Spinoff question about Passports and changing your last name

according to what Sasha posted, I qualify for a replacement passport at no additional cost since I got mine over the summer. it says you have to send your old passport along with 2 new color photos and the ORIGINAL marriage certificate with the raised seal!

that is outrageous! since the certificate was issued by a Gov't office in NY state, WHY on earth can't they look in the damn computer system to verify that I was married and issued a certificate?! what if they lose it?

does anyone know if you can get copies of your marriage certificate?

lastly, is it possible to bring all these things down to an office in order to avoid mailing it in?

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Posted by J&S

I sent in my passport and did not have to send in 2 new photos. I have received my new passport a few months ago with the original photos in it-the only difference is there is a page where they type your new last name. In response to getting copies of the marriage certificate what you can get is a certified transcript of marriage which is what I sent bc there was no way I was sending my actual certificate and the town told me never to mail your actual certificate.

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thank you for the info! where do you get this transcript of marriage?

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Posted by J&S

I went to the same place where I got my marriage license-you can get as many copies as you want. I can't remember how much it cost but it's not a lot.

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Thank you SO much! I'm going to give Islip town hall a call

ETA: for those of you want to know... I just called Islip Town hall where DH and I got our marriage license from. to get a copy I need to go there with my original marriage certificate and $10 and they will give me a certified copy (with a raised seal) right then and there.

Thanks again J&S!

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Posted by dleeny

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Posted by J&S

I went to the same place where I got my marriage license-you can get as many copies as you want. I can't remember how much it cost but it's not a lot.

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Thank you SO much! I'm going to give Islip town hall a call

ETA: for those of you want to know... I just called Islip Town hall where DH and I got our marriage license from. to get a copy I need to go there with my original marriage certificate and $10 and they will give me a certified copy (with a raised seal) right then and there.

Thanks again J&S!

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You can also do it by mail, that is what we did since we live in VA (and get married in NY)...got the copies certified and sent to us.

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Posted by J&S

I sent in my passport and did not have to send in 2 new photos. I have received my new passport a few months ago with the original photos in it-the only difference is there is a page where they type your new last name. In response to getting copies of the marriage certificate what you can get is a certified transcript of marriage which is what I sent bc there was no way I was sending my actual certificate and the town told me never to mail your actual certificate.

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This sounds like an ammendment, not a new passport as this is what mine looks like. It sounds like now they issue a new passport with a new picture.

Dina, I would call them directly. As for your concern, I mailed in my marriage license and they returned it with no problems.

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Posted by SomethingBlu

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Posted by J&S

I sent in my passport and did not have to send in 2 new photos. I have received my new passport a few months ago with the original photos in it-the only difference is there is a page where they type your new last name. In response to getting copies of the marriage certificate what you can get is a certified transcript of marriage which is what I sent bc there was no way I was sending my actual certificate and the town told me never to mail your actual certificate.

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This sounds like an ammendment, not a new passport as this is what mine looks like. It sounds like now they issue a new passport with a new picture.

Dina, I would call them directly. As for your concern, I mailed in my marriage license and they returned it with no problems.

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I called them and will be going there sometime this week to get a copy. I am such a procrastinator and I will forget if I don't do it soon.

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Posted by dleeny

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Posted by SomethingBlu

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Posted by J&S

I sent in my passport and did not have to send in 2 new photos. I have received my new passport a few months ago with the original photos in it-the only difference is there is a page where they type your new last name. In response to getting copies of the marriage certificate what you can get is a certified transcript of marriage which is what I sent bc there was no way I was sending my actual certificate and the town told me never to mail your actual certificate.

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This sounds like an ammendment, not a new passport as this is what mine looks like. It sounds like now they issue a new passport with a new picture.

Dina, I would call them directly. As for your concern, I mailed in my marriage license and they returned it with no problems.

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I called them and will be going there sometime this week to get a copy. I am such a procrastinator and I will forget if I don't do it soon.

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I meant to call the passport agency directly.

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Posted by Lauram283

You must send the original marriage certificate, if you think about it, the first time you applied for a passport, you needed to send your original birth certificate, which is worse than having to send a marrige certificate

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actually, J&S is right. you can get a copy for $10 which is certified as well. the Town Hall assured me that this would be ok to send and they encouraged me not to send the original to anyone, since it is the only original we will ever get.