documents required for re-issueThe list for marriage, divorce and separated cases.
- Passport SevaThe application for re-issue, the fee and the appointment.
- Uttarakhand UCC portalRegistration of marriage in the state.
- eCourts ServicesCertified copies and the status of a case.
- Department of Publication: Change of Name and Public NoticesThe change of name guideline, for a full change of name.
The Spouse Entry: The Short Version
A spouse's name is added to, removed from or changed in a passport by a re-issue. The passport office lists a marriage certificate or a joint photo declaration to add it, a divorce decree to remove it, and proof of both events to change it on remarriage. Spell the name as on your spouse's own passport. It does not change your own name, and needs no Gazette. Update both passports, well before any visa.
To find out if a Gazette has any part in your case, send photos on WhatsApp 9540005064, and we will reply in working hours.
The Spouse Entry Is Not Your Name. It Is Changed by Re-Issue, Without a Gazette.
Send your passport's first and last pages on WhatsApp. We tell you, free, which paper is listed for your case.