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

A name change in Minnesota runs through federal forms and Minnesota 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 Minnesota Dept. of Health, Office of Vital Records (marriage/divorce records themselves are actually maintained at the county level, not by MDH). 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 Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) license application. This is the Minnesota-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 Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) 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 Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS). Details on the Minnesota 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. Minnesota also wants supporting documents at the counter:

• Current Minnesota driver's license or ID card
• Certified marriage certificate (or marriage license with certified recorded marriage date)
• Proof of updated name with the Social Security Administration (name/SSN must match SSA records)
• Certified divorce decree or court order (only if name change is from divorce/court order instead of marriage)
• Proof of residency/citizenship documents if applying for or upgrading to a REAL ID

REAL ID note: DVS verifies your name and SSN against Social Security Administration records, so update your name with the SSA before visiting DVS to avoid a mismatch rejection; you must renew or replace your license/ID within 30 days of the legal name change.

Good to know for Minnesota: Minnesota Dept. of Health does not record marriages/divorces itself. Certified marriage certificates must be ordered from the county office (Court Administrator/Recorder) that issued the marriage license; fees and ordering methods (online/mail/in person) vary by county. The state's searchable Minnesota Official Marriage System (moms.mn.gov) can help locate which county holds the record.

Many Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) locations let you skip the line by booking ahead: book a Minnesota 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 Minnesota matters, because routine DS-82 service is split by state. Minnesota is one of six states routed to the Texas processing center.

DS-82, routine service from Minnesota
National Passport Processing Center
PO Box 640155
Irving, TX 75064-0155

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 (Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS)): about $26 (confirm with the agency)
• Passport (only if you update it): Free–$165
• Voter registration: Free

Most people spend roughly $56–$281 in Minnesota: 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 Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) fee, and a passport renewal if you need one. Passport pricing changes independently of anything Minnesota does, so check the current State Department fee schedule on the day you file.