Can I change my name by deed poll if I live abroad?#
Not if your permanent home is abroad. GOV.UK's deed poll guidance says, in one sentence, that if you are a permanent resident overseas you cannot change your name by deed poll; you change it the way the country where you live provides. The reasoning is that a deed poll is a creature of the law of England and Wales, and a person whose permanent home is in another country changes their name under that country's law, whatever passport they hold.
GOV.UK does not define "permanent resident", and in practice the question is where your permanent home is. Someone posted abroad for a year, studying abroad, or between homes is not a permanent resident of the other country. Someone who has settled there is. The eligibility checker asks the question for you.
How does a British citizen living abroad change their name?#
If your permanent home is abroad, change your name the way that country provides, and then apply for a British passport in the new name through HM Passport Office's overseas service, which accepts evidence of a change of name made under local law. GOV.UK's overseas passport guidance sets out what to send from each country.
If you keep a home in the UK and are abroad temporarily, you can make a UK deed poll in the ordinary way. We post to a UK address or abroad (International, £14.99, 5 to 7 working days); a deed sent to a UK address can be forwarded to you, and it is signed and witnessed wherever you are, in front of two adults who meet the usual tests.
Can a foreign national living in the UK use a deed poll?#
You can make a UK deed poll, and it is valid here: a bank, an employer, DVLA or HMRC will accept it as evidence of your change of name. What it cannot do is change the name in a passport issued by another country. Only that country can do that, and its embassy or consulate in the UK will tell you whether it accepts a UK deed poll, with or without an apostille, or requires its own procedure. It is worth asking before you order, because a UK passport in one name and a foreign passport in another is exactly the mismatch airlines and border staff notice.
Will a UK deed poll be accepted in another country?#
Authorities abroad may ask for a notarised copy, an apostille or both. Using a UK deed poll abroad explains what each is and who does it.
When an authority abroad asks for it, what is a notary public, and when does a deed poll need one? explains the next step.
