The Department of Foreign Affairs – Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA) on Saturday said that married women who renew their passports may now voluntarily revert to their maiden names.
In an advisory, the DFA-OCA said the reversion to maiden names was pursuant to the New Philippine Passport Act or Republic Act No. 11983.
Section 5 (f) of the law states:
“For a woman who wishes to revert to the use of her maiden name, a duly authenticated birth certificate by the PSA: Provided, That she can only revert to her maiden name once and all her other existing identification cards and pertinent documents shall likewise reflect her maiden name…”
With this, the DFA-OCA said that applicants who wish to avail of the reversion to their maiden names in their passports may do so under the following conditions:
For those who wish to revert to their maiden names for reasons apart from those stated above: an original and photocopy of a PSA-issued Certificate of Live Birth or PSA Report of Birth; an original and photocopy of a PSA-issued Certificate of Marriage or PSA Report of Marriage; a notarized Affidavit of Explanation that includes a request for the reversion of maiden name in the Philippine passport or travel document and stating that the applicant has not hitherto availed of the reversion; latest-issued Philippine passport or travel document; and ny valid and existing government-issued ID accepted for passport application, reflecting the maiden name of the passport applicant.
Likewise, a married woman may revert to her maiden name in her passport application by virtue of an annulment, declaration of nullity of marriage, legal separation, judicially-recognized foreign divorce, or death of a husband.
The DFA-OCA called on the public to use the prescribed affidavit template posted on the OCA’s website.