In the UK, changing your name is a matter of law. There is no “official” place where you can go to register your new name. In law, your name is legally established by usage. In theory you can just start using a new name, and gradually become known by it.
However, to update official documents such as your passport, driving license, and other official documents, you will need to prove that you have changed your name and when.
A Deed Poll (or Change of Name Deed) is a legal document whereby you promise to give up your old name and use a new name. It is accepted by all government bodies in the UK, including HM Passport Office, the DVLA, banks and other organisations.
“Deed Poll”, “Change of Name Deed”, and “Deed of Change of Name” are different terms for the same thing.
You can use a Deed Poll to change any part of your name, add or remove names and hyphens, or change spelling.
You need to sign and date your Deed Poll, and it must be witnessed.
You can use your Deed Poll to apply for a new passport and driving license, and to update all your other documents and records.
There are 2 ways to get a deed poll. You can either:
Deed Polls do not have to be enrolled or registered anywhere — they are private documents.
There is no central identity register in the UK. In law, a change of name is legally established by usage. A deed poll is merely documentary evidence. A copy of the Deed Poll will be kept in the Enrolment Books of the Senior Courts of England & Wales, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
Deed Polls that have been enrolled at the Royal Courts of Justice remain there for 5–10 years, after which they are taken to the National Archives at Kew in Surrey.
Your old and new name, and home address, will be put on the public record. However, the enrolment process does not mean that your change of name is more “official”, nor does it affect the legal status of your name change. It is simply a matter of making a permanent, public record of your change of name.
Whether you choose to use the Deed Poll service or not, if you want to use the document overseas you will likely need to legalise via an Apostille. Simply send us your document and we will Apostille, and if necessary attest at the UK embassy of the country in which the document is intended to be used.
Our Apostille service includes;
Our Embassy Attestation service includes;
Our Solicitor Attestation service includes;
In order to offer you a quote, we will first need to see your document(s) to assess the number of words, the language it is currently in and the language you require the translation in. We will then get back to you within 24 hours with a quote.
To get started click “Get a Free Quote” and follow the instructions.
Change of name deed is not available for this service.
I found Prime Apostille services very efficient and trustworth. Between sendind my docs from Brazil and receiving them apostilled back took less than one month. Through all the time I received helpfull guidances from Prime Apostille office giving me reassurance of the safety of their procedures.
I had one paper legalised and two apostilled. Prime Apostille sorted out what was a daunting and complicated process with simplicity and ease.
The whole process took around 2 weeks They kept me informed all the way. It was well worth paying a little extra rather than doing it direct myself.
I strongly recommend their services.
I received a very professional and expedient service by Prime Apostille. Tharindu, helped drafting a cover letter and allowed me to drop by the office and pick the documents up, instead of mailing them over. I am very happy and do recommend this business’ services.
I didn’t know how to legalise a document but in Prime Apostille they took care of everything. The whole process took 4 weeks (since I paid for the service till I received the certificate at home). They kept me informed all the way.
I strongly recommend their services.
I was very satisfied with the efficient service provided by Prime Apostille. Mr. Ellepola, the solicitor who assisted with obtaining Apostilles for my documents, was quick in responding by email, keeping me informed throughout the process.
Please note that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office is currently experiencing severe delays with issuing apostilles. It is currently taking around 20 - 25 working days to apostille a document through the FCDO and, as a result, our standard processing times are taking longer than usual.
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If your documents have not been certified by a Solicitor or Notary Public, please ensure that the documents you send to us are originals. Our in-house solicitors will create certified copies for you free of charge. Your original documents will subsequently be returned to you together with your legalised/attested documents.
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Unfortunately, we are only able to assist with documents registered in England and Wales.
Unfortunately, we are only able to assist with documents registered in England and Wales.
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Your application must be endorsed by a suitable individual that meets the following criteria:
This individual can be of any nationality and can reside anywhere in the world.
Your endorser may be contacted to verify the authenticity of your application. As part of this validation we may need to send the photograph you submit to confirm that it is a true likeness of you.
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Proof of Address
A list of suitable proofs of address can be found here.
*The date on these documents should be within the last three months and they must contain the name and address of the applicant.
Passport Photograph
You may find guidance on the format of passport style photographs by clicking here.
Passport Copy
Colour copies of passport(s) / travel documents must clearly show your photograph, personal information, expiry date, nationality, machine readable zone, extension pages and signature (if applicable). Copies of other official photographic identity documents should show as many of these features as possible. Black and white copies will not be accepted.
Letter of Authority
In order for us to make an application for an ACRO Certificate on your behalf, we require you to complete and upload a signed Letter of Authority which we can send to the ACRO Service as confirmation of the fact that we are authorised to act for you.
You may download a blank Letter of Authority by clicking here.
Please complete the relevant sections of the Letter of Authority and sign/date it where indicated at the bottom. Once you have done this, please email a copy of the completed Letter of Authority to us on info@primeapostille.com.
We will not be able to process your application until we have received this document from you.
The Qualifications Office of the Consulate General of Italy in London only issues "Dichiarazioni di Valore" (Declarations of Value, DV) of British qualifications - issued by recognised educational institutions (schools, colleges and universities) or professional bodies - that fall under the British education/university system.
Scotland and Northern Ireland fall within the jurisdiction of the Consulate General in Edinburgh.
The "DV" is neither an equivalent of an Italian qualification nor a comparability certificate. It will be up to the relevant Italian institutions (Ministry of Education, Uffici Scolastici Provinciali, Universities, etc.) to subsequently declare if a foreign qualification has a similar Italian equivalent: this is called "equipollenza" (equivalence/certificate of comparability). Please note that the "Declaration of Value" can only be requested for already-completed study cycles (e.g., A-level, Bachelor, Master, etc.).
If you wish for Prime Apostille to obtain a Declaration of Value on your behalf, please CLICK HERE.
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To get documents legalised for use outside of the UK, many countries ask that you get your documents attested by their UK based Embassy.
If you need your documents to be attested for use outside of the UK, please select the embassy from the list below.
Please note, the cost of our embassy attestation service is dependent on the specific embassy needing the attestation. Once you select the embassy our online ordering system will provide you with the total cost of service.
The cost of our embassy attestation service is dependent on the specific embassy needing the attestation. Once you select the embassy our online ordering system will provide you with the total cost of service.
Please note, countries that are a member of the Hague Convention of 1961 do not typically require Embassy Attestation, therefore these countries are not listed as search options. If the Embassy you need is not listed please contact us for further assistance.
Before your documents can be attested by an embassy they often require to obtain a certificate by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) verifying the authenticity of that document.
If your documents needs this certificate, we can obtain this for your selected documents at no additional cost using our Apostille service.
When a document is required in an official capacity, it is often required to obtain a certificate by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) verifying the authenticity of that document.
If your documents needs this certificate, we can obtain this for your selected documents using our Apostille service.
Please note, this is set fee per document that will be added to the total cost of our solicitor attestation service.
Please note, this is set fee per document that will be added to the total cost.
We do not compromise on the safe delivery of your documents, we therefore use a premier service for returning your documents back to you. The cost of delivery is a set fee per order and not dependent on the number of documents.
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