Just married in Virginia? There is one decision on this page worth more than all the rest: where you buy your certified marriage copies. The circuit court that issued your licence charges about $2.50 a copy. The state office in Richmond charges $15.00 for exactly the same document, and that price went up on July 1, 2026. Everything else in Virginia is straightforward, as long as you take the steps in the right order.
Cost & Time at a Glance
| Cost | About $22.50 for the core steps: roughly $2.50 for a certified marriage copy at the courthouse and $20 for the licence. Social Security is free. |
| Time | Social Security can often be done online, then one visit to a DMV customer service center. State-issued certificates take about 2 weeks by the normal route. |
| Deadline | Virginia sets no deadline for the licence name change. The 30 day rule in Va. Code 46.2-324 is for a change of address. |
What a Virginia Name Change Actually Costs
| Step | Virginia cost |
|---|---|
| Certified marriage copy, circuit court clerk | $2.50 for a one page copy |
| Certified marriage copy, state Office of Vital Records | $15.00 since July 1, 2026 |
| Certified marriage copy, bought at DMV | $17.00 |
| Social Security card | Free, and often available online in Virginia |
| Driver’s licence replacement | $20.00 |
| REAL ID upgrade, one time and optional | $10.00 |
| Substitute vehicle title | $15.00 |
| Replacement registration card | $2.00, free online |
| Voter registration | Free |
| State tax record | Free |
Fees for the licence, title and registration come straight from the official DMV fee chart. Time: Social Security is same day online, the licence is one customer service center visit, and a passport update is optional and federal: free with Form DS-5504 if your passport was issued less than a year ago, and routine processing currently runs 4 to 6 weeks. See our passport name change guide.
Step 1: Buy Certified Copies at the Courthouse, Not From Richmond
Virginia sells the same certified marriage record at two counters for very different prices, and almost every guide sends you to the expensive one.
The circuit court clerk for the city or county that issued your marriage licence works from the statutory fee schedule in Va. Code 17.1-275: $0.50 for making out a copy of a record under subdivision A 8, plus $2 for annexing the seal of the court and writing the certificate under subdivision A 9. That is the $2.50 figure Virginia clerks quote.
The state Office of Vital Records charges $15.00 per certified copy, a rate that took effect on July 1, 2026 (it was $12 before). You can order online, by mail, in person in Richmond, or through VitalChek, and normal processing runs about 2 weeks.
And there is a third counter that catches people out. Virginia DMV also sells vital records, and its own fee chart prices a Virginia birth, death, marriage or divorce certificate at $17.00. It is genuinely convenient, because you are going there anyway, and it is the most expensive of the three.
So: buy three copies at the courthouse. Three from the clerk costs about $7.50. The same three cost $45 from Richmond and $51 at DMV. Social Security wants to see one, DMV wants to see one, and the third is your insurance against losing one mid process.
Step 2: Social Security, and Virginia Means It
Virginia DMV puts this in capital letters: “You must FIRST process your name change with the Social Security Administration before visiting DMV.” Arrive at a customer service center before Social Security has processed the change and you will be sent home. Virginia DMV name change
The card is always free, and Virginia is one of the states where this can be done online through a personal my Social Security account. You need to be a U.S. citizen with citizenship shown on your Social Security record, 18 or older, holding a valid U.S. driver’s licence or state ID, with a U.S. mailing address and a state issued marriage certificate, changing only your last name. Otherwise it is Form SS-5 in person or by mail. Our Social Security name change guide has the full federal process.
Whichever route you take, the new card is mailed once the application is processed, typically within about 7 to 10 business days. Virginia has 30 Social Security field offices if you need to go in person:
| Office | Address | City | ZIP | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accomac | 22581 Center Pkwy | Accomac | 23301 | (866) 964-1019 |
| Alexandria | 5510 Cherokee Ave | Alexandria | 22312 | (888) 472-2402 |
| Bristol | 3280 Lee Highway | Bristol | 24202 | (866) 504-5013 |
| Charlottesville | 1470 Pantops Mountain Pl | Charlottesville | 22911 | (866) 613-3959 |
| Chesterfield | 600 Southlake Blvd | North Chesterfield | 23236 | (877) 773-7231 |
| Covington | 1010 S Craig Avenue | Covington | 24426 | (888) 527-9334 |
| Culpeper | 1014 S Main St | Culpeper | 22701 | (877) 531-4694 |
| Danville | 3295 Us Hwy 29 | Danville | 24540 | (866) 331-5398 |
| Farmville | 324 Commerce Road | Farmville | 23901 | (866) 269-4346 |
| Fredericksburg | 9915 Patriot Highway | Fredericksburg | 22407 | (888) 759-3919 |
| Hampton | 1521 Hardy Cash Dr | Hampton | 23666 | (866) 592-2669 |
| Harrisonburg | 351 North Mason Street | Harrisonburg | 22802 | (866) 964-1718 |
| Lynchburg | 7618 Timberlake Rd | Lynchburg | 24502 | (866) 964-6142 |
| Manassas | 9500 Center Street | Manassas | 20110 | (855) 210-0123 |
| Martinsville | 320 Commonwealth Blvd W | Martinsville | 24112 | (877) 405-9780 |
| Newport News | 600 Gaston Ct | Newport News | 23606 | (866) 331-9169 |
| Norfolk | 5850 Lake Herbert Dr | Norfolk | 23502 | (866) 858-6089 |
| Petersburg | 100 Poplar Drive | Petersburg | 23805 | (877) 803-6322 |
| Portsmouth | 3305 Airline Blvd | Portsmouth | 23701 | (866) 593-8851 |
| Reston | 10800 Parkridge Blvd | Reston | 20191 | (866) 829-3158 |
| Richmond Dtn | 1834 W Cary Street | Richmond | 23220 | (866) 679-6684 |
| Richmond East | 245 E. Williamsburg Rd | Sandston | 23150 | (866) 218-2307 |
| Roanoke | 612 S Jefferson Street | Roanoke | 24011 | (866) 701-8179 |
| South Boston | 2049 Hamilton Blvd | South Boston | 24592 | (888) 327-1407 |
| Staunton | 1600 N Coalter St | Staunton | 24401 | (888) 632-6896 |
| Suffolk | 502 Hillpoint Blvd | Suffolk | 23434 | (866) 835-7769 |
| Virginia Beach | 2875 Sabre St | Virginia Beach | 23452 | (888) 377-5237 |
| Winchester | 323 Hope Drive | Winchester | 22601 | (866) 331-2320 |
| Wise | 253 Ridgeview Road Sw | Wise | 24293 | (877) 405-7843 |
| Wytheville | 130 Withers Lane | Wytheville | 24382 | (888) 632-6893 |
Step 3: Your Virginia Driver’s Licence
$20.00 for the replacement licence, or $10 for an ID card. Add $10 once if you use the visit to upgrade to REAL ID, which has been required for domestic flights since May 7, 2025.
You can start it online, but you cannot finish it online. Virginia has a dedicated Start Name Change transaction that ends with a confirmation email: “Bring it with you when you visit a customer service center so we can access your application.”
At the counter you surrender your current licence, take a new photo, give a new signature, and present a certified name change document: a marriage certificate filed with a government agency or court, a divorce decree, or a court order. DMV also warns that your name must match across all your documents, so bring proof of every name change if it does not.
Getting REAL ID at the same visit saves a second trip: the REAL ID document list accepts your marriage certificate as the proof that links the name on your identity document to the name you use now.
No appointment needed. Virginia DMV offers services online, by appointment, or by walking in any day it is open, so you can book a slot or simply turn up.
Step 4: Your Car
- Change your name with DMV first. DMV says so explicitly on its substitute titles page: the title work follows the customer record, not the other way round.
- Substitute title, $15.00, using the Application for Replacement and Substitute Titles (VSA 67) with your current title and proof of the name change. A substitute title is how Virginia reissues a title whose information has changed, and once it is issued every earlier title is void.
- Replacement registration card, $2.00, and Virginia does not charge for it if you do it online.
Virginia does not set a deadline for this, and a Virginia title stays valid for the life of the vehicle while you keep it, so the car is the one step you can take at your own pace. Do it before you sell, refinance or insure anything in the new name.
Virginia State Taxes
Virginia does not pick your new name up automatically. Virginia Tax asks you to send “a copy of your current driver’s license or Social Security card that shows your legal name” to the Office of Customer Services, PO Box 1115, Richmond, VA 23218-1115, or by fax to 804.254.6113. There is no fee, and doing it before you file keeps your return from tripping over a name mismatch.
One More Card Virginia Handles Its Own Way
| Credential | What Virginia requires |
|---|---|
| Concealed handgun permit | Send a notarized statement that you have had a legal name change to the circuit court clerk who issued the permit. Va. Code 18.2-308.011(B) requires the clerk to issue the replacement within 10 business days, it keeps the same expiration date, and the clerk may charge no more than $5 |
Which Married Name Can You Take in Virginia?
For a married surname, Virginia asks for no court order at all. The certified marriage record is itself the name change document, which is why every agency in this guide asks to see it rather than a decree. Social Security will also accept a compound surname, hyphenated or not, built from the two surnames on that record, because the new name can be derived from the document itself.
The court route exists for names the marriage does not create, and it is Va. Code 8.01-217: a sworn application to the circuit court of the city or county where you live, setting out your residence, your parents’ names including your mother’s maiden name, your date and place of birth, and your criminal-record status. The court can grant it without a hearing where there is no fraudulent purpose and nobody’s rights are infringed. The same statute is what someone uses to resume a former name after a marriage ends.
It is also cheap by national standards. The Circuit Court Fee Schedule sets the clerk’s fee for a name change application at $20 under Va. Code 17.1-275(A)(24). Individual clerks can collect more once local add-ons are counted, so ask your own courthouse for the total, but the statutory figure is $20 rather than the hundreds some states charge.
Licensed Professional? Tell Your Board
Virginia splits professional licensing across two departments, and neither lets you change a name by simply editing your profile.
Nurses and other health professions
The Board of Nursing takes name changes on its own Nursing Name Change Form. Under 18VAC90-19-50(B) you must attach a copy of your marriage certificate, certificate of naturalization, or court order. Addresses can be self-served in the DHP online portal, but a name cannot.
Updating the board’s record is the required part. A replacement document is optional and priced separately: the Board of Nursing fee schedule lists a duplicate licence at $15 and a duplicate wall certificate at $25.
Trades and other occupations
Contractors, tradesmen, real estate agents, cosmetologists and the rest sit with the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, not DHP. DPOR takes a completed, printed and signed name change form with a copy of your marriage certificate, divorce decree or court order.
If you hold a contractor licence, treat this as urgent rather than optional: 18VAC50-22-230 requires a licensee to operate under the name on the licence and to report a name change in writing within 30 days.
Where to Get Your Certified Copy in Virginia
Virginia is unusual: it has 38 independent cities that sit outside any county, each with its own circuit court clerk. So “go to your county courthouse” is wrong advice for a big share of the state. Go to the circuit court clerk for the city or county that issued your marriage licence, whether or not you still live there:
| Jurisdiction | Type | Marriage record office |
|---|---|---|
| Fairfax County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Virginia Beach | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Chesapeake | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Norfolk | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Richmond | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Newport News | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Alexandria | Independent city | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Arlington County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Loudoun County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Prince William County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Henrico County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
| Chesterfield County | County | Circuit Court Clerk |
If the marriage was long ago or you cannot get back to that courthouse, the state Office of Vital Records can issue the same certified copy for $15.00.
Update Your Voter Registration
Update your record in the Virginia Citizen Portal, or let DMV pass the change along when you replace your licence.
Virginia is forgiving here. Each election has a registration deadline a couple of weeks out, but same day registration means that after it passes you can still register and vote in person by provisional ballot, during early voting or at your own polling place on Election Day. Check the deadline for the specific election, because it varies by election type.
Virginia Name Change Mistakes to Avoid
Paying $15 a copy when $2.50 was available
The most expensive habit in this whole guide. The state office and the circuit court clerk issue the same certified record. Unless you genuinely cannot reach the courthouse that issued your licence, buy there.
Going to DMV before Social Security
Virginia DMV will not process the change until Social Security has. This is the wasted trip Virginians make most often.
Expecting to finish at the kitchen table
You can start the name change online and you will get a confirmation email, but the transaction ends at a customer service center with a new photo and a new signature.
Expecting to keep the old licence as a souvenir
You surrender it at the counter.
Looking for a county courthouse when you live in an independent city
Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Richmond, Alexandria and 34 other cities are not part of any county. Your marriage record is with that city’s circuit court clerk.
Assuming Virginia Tax updates itself
It does not. Send a copy of your new licence or Social Security card to the Office of Customer Services, by mail or fax.
Believing the free passport window has closed
It has not. If your passport was issued less than a year ago, Form DS-5504 corrects the name at no charge. Plenty of pages claim that route disappeared. It did not.
That is the Virginia sequence: certified copies at the courthouse, Social Security, then one DMV visit for the licence and REAL ID, then the car, tax and voter records. Our name change checklist covers the banks and accounts that come after, and you can compare how other states handle it if you have moved recently.