If you’ve gotten married, had a divorce or otherwise chosen to change your name, there can be a lot of paperwork, especially if you have government identification such as a passport.

But what do you do if your maiden name is on a passport? It’s still possible to travel if your name doesn’t match your ID, but there’s some extra steps involved.

Let’s check out how it works, what you’ll need to bring and how to change your passport.

Using your maiden name on a passport

Traveling with a maiden name on a passport can be done, but you’ll need to bring paperwork proving that you’ve had your name legally changed.

Paperwork required if your passport has a maiden name

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, citizens or permanent residents who’ve had their names changed can use their previously issued passports.

In order to travel with it, you'll need to bring proof of your name progression. This can include paperwork such as:

A marriage certificate.

A divorce decree.

Court documents showing your legal name change.

This means that using a passport with a maiden name after marriage is still a viable option — which is good news as the time to process a passport renewal can take as long as 13 weeks.

Changing the name on your passport

Tired of dragging along your marriage certificate whenever you leave the country? There are two ways that you can change the information on your passport so that it reflects your current name.

For recently issued passports

If you received your passport less than one year ago, you can use form DS-5504 to request a correction of your information. There are three instances in which travelers are eligible to use a DS-5504:

You changed your name by marriage or court order less than one year after your most recent U.S. passport was issued.

The identifying information in your passport was printed incorrectly.

You paid full price for your passport and its duration was limited to two years or less (for reasons other than serious damage or losses of your previous passports).

It’s free to get a new passport using form DS-5504, but be aware that you’ll need to attach proof of your name change.