Changing your name after marrying abroad

Can I change my name with a marriage certificate from abroad?#

Yes. GOV.UK says a marriage or civil partnership abroad is recognised in the UK if it was lawful in the country where it took place and would be allowed under UK law, and its guidance that the certificate, not a deed poll, is what you send when you take a spouse's surname makes no distinction between a UK certificate and a foreign one. HM Passport Office accepts a marriage certificate as evidence of a change of name provided it shows the link between your old name and your new one, and its staff check each country's profile to see which certificates are acceptable and legal there.

There is no UK version to swap it for. GOV.UK says only marriages and civil partnerships that take place in the UK are registered here, with one exception: a consular marriage at a British embassy, high commission or consulate is registered in the UK and comes with a UK certificate.

Which certificate counts?#

The official one, issued by the authority that registers marriages in that country. GOV.UK says the local authorities register a marriage in their national civil records, and to ask the person conducting the ceremony how to get the certificate. HM Passport Office's guidance, in its section on weddings on board ship, tells staff not to accept the marriage celebration certificates that tour operators supply, because they are not official, and makes it your responsibility to register the marriage so that it is legally recognised. A religious certificate counts where that marriage is legal: the guidance accepts Islamic marriage certificates issued in the UK, or overseas in countries where Islamic marriages are legal.

Send the original. HM Passport Office's guidance says evidence of a change of name must be an original document or a replacement, GOV.UK's passport pages say photocopies are not accepted, and DVLA asks for originals too.

What if it is not in English or Welsh?#

Send a certified translation with the original. GOV.UK's pages on a first adult passport and a child's passport ask for certified translations of any documents not in English or Welsh, and GOV.UK describes a certified translation as one on which the translator confirms in writing that it is a "true and accurate translation of the original document", with the date and their full name and contact details. HM Land Registry is the most specific: a certificate from a marriage abroad that is not in English must come with a verified translation, signed, stamped and dated by a professional linguist or translation agency.

Do I need an apostille?#

Not for HM Passport Office: its guidance on change of name evidence does not mention one, and neither do DVLA's page or the banks' pages we checked. An apostille confirms that a signature, stamp or seal on a document is genuine, for use in another country, and GOV.UK says the UK's Legalisation Office cannot legalise documents issued outside the UK; they are legalised in the country that issued them. If an organisation here does ask for one, it comes from the country where you married.

Travelling to a wedding abroad#

A post-dated passport, issued in your new name before the ceremony, does not suit a wedding abroad. HM Passport Office's notes say your current passport is cancelled when you apply and the new one cannot be used until the ceremony, so you would have nothing valid to travel out on. Travel there and back on your current passport, with the tickets in the name it shows, as GOV.UK requires, and apply for the new one when you are home.

Your passport after the wedding#

The passport in your married name is a new one, and the certificate goes with the application: GOV.UK's guidance for a passport after a marriage or civil partnership says to send it, including for a double-barrelled name, and HM Passport Office's guidance says it needs no other evidence of the change when the certificate shows the link between your names. An adult passport costs £102 online from the UK, and arrives usually within three weeks, according to HM Passport Office. If you also hold the nationality of another country, GOV.UK says the name on that passport must match the one you want on your British passport, so change it first: dual nationals.

DVLA, banks and the property register#

DVLA changes the name on a driving licence for nothing. GOV.UK says to send the original documents that confirm your new name, not photocopies or laminated certificates, and that any certificate must be signed and dated; its page says nothing specific about certificates issued abroad.

The banks' pages list a marriage certificate without saying where it must come from. Lloyds and Halifax take originals or certified copies and post originals back; HSBC asks for another document in your new name if your marriage certificate is an online one, and for a professional translation of a divorce decree not in English, so ask your bank about a marriage certificate that is not.

If you own property in England or Wales, HM Land Registry updates the register free on form AP1, with the verified translation described above for a certificate not in English.

What if the certificate does not show my new name?#

HM Passport Office accepts a marriage certificate only where it shows the link between your old and new names, and for a double-barrelled surname, how the new name was made, with the spelling unchanged. That includes taking just part of your spouse's surname: the guidance's own example is Sue Smith, who marries David Jones da Silva and becomes Sue Jones. It does not cover a name the certificate does not contain: your spouse's surname in a spelling the certificate does not use, perhaps because it was written in another alphabet, two surnames joined into one word, or your own surname kept as a middle name. Where a difference comes from the naming customs of the country concerned, the guidance tells staff to check that country's conventions, so ask before assuming the certificate will not do.

When a deed poll is the simpler route#

A deed poll records your old name and your new name in one UK document, so it helps when:

• the certificate does not show the name you want;
• there is no official certificate, after a ceremony that was never legally registered, because a deed poll does not depend on the marriage at all;
• you would rather not send an original foreign certificate, which may be hard to replace, to every organisation. HM Passport Office and DVLA still want the original deed, but others, such as Lloyds, take certified copies.

HM Passport Office's guidance requires staff to accept an unenrolled deed poll if it is signed in both names, in wet ink, witnessed and dated. A few banks, Lloyds, Halifax and Santander among them, accept one only with a passport or driving licence in the new name, so the passport comes first there. GOV.UK says a permanent resident overseas cannot change their name by deed poll.