Does a UK deed poll work abroad? Using your new name in another country

Does a UK deed poll work abroad?#

Usually it can be made to, but whether it is accepted is for the country you are dealing with. A deed poll is evidence of a change of name under UK law, and it is on that basis that HM Passport Office, DVLA and most UK banks accept one. An official abroad applies their own country's rules, and the FCDO warns that British people may find it difficult to use services abroad after a change of name, including a change from a maiden to a married name, or when their name differs from one official document to another.

Often the difficulty is a difference between legal systems. The FCDO's guidance for UK nationals in Italy explains that Italians very rarely change their name, that Italian authorities expect one name for life with every document showing it exactly, and that they treat the original UK birth certificate as the main identity document for some services, such as applying for citizenship. The FCDO's own letters confirm that a UK birth certificate is not reissued after a change of name. So the official sees one name on the birth certificate and another on everything else, and asks what joins them.

This guide is about using a name you have already changed. If you live abroad and have not changed it yet, start with can I change my name by deed poll if I live outside the UK?, because GOV.UK says a permanent resident overseas cannot use a deed poll at all.

What are the FCDO's change of name letters?#

They are standard letters, sometimes called information notes, that British embassies, high commissions and consulates publish to explain UK law on names to officials abroad. GOV.UK says that if a local authority asks you for a name or change of name certificate, you can give it one of these letters instead, since the UK has no such certificate. They are free to download from GOV.UK. Stamped and signed versions cost £50 and are available only in some countries; ask through the FCDO's online enquiry form.

Most of the letters make the same points in the same order:

• under UK law you may change your surname at will, so long as you actually become known by the new one;
• you may take a new forename without formalities, unless the purpose is fraudulent or unlawful;
• on marriage a couple may keep their surnames, take one, or join both, and the marriage certificate supports the change;
• a deed poll is optional, and UK public authorities accept other proper evidence that you have used a name for all purposes;
• birth and marriage certificates are not reissued to show a later change of name.

Each says it is general and not a definitive statement of law. Two details are worth knowing before you hand one over. The letters describe a deed poll as a deed enrolled at the High Court, and none of those we read mentions the unenrolled kind that almost everyone uses, though they do call the procedure optional (enrolled and unenrolled deed polls). And their paragraph on children speaks of the parent with custody, where in England and Wales a child's surname now needs the agreement of everyone with parental responsibility, or a court order (the law on changing your name).

Which countries have a letter?#

These 29, as listed on GOV.UK on 12 November 2026, with the language each letter is written in. Whether a country is a party to the Apostille Convention comes from the Hague Conference's status table, last updated 30 June 2026, and decides how a UK document is legalised for it.

A few are different from the rest:

• Mexico. The note, in Spanish, says the embassy was told by London to stop issuing oaths and affirmations confirming the identity of British nationals whose documents show different names, and that Mexican institutions may ask for the original birth certificate and, where it applies, the marriage or divorce certificate instead.
• Qatar. The letter covers surnames and marriage only.
• Spain. It is a 2016 statement of law in Spanish. The FCDO's guide for Spain says consulates there no longer issue an informative note, and that you can print this one and show it to the authorities.
• Italy. The letter was updated in March 2026, and the FCDO publishes a separate guide for UK nationals in Italy, with case studies.
• Russia and Belarus. GOV.UK says paper apostilles cannot currently be returned to addresses in either country, so use the e-Apostille or have the document returned elsewhere.

The same GOV.UK page has two name discrepancy notes, for Brazil and Vietnam, which explain that British consular staff there cannot issue anything confirming that differently written names belong to one person (one and the same person), and a note on naming children for Hungary.

How do I get a deed poll ready for use abroad?#

1. Ask the official exactly what they want. GOV.UK suggests checking whether they need the original or a certified copy, whether it must be signed by a particular person such as a UK notary or solicitor, whether a paper apostille or an e-Apostille will do, and whether they want one apostille for a bundle or one for each document. The legalisation fee is not refunded if a document turns out not to be eligible.
2. Have it certified in the UK. A deed poll is a private document, so GOV.UK's Legalisation Office will legalise it only once a UK public official, such as a notary or solicitor, has certified it. The FCDO's guidance on documents adds that a certified copy made for legalisation needs a notary based in the UK. What is a notary public? covers who they are and what they charge.
3. Get the apostille. The Legalisation Office checks the signature or seal against its records and attaches the apostille: £45 for a paper one, usually within 25 working days plus return postage, or £35 for an e-Apostille, within 2 working days, issued on a PDF that a UK notary or solicitor has signed electronically. Whoever receives it can check it with GOV.UK's apostille verification service.
4. Outside the Apostille Convention, add two stamps. For Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates or any other country that is not a party, the FCDO describes three steps: the apostille, then a stamp from that country's embassy in London, then approval from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
5. Translate it if asked. British embassies do not translate documents. The FCDO's guidance for Italy gives the order as legalise first, then have an official translation made, and its Spain guide describes Spanish authorities asking for a sworn translation, made by a translator registered with the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The FCDO keeps lists of translators by country.
6. Add the letter for that country, and any of the other proof below that fits your case.

Using a UK deed poll abroad: notaries, apostilles and legalisation explains the difference between a witness, a certified copy, a notary and an apostille, and whether a deed poll can be notarised online.

What else proves you are the same person?#

The FCDO points to three documents that join old and new names when an official abroad is not satisfied:

• A data subject rights request to HM Passport Office. It is free, and the reply confirms the names on the passports you have held. The FCDO's Spain guide says this is what to use when Spanish authorities ask for a certificado de concordancia confirming that two names are the same person, and that they usually want HM Passport Office's letter legalised and given a sworn translation into Spanish.
• A police certificate from ACRO. The FCDO's Italy guide notes that it lists your other names under "other names", and gives an example of an applicant for Italian citizenship whose birth certificate showed his forenames in a different order, for whom it helped.
• Your marriage certificate, for a married surname. The FCDO letters describe it as supporting evidence for either spouse's change of surname.

The Italy guide also suggests making every document match, which for some people means a British passport back in the name on their birth certificate; passports are applied for direct, on GOV.UK. Embassies themselves can do little: the FCDO says they cannot legalise or translate documents, witness signatures only in exceptional cases, and in Commonwealth countries cannot administer oaths, affirmations or affidavits at all. For those, a local notary is the route, and the FCDO says it is usually cheaper and easier.

Marriage, residency, citizenship and property abroad#

Getting married. GOV.UK says to check the laws of the country where you will marry and the documents it needs to show you are free to marry. Its online service for those documents, such as a certificate of no impediment, can be used only with a valid British passport, so the name in your passport is where the paperwork starts. If you change your name after marrying abroad, changing your name after marrying abroad covers the foreign certificate.

Residency. Authorities can be strict about how recent a legalised document is. The FCDO's Spain guide says that for a residence card based on marriage, the Foreigners' Office usually wants the marriage certificate issued and legalised in the 3 months before the appointment, with any translation by a sworn translator. Ask whether a time limit applies to your deed poll's apostille too.

Citizenship. The FCDO's Italy guide describes an applicant for Italian citizenship who had changed his name by deed poll years earlier, and whose application stalled because his birth certificate did not match his other documents. He had the deed poll translated and apostilled, presented it with the FCDO's informative note, and his application progressed.

Property and banking. The FCDO's guide to finding a notary abroad says authorities in other countries sometimes ask for notarised documents to open a bank account or to buy or sell property. We found no FCDO guidance on changing the name on a property register abroad, so ask the notary or lawyer handling the purchase what they need; the FCDO publishes lists of English-speaking lawyers in each country.

Changing the name in a foreign passport or ID card#

Only the country that issued a passport or identity card can change the name in it, under its own rules, and some will not accept a UK deed poll at all. Can I use a UK deed poll for a passport from another country? covers India, Nigeria and Pakistan and what to ask any other embassy, and changing your name with two nationalities covers holding a British passport alongside another one.