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Help & advice

How do I change the name on my driving licence?

By post, on form D1, and it is free: a change of name cannot be done online. Pick up the D1 pack at a Post Office, then send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN with your licence, your original Deed Poll and one document in your new name. You can carry on driving while it is away.

Apply online – £18.50 Where to send D1
  • Accepted by the DVLA
  • Accepted, or your money back

What to post to DVLA

Everything DVLA asks for, and who each part is for:

For your licence
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BN

Freeto change your name

  • Form D1, filled in and signedThe pack is handed out only by Post Offices that offer DVLA services, and DVLA’s online form service cannot order it.
  • Photocard licencesYour photocard licenceThe one in your old name. Your new licence replaces it.
  • Paper licencesYour paper licenceIt is swapped for a photocard, with no fee when you are changing your name.
  • Your original Deed PollNot a photocopy, a certified copy or a laminated one. It comes back separately, by second class post. To track it, add a stamped, self-addressed Special Delivery or Signed For envelope.
  • If your passport is not in your new name yetOne document in your new nameIssued in the past year, and after both your Deed Poll and your current licence: a statement from a UK bank, a utility bill, or a letter from HMRC, your employer or your council, for example.
  • If your passport is in your new nameYour new passport number, on the formIt counts as the document in your new name. Do not send the passport itself.
  • New photoA printed passport-type photo, and £17By cheque or postal order, payable to DVLA. No fee if you are over 70 or have a medical short period licence.
  • Paper licencesA recent printed passport-type photoYour first photocard needs one, along with proof of identity: what GOV.UK accepts.
  • Allow 3 weeksGOV.UK’s usual time for a licence applied for by post, and longer if DVLA needs to check your identity or medical details. When to chase.
  • Keep drivingYour old licence is in the envelope, but GOV.UK confirms you are still allowed to drive until the new one comes.
If a vehicle is registered in your name
For your log book
DVLAAt the address in section 3 of your log book

Freeusually

  • The whole log book (V5C)With your new name written in full in section 3, and no initials. On the older style log book, use section 6, sign it, and send it to the address in section 8.
  • A letter saying why the name is changingGOV.UK asks for one with the log book.
  • Proof of the change, such as your Deed PollOne Deed Poll cannot be in two envelopes at once, so post this when it is back from the licence.
  • Allow up to 6 weeksIf the vehicle needs taxing in the next 4 weeks, tax it online before you post the log book.

Read it on GOV.UK

Fees and times from GOV.UK, checked October 2026.

Online?

Can I change the name on my driving licence online?

No. GOV.UK’s guide to changing the name on a licence is a postal one, and its renewal guide says that once your name or title has changed you can only apply by post. A Post Office counter cannot take the application either.

Changing your address online does not help: GOV.UK sends anyone whose name is changing at the same time to the postal route. Even the form itself is offline, because the D1 pack is only stocked by Post Offices that offer DVLA services, and DVLA’s own form ordering service cannot send it. Changing your name and address together.

Northern Ireland is the same. nidirect says the DVA cannot be told about a change of name online. Northern Ireland, below.

Ways to apply, once your name has changed

  • Renewing online at GOV.UKNo
  • Changing your address onlineNo
  • At a Post Office counterNo
  • By post, on form D1Yes

The Post Office is still where you pick up the D1 pack itself.

Form D1

Where to send form D1, and how to fill it in

GOV.UK gives one address for car and motorbike licences and another for lorry and bus licences. Pay the right postage, and send it in a way you can track: your licence and Deed Poll are inside.

Car or motorbike licence: form D1
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BN

Freeto change your name

Lorry or bus licence: form D2
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BR

Freeto change your name

Licence issued in Northern Ireland? Your form is the DL1, and it goes to the DVA in Coleraine instead. The DVA’s address.

Filling in form D1

Five things to get right

  1. Use the D1 from the packIts full name is ‘Application for a driving licence’, and it covers cars and motorbikes. Lorry and bus drivers use the D2. Learners use the D1 too: a provisional licence, including a change of name at 16 or 17.
  2. Write your new name exactly as your Deed Poll spells itLetter for letter, with every middle name, so the form and the deed agree.
  3. Passport already changed? Give its numberWrite the 9-digit number of a UK passport in your new name on the form, and keep the passport at home. GOV.UK says an expired passport’s number cannot be used.
  4. Licence lost or stolen? Say so on the formExplain what happened to it, and enclose £20 by cheque or postal order made out to DVLA.
  5. A photo, only if you need oneA new photo costs £17, and an old paper licence needs one for its first photocard. GOV.UK warns that damaged or altered cheques are turned away.
Form D1, part by part
Every DVLA guide

Your situation, in a guide of its own

Eighteen more guides to DVLA and a new name, each answering one question in full, from whether you must tell DVLA to the car on your drive.

Your licence

The rule, proof and timing

Marriage and divorce

A blended surname, or a name neither certificate shows? The Adult Deed Poll, £18.50.

Your vehicle and your work

Marriage or divorce

Changing the name on your licence after marriage or divorce

DVLA takes more than one kind of proof, so you may not need a Deed Poll at all. Whatever you send must be the original, signed and dated, and never laminated.

After a wedding or civil partnership

Taking your spouse’s or partner’s surname? Your marriage or civil partnership certificate is the proof DVLA lists for it, so no Deed Poll is needed. Your licence after marriage, step by step.

After a divorce or dissolution

Going back to an earlier surname, send your decree absolute or final order with your birth or adoption certificate, or your UK naturalisation certificate. Your licence after divorce, step by step.

Passport already in the new name?

If you married or divorced and your UK passport already shows the new name, GOV.UK lets its number stand as the proof. Write it on the D1.

A name neither certificate shows

A blended surname, a new first name or a different name altogether calls for a Deed Poll (or a statutory declaration), posted with one document in the new name dated after it. The Adult Deed Poll, £18.50.

From GOV.UK’s identity documents for a driving licence application, checked October 2026.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland: form DL1, sent to the DVA

A Northern Ireland licence is issued by the Driver & Vehicle Agency, not DVLA, and the form is the DL1, from main Post Office branches. nidirect says a change of name cannot be reported online, so it goes by post, and it is free.

  • On the form, the change of name goes in section 1d. nidirect publishes guidance notes for the DL1.
  • In the envelope, your current licence (the paper counterpart too, if you were given one) and original proof of the change that links your old and new names. Photocopies are refused. nidirect counts a deed poll among the ways to prove a new name.
  • No photo, as a rule, for a change of name when you are not renewing at the same time.
  • Do it promptly. nidirect says a changed name means surrendering your licence and applying for a new one straight away, and that not doing so is an offence.

The DVA aims to deal with a complete application within 10 working days, and asks you to allow at least six weeks before chasing a licence that has not come. Your vehicle log book is a separate job, on GOV.UK.

Northern Ireland: form DL1
Driver Licensing Division
County Hall
Castlerock Road
Waterside
Coleraine
BT51 3TB

Freeto change your name

From nidirect and the Department for Infrastructure, checked October 2026.

Passport as well?

Either order works

HM Passport Office and DVLA each ask for your original Deed Poll and one document in your new name, so the two cannot run at the same time. Each accepts what the other gives you: a driving licence counts as that document for a passport, and a UK passport number counts for DVLA. Licence or passport first, in full.

If you are not travelling soon

Passport first

  1. Your bank Certified copyUpdate your name there first, and ask for a statement in your new name.
  2. HM Passport Office OriginalWith that statement. Allow 3 weeks without a passport to travel on.
  3. DVLA OriginalYour new passport number, written on form D1, is the document in your new name. You keep driving while you wait.

If you are travelling soon

Licence first

  1. Your bank Certified copyUpdate your name there first, and ask for a statement in your new name.
  2. DVLA OriginalWith that statement. You keep driving while you wait, and your passport stays with you for the trip.
  3. HM Passport Office OriginalOnce you are back, with your new licence or that statement as the document in your new name.

Booking a trip? The name on the booking has to match the passport you travel on. Travel and a new name.

Your Deed Poll

The original, and how it comes back

DVLA works from original documents. Its guidance rules out photocopies, laminated certificates and certified copies, including those certified by the Post Office, so send the signed and witnessed Deed Poll itself, and never laminate it. Everything DVLA accepts as proof.

Your new licence and your documents come back separately, and documents are returned by second class post. If you want to track yours, GOV.UK suggests including a stamped, self-addressed Special Delivery or Signed For envelope.

While the original is away, many other organisations will accept a certified copy, so the rest of your list does not have to wait. Certified copies explained.

What DVLA will take

  • Your original Deed PollYes
  • A photocopyNo
  • A certified copy, even one from the Post OfficeNo
  • A laminated certificateNo

Back separately from your new licence, by second class post

Worth knowing

Photos, paper licences and other cases

A new photo at the same time

Changing only your name is free. With a new photo it costs £17, or nothing if you are over 70 or have a medical short period licence. Photocards need a new photo every 10 years, so if yours is due, both can go in one application. Do you need a new photo?

An old paper licence

A change of name means swapping it for a photocard, and there is no fee for that. Send a recent printed passport-type photo with your form, and proof of identity. Paper licences and a new name.

A lost or stolen licence

You can still apply. Say what happened to it on the form, and include £20 by cheque or postal order, payable to DVLA. A lost licence and a new name.

A lorry or bus licence

Use form D2 instead of D1, from most Post Offices, and send it to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BR.

Only your title

Going from Ms to Dr on your licence uses the same form D1, and no Deed Poll: GOV.UK says a deed poll cannot change a title, and DVLA asks for proof only of a hereditary one.

Your gender as well

GOV.UK handles a change of gender on the licence with the same form D1, and it is also free. A Deed Poll is one of the documents DVLA lists for it.

Your vehicle

Your log book changes separately

A new licence does not update your vehicle log book (V5C), and keeping it in your old name is not an option: GOV.UK warns of a fine of up to £1,000 for not letting DVLA know about a change of name.

It is usually free and goes by post, and the new log book can take up to 6 weeks. If the vehicle needs taxing in the next 4 weeks, tax it online before you send the log book off. Changing the name on a V5C, section by section.

Two more, if they apply to you

  • Vehicle tax by Direct Debit. Write to DVLA with your address, date of birth, bank details and a copy of your Deed Poll, at DDC, DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1ZZ.
  • A private number not on a vehicle. Send the V750 or V778 with a letter giving your new name and a copy of your Deed Poll, to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS. Private plates, step by step.

Your insurer and everyone else: who to notify, and in what order.

In the log book envelope

  • Section 3Your new name in full, with no initials
  • A letterSaying why the name needs to change
  • ProofSuch as your Deed Poll

All of the log book goes, to the DVLA address printed in its section 3.

On the older style log book, without coloured numbered blocks on the cover, it is section 6, signed, to the address in section 8. Leave the new keeper box unticked.

Questions & answers

More about your licence

Can I change my driving licence name online?

No. Once your name has changed, GOV.UK only takes the application by post, on form D1, and the D1 pack comes only from a Post Office that offers DVLA services. Northern Ireland works the same way, with form DL1 posted to the DVA. Why it cannot be done online.

Is it free to change the name on my driving licence?

Yes, when only the name changes. Adding a new photo costs £17, and if the licence has been lost or stolen you enclose £20, each by cheque or postal order made out to DVLA. A change of name is free in Northern Ireland too, and updating a vehicle log book usually costs nothing.

Where do I send form D1 for a change of name?

For a car or motorbike licence, GOV.UK gives DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN. A lorry or bus licence goes on form D2 to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BR. A Northern Ireland licence goes on form DL1 to the DVA’s Driver Licensing Division at County Hall, Coleraine, BT51 3TB. Where to send form D1.

Do I need a Deed Poll to change my licence after marriage or divorce?

Not to take a spouse’s or civil partner’s surname: DVLA accepts the marriage or civil partnership certificate. To return to an earlier surname after a divorce, it takes the decree absolute or final order together with your birth certificate. A Deed Poll is for a name those papers do not show, such as a blended surname or a new first name. After marriage or divorce.

Can I keep driving while DVLA has my licence?

Yes. The old licence travels with your form, but GOV.UK confirms you are allowed to drive while the new one is being made. Driving while you wait.

Does DVLA accept an unenrolled Deed Poll?

Yes. GOV.UK’s list of what DVLA takes as proof of a new name simply says “a deed poll”, with nothing about enrolment. Send the original with one document in your new name, or the number of a UK passport that shows it. What DVLA accepts as proof.

Will DVLA accept a certified copy of my Deed Poll?

No. DVLA’s guidance turns away photocopies, laminated certificates and certified copies, even ones certified by the Post Office, so post the original. It comes back on its own, separately from your new licence, by second class post. Where certified copies do help.

What counts as a document in my new name?

Something dated after your Deed Poll and after your current licence, from the past year: a statement from a UK bank, a utility bill, or a letter from HMRC, your employer, your council or another government department, for example. A UK passport that already shows your new name also counts: put its number on the form and keep the passport. The full list, on GOV.UK.

How long does it take?

For a licence applied for by post, GOV.UK says it usually arrives within 3 weeks, and can take longer if DVLA needs to check your identity or medical details. A new vehicle log book can take up to 6 weeks. In Northern Ireland, allow at least six weeks before chasing the DVA. How long DVLA takes, and when to chase.

Do I have to tell DVLA?

Yes. Under section 99 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, when the name on your licence is no longer correct you must surrender it straight away, and failing to without a reasonable excuse is an offence. The log book carries its own risk: GOV.UK puts the fine for not reporting a new name at up to £1,000. When the law says you must.

Will my driving licence number change?

Yes, if your surname or first names change. DVLA’s leaflet INS57P builds the number from the first five letters of your surname, your date of birth and your first two initials, so the new licence carries a new number while the date of birth digits stay the same. See which characters change.

Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.

Keep reading

Related answers

Changing your passportWhat HM Passport Office asks for and what it costs.Read this Who to tellEveryone who holds your records, in the order worth doing them.Read this What documents you needWhat we need from you, and what you will be asked for afterwards.Read this

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