How to Change Name on Citizenship Certificate After Marriage

To change the name on your citizenship certificate after marriage, file Form N-565 (Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, submit your original certificate and your marriage certificate as proof, and pay the fee: $505 online or $555 by mail. Processing currently runs about 6.3 months.¹

When Form N-565 Is the Right Form

Form N-565 is for name changes that happened after you were naturalized. Marriage after your oath ceremony is the classic case.

Two situations fall outside the form. If you asked for a name change as part of the naturalization ceremony, the court ordered the change at that time and your certificate was issued in the new name from the start; there is nothing to update.² And if your name change happened before you naturalized, USCIS cannot use N-565 to fix it; the form only addresses post-naturalization changes.³

Documents You Need to Submit

Three items go with the application:

Your original Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship. USCIS keeps it and issues a new document, so you will not get the original back.³
Legal proof of the name change. For a marriage-based change, that is your marriage certificate (original or certified copy). USCIS also accepts a divorce decree, annulment decree, or other court order where applicable.³
A valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, state ID, or passport.

Without the legal name-change document, USCIS will not process the update.⁴

How to File

You can file N-565 online through a USCIS account or on paper by mail. Online is generally faster and skips lockbox mail handling.⁴

Filing Online

Log in to your USCIS account, complete the form, and upload scanned copies of your supporting documents. At the end, the system routes you to pay.gov to submit the fee by credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or direct bank withdrawal.⁵

Filing by Mail

If you file a paper form, include payment authorization on one of two forms: Form G-1450 for a credit, debit, or prepaid card, or Form G-1650 for an ACH withdrawal from a U.S. bank account. USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper filings.⁵ A narrow exemption exists for applicants without access to banking or electronic payment, but most people will pay by card or ACH.⁶

The Fee and When It’s Waived

The fee is $505 for online filing and $555 for paper. Neither is refundable.⁷

If paying is a hardship, you can submit Form I-912 (Request for Fee Waiver) with your N-565. Eligibility rests on household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines, receipt of a means-tested benefit, or documented financial hardship.⁸

The fee is waived automatically in one specific case: if your current certificate contains an error caused by USCIS, the replacement costs nothing.⁷

Processing Time and Case Tracking

For fiscal year 2026, the estimated processing time for N-565 is about 6.3 months, and it varies by the service center handling your case.¹ You can pull the current estimate for your location using the USCIS Case Processing Times tool by selecting Form N-565 and the field office or service center on your receipt notice.⁹

After USCIS accepts the application, you’ll get a receipt notice with a 13-character receipt number (three letters followed by ten digits). Enter it into the Case Status Online tool to check progress.¹⁰

Plan around the fact that you won’t have your certificate for those months, since you surrendered it with the application. If you have travel or identity verification coming up, factor that in. USCIS accepts expedite requests in limited circumstances, but approval is not guaranteed.

Check the New Certificate Carefully

When the replacement arrives, review every field the same day: your new legal name, date of birth, country of birth, and any other biographical information. If USCIS made a mistake on the new certificate, you can request a correction at no cost because the error is theirs.⁷ Send the incorrect certificate back to USCIS with a written explanation and supporting documents. A flawed certificate becomes harder to untangle once you’ve used it to update other records.

Updating Your Social Security Record and Other Documents

Use the new certificate as the anchor for the rest of your record updates. Start with Social Security, since a matching SSA record often feeds later steps.

You can begin a replacement Social Security card application at ssa.gov, but you’ll need to bring original documents to a Social Security office or card center to finish it. SSA asks for proof of identity (a valid driver’s license, state ID, or passport) and proof of the legal name change, such as your marriage certificate or the new Certificate of Naturalization showing the updated name.¹¹ The name-change document has to show both your old and new names. If the marriage was more than two years ago, SSA may request additional identity documents.¹²

From there, work through your passport, driver’s license, bank accounts, employer records, insurance, and voter registration. Each institution has its own proof requirements, and most will accept a certified marriage certificate. Moving through the chain quickly reduces the chance of a name mismatch surfacing at an awkward moment.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Historic Processing Times
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 3 – Certificate of Naturalization
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS to Mandate Electronic Payments for Applications
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. G-1055 Fee Schedule
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-912, Request for Fee Waiver
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Processing Times
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Case Status Online
11
Social Security Administration. Learn What Documents You Will Need to Get a Social Security Card
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Social Security Administration. Application for Social Security Card