Yes, U.S. passports can include a hyphenated last name, and the State Department accommodates your preference when you back it up with the right documents. If your passport was issued or your name changed within the past year, file Form DS-5504. Otherwise, you will need DS-82 or DS-11. Either way, your next move is making sure every airline booking and Trusted Traveler profile matches your passport exactly, hyphen included.
TL;DR:
- Within one year, file DS 5504 for a name change or printing error; the correction has no standard fee, while optional expedited service costs $60.
- After one year, use DS 82 for an eligible mail renewal; otherwise, apply in person with DS 11 and pay a $35 facility fee.
- Support a requested hyphen with a certified marriage certificate or court order; without legal proof, provide affidavits and public records showing consistent use.
- Update Social Security and your state identification first, then your passport; change Trusted Traveler profiles and frequent flyer accounts afterward.
- Enter the passport name exactly in airline bookings and traveler profiles; legacy systems may alter the hyphen, so ask the airline to correct the record.
Table of Contents
- Quick checklist: what to do now, documents, forms, timelines, and fees
- Which passport form to use: DS-5504 vs DS-82 vs DS-11, the one-year rule explained
- How hyphens appear on a U.S. passport: VIZ vs MRZ and what that means
- Booking travel and security screening: how to enter hyphenated names for airlines, TSA, and CBP
- Updating related records: TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, frequent flyer accounts, and state IDs
- Common problems and fixes: data or printing errors, missing hyphens, and last-minute travel
- Author perspective: common mistakes we see and practical priorities
- How PassportCenter.ai can help
- FAQ
- Sources
Quick checklist: what to do now, documents, forms, timelines, and fees
Before you touch a booking site or mail an application, confirm which form applies to your situation. Timing determines everything here.
- Issued or changed within 1 year: use Form DS-5504 to update your hyphenated surname at no standard charge.
- More than 1 year has passed: use Form DS-82 (mail-in renewal, if eligible) or Form DS-11 (in-person application).
- Evidence you'll need: a certified marriage certificate, a court order, or, when no legal document exists, affidavits and public records showing consistent use of the hyphenated name.
- Booking step: once your passport reflects the hyphen, update airline reservations and Known Traveler Number profiles to match it character for character.
A $60 optional expedite fee applies to DS-5504 requests as of March 2026. The name correction itself carries no standard application fee, but if you need the updated passport faster than routine processing, that expedite charge is what covers it.
Fees differ depending on which form you need, and that is the detail most people get wrong when they assume all name updates cost the same. A printing correction within the first year is treated very differently from a legal name change filed two years after your passport was issued.
Which passport form to use: DS-5504 vs DS-82 vs DS-11, the one-year rule explained
The one-year mark is the dividing line for almost every decision in this process. Here is how the three forms break down.
- DS-5504 applies when your current passport was issued, or your legal name changed, within the last 12 months. It covers both name changes and data or printing corrections, and it skips the standard application fee entirely for eligible corrections.
- DS-82 is the mail-in renewal path for applicants who meet eligibility rules (adult passport, undamaged, issued within the last 15 years, among other conditions) when more than a year has passed since issuance or the name change.
- DS-11 is required in person when you don't qualify for mail renewal, when your previous passport is lost, damaged, or more than 15 years old, or when you lack primary evidence of citizenship on file.
If you fall into the DS-11 category, budget for an acceptance or facility fee separate from your passport book or card fee. According to the passport fee chart, that facility fee runs $35 as of April 2026 when you apply through an acceptance facility rather than a passport agency.
| Form | When to use | Fee notes |
|---|---|---|
| DS-5504 | Within 1 year of issuance or legal name change | No standard fee for corrections; $60 optional expedite |
| DS-82 | More than 1 year, eligible for mail renewal | Standard passport fee applies |
| DS-11 | In person, not eligible for mail renewal | Standard passport fee plus $35 facility fee |
Our guide on resolving a one-year passport name mismatch walks through real examples of which form fits specific timing scenarios, which helps if your situation falls near the 12-month boundary.
How hyphens appear on a U.S. passport: VIZ vs MRZ and what that means
Your passport's biographical data page, known as the Visual Inspection Zone or VIZ, prints your name exactly as approved, hyphen included. The 8 FAM 403.1 guidance confirms that hyphens may be included in a name and that officials will add or remove one based on your clearly demonstrated preference and supporting evidence.
The machine-readable zone, or MRZ, at the bottom of your biographical page works differently. It uses a restricted character set defined by international standards, and hyphens are represented in a standardized way rather than printed as the visual character you see above. Older scanning systems at some checkpoints occasionally handle that encoding inconsistently, even though the official MRZ data is correct.
- Your printed name on the biographical page is the authoritative version for inspections and downstream identity checks.
- The MRZ encodes your name using ICAO-defined conventions, not a literal copy of the printed hyphen.
- Some legacy booking or scanning systems strip or substitute special characters even when your passport data is accurate.
Pro Tip: Carry your passport's biographical page as the final word if any system, airline portal, or kiosk displays your name without the hyphen. The printed page overrides what a screen shows.
Booking travel and security screening: how to enter hyphenated names for airlines, TSA, and CBP
Mismatches between your booking and your passport cause more boarding delays than almost any other documentation issue, and hyphenated names are a frequent source of friction. Follow these steps when you book.
- Enter your name exactly as printed on your passport, including the hyphen, in every airline reservation field. TSA guidance on special characters confirms this is what Secure Flight prescreening expects.
- Check your Advance Passenger Information before departure. CBP's APIS guidance requires manifests to reflect your biographical page, and only ASCII characters plus the hyphen and apostrophe are accepted in those fields.
- Contact the airline directly if a booking system won't accept a hyphen. Many online forms strip special characters automatically; airlines can usually correct the passenger name record (PNR) manually on request, as explained in this award change fees guide.
- Carry your passport and, if available, your marriage certificate or court order to the gate when a mismatch was unavoidable and you weren't able to get it corrected before travel.
A booking engine that drops your hyphen doesn't necessarily create a legal problem, but it can trigger extra screening or a conversation at the gate. Catching it before departure saves time you don't want to spend at security.
Updating related records: TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, frequent flyer accounts, and state IDs
Order matters when you're syncing your identity documents after a legal name change. Working through the sequence out of order is one of the most common sources of repeat paperwork.
- Update Social Security first if your name legally changed, since many other agencies and programs cross-reference that record.
- Update your state driver's license or ID next, so your state-issued credential matches before you touch your passport.
- Update your passport using the appropriate form from the sections above.
- Update Trusted Traveler profiles and frequent flyer accounts last, entering your name exactly as it now appears on your passport.
For Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler programs, your passport update should happen before you edit your Known Traveler Number profile, since the program verifies against your current passport data. Our guide to updating a Global Entry name covers the portal steps without risking your existing KTN.
Pro Tip: If you book through a corporate travel system or a travel agent, send them your updated passport name in writing. Many corporate platforms cache old traveler profiles and won't catch a hyphen change automatically.
Common problems and fixes: data or printing errors, missing hyphens, and last-minute travel
Not every hyphen problem is a legal name change. Some are simple data entry or printing errors, and the fix is faster when you know which category you're in.
- Identify whether it's a data error or a legal change. A missing hyphen that should have been printed based on your submitted documents is a data or printing error, correctable through DS-5504 at no charge if your passport is still valid, according to the State Department's correction guidance.
- Gather proof of the error if that's your situation: your application copy, your birth certificate, or other submitted evidence showing the hyphen should have appeared.
- If it's a legal change (you added a hyphen through marriage or a court order after your passport was issued), you'll need the certified document, not just a correction request.
- For imminent travel, ask about expedited State Department service or use a vetted passport courier service that specializes in last-minute turnarounds.
- Contact your airline, TSA, or CBP directly if you're facing a mismatch you can't resolve before your flight; airlines can often correct a PNR same-day.
The optional expedite fee for a DS-5504 correction is $60 as of March 2026. That fee buys faster processing when your travel date doesn't allow for routine timelines, and it's worth confirming current processing windows before you assume you have enough time.
Author perspective: common mistakes we see and practical priorities
The most frequent mistake we see isn't the passport application itself. It's travelers who update their passport correctly, then forget to touch their Global Entry profile, their frequent flyer account, or their TSA PreCheck enrollment. Secure Flight and APIS screening run on exact character matches, so a passport that says "Smith-Jones" next to a frequent flyer account that still says "Smith Jones" creates friction neither system flags until you're at the airport.
Priority order matters more than people expect. Legal documentation first, then government IDs, then the passport, then every travel profile downstream. Skipping that sequence is how people end up filing the same correction twice.
Our approach is to lay out the forms and the order of operations plainly, without guessing at your specific paperwork. When a traveler has routine time before a trip, the free government process works fine. When the calendar is tight, that's when expedited help through a vetted courier service makes more sense than hoping standard processing lands in time.
— David
How PassportCenter.ai can help
We built PassportCenter.ai to answer exactly the kind of question you just worked through: which form applies, what evidence you need, and how to keep every travel record consistent with your passport. Step-by-step guides cover name changes, renewals, and the booking details that trip people up after a legal name change.
- Use our name change after marriage guide to get the Social Security and state ID sequence right before you touch your passport application.
- Check our passport renewal checklist for a full rundown of required documents and fees by form type.
- If your travel date is close and routine processing won't make it, an expedited courier service can move faster than standard processing timelines.
Visit Passportcenter for the full set of guides, or reach out to a vetted courier partner when your timeline calls for expedited help.
FAQ
Can I have a hyphenated last name on my passport?
Yes. 8 FAM 403.1 policy allows hyphens in passport names and permits officials to add or remove one based on your clearly demonstrated preference and supporting evidence. Hyphen usage alone is generally not a reason for the State Department to rewrite an otherwise valid passport.
Do hyphens matter on passports?
Hyphens matter for consistency across your travel documents, even though the hyphen itself rarely causes a legal problem. TSA guidance expects your airline booking to match your passport exactly, hyphen included, to avoid extra screening.
Do hyphens show on passports?
Yes, your printed biographical data page shows your hyphenated name exactly as approved. The machine-readable zone below it encodes your name using a standardized character set defined by international passport standards, which isn't a literal copy of the visual hyphen but still represents it for machine reading.
Does TSA accept a passport with a different surname format, like a maiden name?
TSA accepts whatever name is printed on your current, valid passport, regardless of whether it reflects a maiden name or a hyphenated married name. The requirement is that your airline reservation and Known Traveler profile match that printed name exactly, not that your name follow any particular format.
Sources
- Change or Correct a Passport - Travel - State Department
- 8 FAM 403.1 NAME USAGE AND NAME CHANGES
- My name contains a special character such as a hyphen (–) or an apostrophe (’) — TSA FAQ
- APIS departure requirements - U.S. Customs and Border Protection