Louisiana Name Change Forms: Every Form and Where to File It

A name change in Louisiana runs through federal forms and Louisiana agencies at the same time. Here is the whole set, and where each one actually comes from.

• Certified marriage certificate or divorce decree. Not a form you fill in, but the document everything else depends on. Order certified copies from the Louisiana Vital Records Registry, Louisiana Department of Health. Get two or three, since several agencies each want to see one.
• Form SS-5 (Social Security card). One national form, identical in every state, and always free. Download it straight from the SSA (PDF), or see it filled out field by field.
• Your Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety license application. This is the Louisiana-specific piece. The agency supplies the form, and most locations hand it to you at the counter or post it on their site rather than publishing a standalone name-change form. Start from the official Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety page.
• A passport form, if you hold a passport: DS-5504 (free, passport under a year old), DS-82 (renew by mail), or DS-11 (in person). Which one is yours is a short test: compare all three.
• Voter registration update. Free, and often handled for you at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety. Details on the Louisiana voter registration page.

Watch for sites charging a fee to "provide" the SS-5 or the passport forms. Every one of them is a free download from the government, linked above.

Filling in the form is half of it. Louisiana also wants supporting documents at the counter:

• Certified marriage certificate or court order showing new name
• Current Louisiana driver's license or state ID card
• Proof of Social Security Administration name update (update SSA first, wait 24+ hours)
• Proof of Louisiana residency (e.g., utility bill, lease) especially for REAL ID
• Proof of car insurance if renewing/updating a vehicle-linked license

REAL ID note: Verified official OMV online-services page confirms name changes are not listed among online transactions and require an in-person visit to a local OMV office; SSA record must be updated first (allow 24+ hours) before the name change is processed.

Good to know for Louisiana: Statewide marriage certificates (1957-present, excluding Orleans Parish which has its own process) can be ordered online, by mail, or in person via the LDH Vital Records Registry, Baton Rouge. Fee commonly cited around $9 per certified copy via third-party processors, but LDH page itself does not post a fixed fee - confirm current price when ordering. For marriages before 1957 or in Orleans Parish, order instead through the applicable parish Clerk of Court.

Many Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety locations let you skip the line by booking ahead: book a Louisiana appointment.

Two of these go in the mail, and they do not go to the same place.

Form SS-5. Take or mail it to a local Social Security office. There is no central address for the SS-5, so use the SSA office locator to find the one that serves you.

Passport forms. This is where Louisiana matters, because routine DS-82 service is split by state. Louisiana is routed to the Pennsylvania processing center.

DS-82, routine service from Louisiana
National Passport Processing Center
PO Box 90155
Philadelphia, PA 19190-0155

Routine service (no fee)
National Passport Processing Center
Post Office Box 90107
Philadelphia, PA 19190-0107

Expedited service uses different addresses again and costs extra, and the instructions ask you to write "Expedite" on the outside of the envelope. Use a trackable mailing service: that envelope holds your passport and your certified certificate.

• Certified marriage certificate (3 copies): $30–$90
• Social Security card (Form SS-5): Free
• Driver's license update (Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety): $8–$25 (varies; confirm with the agency)
• Passport (only if you update it): Free–$165
• Voter registration: Free

Most people spend roughly $38–$280 in Louisiana: on the low end if you skip the passport, on the high end with a full passport renewal and extra certificate copies.

The forms themselves cost nothing. What you pay for is certified copies, the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV), Dept. of Public Safety fee, and a passport renewal if you need one. Passport pricing changes independently of anything Louisiana does, so check the current State Department fee schedule on the day you file.