How to Change the Name on Your Passport in the UK

Apply for a new British passport in the name you now use — there is no separate name-change product. Send your original signed change of name deed (deed poll) plus one piece of name-in-use evidence. Adult online applications cost £102, checked 13 August 2026. Your old passport stays valid until you renew.

GOV.UK frames this as getting a new passport, not editing the old one. You will be sent a new 10-year book. Time left on the old passport is not added. The name on the passport must match the name you use when you book travel.

Start the deed if you still need one: adult PDF £14.99 or the free template. Then work the who to notify checklist. If you only want the UK process, not the passport step, read name change UK and change of name deed.

Two things: evidence the name has changed, and evidence you use the new name for official purposes. For most people that is a wet-ink signed deed poll plus a bank statement, employer letter or similar document issued within the last 12 months. A valid driving licence can be older if issued after both the deed and the British passport you are renewing or replacing.

HMPO’s public guide says send a deed poll, statutory declaration or affidavit with proof of previous name changes and evidence you are using the new name — for example a payslip or a letter from your local council. Caseworker guidance (names: evidence to change a name) is more precise about dates:

For a typical UK deed-poll application, HMPO normally asks for one name-in-use record, although exceptions apply. A photocopy of the signed deed does not show that another organisation uses your new name. Ask an employer, bank or another accepted record-holder for qualifying evidence; DVLA deed-poll applications also need supporting evidence in the new name. Check the full HMPO evidence list and exceptions, checked 12 September 2026.

A later name change does not make a correctly issued naturalisation or registration certificate wrong. Keep the certificate and evidence linking its name to your new name for your passport application, with name-in-use evidence where required. HMPO checks the evidence; acceptance is not automatic. If the original certificate contains an error, check the separate Form RR correction route before buying a deed poll.

A naturalisation or registration certificate records the citizenship event. The Home Office use and change of names policy says event records cannot normally be amended, with exceptional circumstances. The HMPO citizenship-certificate guidance, updated 2 October 2026, says a certificate correctly issued from the original evidence will not be reissued with different details.

For a name changed after naturalisation or registration, keep the certificate with your marriage certificate, deed poll or other accepted linking evidence. HMPO assesses the link and the required name-in-use evidence; check the passport evidence requirements above. If you also hold foreign identity documents, read the foreign-national and dual-national name-alignment guidance and exceptions.

If the certificate was wrong when issued, use Form RR to request a correction and follow the current replacement or correction instructions. A lost or damaged certificate follows a replacement route; a later name change alone is not an original error. Check which route applies before purchasing a name-change document. These sources were checked 4 October 2026 for this section.

A change of name deed is the same document as an unenrolled deed poll, and HM Passport Office treats the two names as one instrument. Print three or four copies and sign each in wet ink in your old and new names, dated, with your witnesses. Then get a record showing the new name in use and apply with an original deed — never a photocopy of a signed one.

HMPO caseworker guidance says unenrolled deed polls and change of name deeds are the same thing and have no set format: they can be made online or drawn up yourself. Officers must accept one that is signed in the old and new names, dated, signed by at least one witness, has wet signatures, is contemporaneous and raises no doubts about genuineness. They must not make inappropriate comments about the company that issued an online deed. Full guide: change of name deed.

HMPO’s minimum is one witness. The GOV.UK model wording and our document use two witnesses aged 18 or over, and GOV.UK warns that some organisations will not accept a deed poll if a witness lives at the same address or is a close relative. Choosing witnesses: who can witness a deed poll.

GOV.UK says you can use a signed deed poll straight away as proof of your new name. The passport is a later records step, like the bank or HMRC:

1. Deed poll — print three or four copies and sign each one with your witnesses. Each signed printout is an original; e-signatures fail at HMPO and the DVLA.
2. Evidence in use — ask an employer, bank or another accepted record-holder for a document in your new name, and check the date rules above.
3. Passport — apply for a new passport (£102 adult online) with one original deed and that evidence. Keep another signed original at home.
4. Everything else — bank, HMRC, employer, NHS and the rest of the checklist. DVLA deed-poll applications also need evidence of the new name in use.

If HMPO asks for a new deed because the first was undated, not signed in both names, or photocopied, send a new, correctly signed original; do not backdate it. Enrolment is not required. How long each stage takes: how long a deed poll takes. Get the document: £14.99 PDF or free wording.

Yes. A deed poll is England and Wales practice, but a British passport is a United Kingdom document. HM Passport Office accepts a correctly executed unenrolled deed poll from people living in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. If you live in Scotland, National Records of Scotland lists other routes too: a statutory declaration, or recording the change if you were born or adopted in Scotland.

You do not need a separate “England name change” product. A British passport follows HMPO rules, not a county council. Living in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland is enough; you do not need to have been born in the UK. Foreign nationals can change the name they use on UK records; a foreign passport is still governed by that country. See changing your name as a foreign national in the UK.

People born or adopted in Scotland can also record a name change with National Records of Scotland, and HMPO accepts the resulting Scottish birth certificate as change-of-name evidence. For people born outside Scotland, NRS lists a deed poll or a statutory declaration; our guide to changing your name in Scotland compares the routes. If an organisation has asked for a declaration, see stat dec of name change. Eligibility: who can change their name. Trans applicants use the same deed, not a different HMPO product — trans name change UK.

There is no extra HM Passport Office surcharge for a name change. An adult standard 34-page passport is £102 online or £115.50 on paper, checked 13 August 2026. A child online application is £66.50. The deed poll is separate: free if you copy the government wording, or £14.99 for our PDF.

An eligible name-change application can use the more expensive 1 week Fast Track service. Check the eligibility and timing below before paying; the Premium service is not a name-change shortcut. Sourced tables: open data. Broader comparison: deed poll cost.

Preparing and signing your deed poll is separate from passport processing. For an urgent name change, check eligibility for 1 week Fast Track. HM Passport Office accepts name changes through Fast Track; its Digital Premium service does not allow changes to personal details. If an application is already pending, do not pay for another urgent application.

The GOV.UK urgent-passport service lists name changes under 1 week Fast Track. The week runs from the appointment, not from buying a deed poll. First adult passport applications and applications from outside the UK cannot use this service. Follow the official eligibility questions and bring the requested documents; extra checks can take longer.

HMPO’s name-change guidance distinguishes Fast Track from Digital Premium. The passport service terms also say a name change means the 1 day Premium four-hour collection time and refund do not apply. Do not choose Premium on the assumption that a deed poll makes you eligible.

Already applied? GOV.UK says a second urgent application will not get your passport to you sooner and incurs an administration charge. Use HM Passport Office’s advice route for the pending application instead. For urgent travel involving medical treatment, government business, or a seriously ill or deceased friend or family member, GOV.UK directs applicants to the Passport Adviceline.

Gather name-in-use evidence before applying and check processing times before booking. The booking must match the passport you will carry. Stages and evidence order: how long a deed poll takes. Licence route: driving licence.

Yes. HMPO caseworker guidance says unenrolled deed polls and change of name deeds — including those done online — must be accepted if they are dated, wet-ink signed in both names, and witnessed. Rejections usually come from e-signatures, missing dates, or sending a photocopy of a signed deed.

GOV.UK warns that some organisations may not accept a deed poll you made yourself. For passports, the published caseworker test is execution, not whether you paid a company. Officers are told to request a new deed if it is not signed in both names, not witnessed, not wet-ink, not dated, or they have doubts it is genuine.

Common problems: electronic signatures, a missing date, a deed signed in only one name, or posting the only original and then having nothing for the bank. Some organisations also refuse a witness who is a close relative or lives at your address. Print and sign spares. Our £14.99 deed poll uses the government model wording with an instruction card. Enrolment is not what makes HMPO say yes — see enrolled vs unenrolled.

Ask an employer, bank or another accepted record-holder to update your details and provide a document in your new name. Check HM Passport Office’s current evidence list and date requirements. An updated driving licence can qualify, but DVLA deed-poll applications themselves need supporting evidence of the new name in use.

HMPO does not need proof that you have changed the name with every agency. One official-use document is enough for a UK application. International applications from some country groups need more — check the application instructions if you are applying from overseas.

Do not try to use a photocopy of the signed deed as name-in-use evidence. Full order: who to notify checklist. If you claim Universal Credit, report your name change promptly and coordinate bank details with the service — benefits name change.

HM Passport Office accepts a marriage or civil partnership certificate when taking your partner’s surname, including double-barrelled names. A new blend or another separate name change may need different evidence. A passport can be postdated before the ceremony, but the old passport is cancelled and the new one cannot be used early.

The same straight-swap rule applies to a civil partnership certificate. Either spouse can take the other’s surname this way. If you are travelling on honeymoon in the old name, do not update the passport until you return.

HM Passport Office includes double-barrelled names in the certificate route. A new blend or separate first- or middle-name change may need a deed poll or other evidence. Guide: change name after marriage, civil partnership, double-barrelled surname.

Yes, with a child deed poll or other accepted evidence, plus consent from everyone who holds parental responsibility. A child standard 34-page passport is £66.50 online, with no extra name-change surcharge. If one parental-responsibility holder refuses, that is a court application, not a PDF we can sell.

From age 16 the young person makes their own adult deed poll. Under 16, HMPO looks at parental responsibility. An enrolled deed poll issued by the High Court can already show that consent was dealt with under the Enrolment of Deeds Regulations — that is not the usual route, and it publishes the child’s details.

Pack: child deed poll £17.99. Consent rules: parental responsibility and does the father have to agree? Adoption certificates can already show the new name — child’s name after adoption.

No. HM Passport Office accepts unenrolled deed polls and treats them as the same as a change of name deed. Adult enrolment (age 18 or over) at the Royal Courts of Justice costs £53.05, publishes your details in The Gazette, and still requires name-in-use evidence. Skip it unless a named organisation has demanded the Gazette record.

Enrolled deeds are accepted, but they are not stronger for HMPO. They still need name-in-use evidence. Some organisations may require enrolment; check their requirements before paying. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds can make their own unenrolled deed. Adult enrolment is for people aged 18 or over; under-18s use the separate child-enrolment process, except that GOV.UK says a 16- or 17-year-old who is or has been married or in a civil partnership enrols as an adult.

Comparison: enrolled vs unenrolled. If you already enrolled and lost the paper, that is a different problem — lost deed poll.

Normally, the name on your foreign passport or identity document must match the name you want on your British passport. HM Passport Office assesses exceptions when alignment is not possible or would create particular difficulties or risks. Check that evidence route before buying a deed poll. Ask the visa issuer whether an old-passport visa remains usable.

HMPO’s foreign-document alignment guidance covers legal, cultural, social and technical restrictions, protection risks and an administrative fairness assessment. Explain the mismatch and provide the evidence HMPO requests. An exception is assessed on your circumstances; a UK deed poll does not automatically override a foreign document’s name.

If contacting your national authorities could put you at risk, get appropriate advice before doing so. Our foreign-national guide’s protection section explains the distinction between British-passport and UKVI evidence routes. Do not assume that you must approach an authority you fled.

You do not need a new British passport merely because you changed address, job, title, or marital status without changing your name, or because you became a dual national. Fill in and sign a name-change application in the name you want printed. A name-only change does not itself require a countersignature; if you cannot be recognised from the old photo, check the additional identity-confirmation requirements.