Changing your name with DVLA: your driving licence

What to send#

Not online: a change of name is form D1 by post, and it is free. DVLA's online service changes an address, and GOV.UK says that if you want to change your name at the same time you have to apply by post.

GOV.UK's instructions are short. Fill in form D1, "Application for a driving licence", if you hold a car or motorcycle licence, or form D2 if you hold a lorry or bus licence. Both come from most Post Offices; they are not downloadable. Send the completed form to DVLA with:

• your photocard or paper driving licence;
• any original documents that confirm your new name, which for most people is the deed poll itself, or a marriage certificate;
• with a deed poll or a statutory declaration, one document showing your new name, explained below.

What do I send to DVLA? turns this into a list for your own envelope, with the address and the cost.

GOV.UK says not to send photocopies of documents or laminated certificates, and that any certificates must be signed and dated. A certified copy of a deed poll is a copy, so send the original deed. GOV.UK says identity documents come back separately from the new licence, by second class post, and that you can enclose a stamped, self-addressed Special Delivery or Signed For envelope if you want to track them.

With a deed poll, one more document#

GOV.UK's page on the identity documents DVLA needs adds a rule for anyone using a deed poll or a statutory declaration: you must also send one document showing your new name. It can be one issued in the last 12 months, such as a letter from HMRC, an official letter from your employer, a school report, a letter from a government department or your council, a UK bank statement, a child benefit record, or a utility bill, including a mobile phone, broadband or streaming subscription bill. Alternatively, you can give your UK passport number, or send a non-GB driving licence, a non-UK passport or a national identity card; GOV.UK says that document must still be valid and have been issued after your deed poll and, if you already have a GB licence, after your most recent licence.

GOV.UK sets this rule for a deed poll or a statutory declaration, not for a marriage or civil partnership certificate. With a deed poll, the simplest extra document is often your new passport: once it arrives, its number is enough.

Where to send it#

Applications for a car or motorcycle licence go to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN. Applications for a lorry or bus licence go to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BR.

What it costs#

Nothing. GOV.UK says it does not cost anything to change your name or gender on your driving licence. Two things do carry a fee: changing your photo at the same time is £17 by cheque or postal order payable to DVLA, with no fee if you are over 70 or hold a medical short-period licence; and if you cannot send your old licence because it is lost, stolen or destroyed, you say what happened on the form and include £20.

While you wait#

You can still drive. GOV.UK says so in as many words, so there is no reason to delay the application, and no reason to worry about the gap. DVLA does not publish a fixed processing time for a change of name.

If you have a paper licence#

You must send a recent printed passport-type photo with the form, because the replacement will be a photocard.

Changing a title too#

The process is the same if you want to change your title, for example from Ms to Dr, and GOV.UK says you do not need to send evidence unless it is a hereditary title.

The log book is separate#

If a vehicle is registered to you, GOV.UK says you must also update your V5C registration certificate when you change your name. That is a separate application from the licence, using the log book itself, and it is free. Send it after the licence, or at the same time if you do not need the log book in the meantime.

The order to do things in#

DVLA wants the original deed poll and so does HM Passport Office, and each posts it back, so they go one at a time. Most people send the passport application first, because it takes longer, and because the new passport's number then serves as the extra document DVLA asks for with a deed poll. DVLA's own timing is the shorter of the two.

Northern Ireland#

GOV.UK notes there is a different process in Northern Ireland, where licences are issued by the Driver and Vehicle Agency rather than DVLA.