Republic Act No. 11983 or the New Philippine Passport Act permits a married woman to voluntarily revert to the use of her maiden name.
Section 5(f) of the law provides that a woman may apply for reversion only once, provided that all her existing identification cards and pertinent documents reflect her maiden name.
To clarify the implementation of this law, the Department of Foreign Affairs (“DFA”) Office of Consular Affairs (“OCA”) issued an advisory on 21 March 2025 outlining the documentary requirements.
Generally, married women who wish to revert to their maiden names must submit the following requirements with the DFA-OCA when they apply for the renewal of their passports:
- Certificate of Live Birth or Report of Birth issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (“PSA”);
- PSA-issued Certificate of Marriage or Report of Marriage;
- Notarized Affidavit that indicates the intention to revert to maiden name and states that the applicant has not previously availed of reversion;
- Latest Philippine passport; and
- Any valid government-issued identification reflecting the maiden name
In addition to these general requirements, married women who wish to revert to their maiden names because of the death of their spouse must submit a PSA-issued Death Certificate or Report of Death of spouse. If the deceased spouse is a foreigner, the woman may present an apostilled or authenticated Foreign Death Certificate, with English translation.
Meanwhile, women who wish to revert to their maiden names because of annulment, declaration of nullity of marriage, legal separation, or judicially-recognized divorce must submit, in addition to the general requirements, a PSA-issued Certificate of Marriage or Report of Marriage with an annotation reflecting the nullity or dissolution of marriage, judicial recognition of divorce, or court decree of legal separation.
If you wish to know more about reverting to your maiden name and other family law matters, you may reach out to:
Divina Gracia E. Pedron, Senior Partner
Email: [email protected]
Tel No.: +632 8810 5858