The processing of Philippine passports is guided by the Philippine Passport Act of 1996 and other relevant regulations, including the Civil Code of the Philippines.

Married applicants who wish to use the surnames of their husbands in their passports are advised that the following format will be used in accordance with Article 370 of the Civil Code of the Philippines which states that:

A married woman may use her maiden first name and surname and add her husband’s surname,

To illustrate:

When Juana Santos Cruz was single, her name followed the following format:

JUANA/ SANTOS/ CRUZ
First Name/ Middle Name/ Surname

If Juana Santos Cruz marries John Doe, should Juana choose to use her husband’s surname, her new full name would be:

JUANA/ CRUZ/ DOE/
First Name/ Middle Name/ Surname

Under Philippine regulations, for single women and men, the middle name refers to the Surname of the person’s mother. Once a woman marries and decides to use the surname of her husband, the maiden middle name (i.e. Santos) is automatically dropped and is replaced by her maiden surname (i.e. Cruz).

In Australia, however, a person’s middle name refers to his second name. Applying such Australian regulation to Juana Santos Cruz who marries John Doe, she drops her maiden surname (i.e. Cruz) and instead carries her maiden middle name (i.e Santos) making her new full name, Juana Santos Doe, contrary to Philippine Laws. As such, this regulation cannot be applied to a Philippine passport.

Married applicants who are already using their married names in some of their Australian-issued identification cards/documents adopting Australian regulation are advised to apply for a Change of Name with the Australian Registry of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in the State/Territory where they reside to harmonize records with the name reflected on their Philippine passport.