What changed in UK name change rules in 2026

What changed in 2026, at a glance#

Nothing in 2026 changed how a deed poll works. It is still binding once signed and witnessed, enrolment is still optional at £53.05, and the list of changes in HM Passport Office's August 2026 guidance includes none to its test for accepting one. What changed were the fees around a change of name, how a child's birth is re-registered after the parents marry, and the rules for some people under the supervision of the courts.

October 2026#

1 October: licence conditions reworded. The standard conditions for anyone released on licence from a fixed-length prison sentence were rewritten in plainer words. One requires you to tell your supervising officer about any name you use that differs from the names on your licence. A new condition covers passports: tell the officer about any passport you hold, and get permission before applying for a new one. Affects: people on licence in England and Wales. Source: SI 2026/911, article 2. Changing your name with a criminal record.

1 October: right to work checks reach further. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 extended the checks from employees to workers, individual sub-contractors and online platforms that match service providers with customers. The Home Office guide in force from that day tells checkers to make sure any difference in names across documents is explained by supplementary evidence, naming a deed poll, and says they "may choose to retain copies". Affects: anyone starting work under those arrangements whose documents are in different names. Source: the employer's guide of 1 October 2026. Changing your name at work.

August and September 2026#

HM Passport Office guidance updated. Version 28.0 of its evidence guidance, published on 28 August, says the document showing you use your new name must show the part of the name that changed, and that staff ask for another parent's consent for a child only if your documents do not already include it. Version 36.0 of its change of name guidance, published on 3 September, says taking part of a partner's surname is accepted with the marriage or civil partnership certificate, and that dropping the hyphen from a double-barrelled surname without evidence is accepted only on a first passport. Affects: passport applicants with a new name. The deed poll test itself did not change. Changing your name with HM Passport Office.

July 2026#

13 July: re-registering a birth after marriage no longer changes the surname. Parents who marry or form a civil partnership after a birth must still re-register it. Before 13 July the General Register Office and its Northern Ireland counterpart would change the child's surname at the same time; from that date, HM Passport Office's birth registration guidance (version 19.0) says the parents must use a deed poll or change of name deed if they want a new surname. Affects: parents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Changing a child's surname to the mother's or father's.

13 July: court fees rose. The fee for an application under the Children Act 1989, including a specific issue order on form C100 and a parental responsibility order on form C1, went from £263 to £270. The fees order first named 6 July; a second order moved it to 13 July before it took effect. The same order raised the High Court's fee for a staff search of enrolled deeds from £5 to £11, and for a copy from 25p to 50p. Affects: parents who cannot agree on a child's name, and anyone searching the enrolment records. Source: SI 2026/642 and SI 2026/665; HMCTS form EX50. Using form C100 to change a child's name.

June 2026#

29 June: names on community and suspended sentence orders. Anyone on a community order, or a suspended sentence order with community requirements, must tell their responsible officer of any name they use that is not in the order, as soon as reasonably practicable, whenever the order was made. Affects: people on those orders in England and Wales. Source: Crime and Policing Act 2026, section 192, amending sections 215 and 301 of the Sentencing Act 2020.

April 2026#

10 April: the EU's Entry/Exit System fully running. The European Commission says the system, which started on 12 October 2025, became fully operational on 10 April 2026 and replaces passport stamping. GOV.UK says it needs nothing from you before you travel. Neither says anything about a change of name, so the usual rule holds: travel on the passport your booking matches. Travelling on a passport in your old name.

8 April: passport fees rose. An adult passport went from £94.50 to £102 online and from £107 to £115.50 by post; a child's from £61.50 to £66.50 online and from £74 to £80 by post. There is still no separate fee for a change of name. Source: SI 2026/311 and GOV.UK's passport fees page. Passport fees for a name change.

February 2026#

25 February: electronic travel authorisation enforced. Visitors who need an ETA are now refused boarding without one. The Home Office says British and Irish citizens, including dual citizens, do not need one but must present a valid British passport or a certificate of entitlement. Dual nationals and a change of name.

Coming next: not yet in force#

None of these applies yet, and each date is the government's own expectation.

• Sex offenders' name changes. The Crime and Policing Act 2026, passed on 29 April 2026, will require registered sex offenders to notify a new name at least 7 days before using it where reasonably practicable (section 118), and will let a chief officer of police require some of them to get authorisation before applying for a passport, driving licence or immigration document in a new name (section 125). Both await a commencement date. Criminal records and a change of name.
• ETIAS. GOV.UK expects the EU's travel authorisation to start operating from autumn 2026, at a fee of 20 euros, for anyone travelling to the Schengen area on a UK passport. No date has been announced.
• Subscription rules. The government says new rules on subscription contracts under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 will start in January 2027. Is someone charging me every month for a deed poll?