Help & advice

Change the name on your passport after your Deed Poll

You apply for a new passport in your new name, £102 online for an adult, and post HM Passport Office your original Deed Poll with one document that shows you using the new name. Allow 3 weeks from the day your documents arrive. We do not handle passport applications: apply direct, on GOV.UK or at a Post Office.

Apply online – £18.50 Where to apply

Accepted by HM Passport Office
Accepted, or your money back

What to send

Everything HM Passport Office asks for, and who each part is for:

Adults applying onlineApply online at GOV.UK: £102Upload a digital photo, or enter the code a photo booth or shop gives you. Then post the documents below.
Children applying onlineApply online at GOV.UK: £66.50Upload a digital photo, or enter the code a photo booth or shop gives you. Then post the documents below.
Adults applying on paperApply on a paper form: £115.50Pick up the form at a Post Office with the Check and Send service, or ask HM Passport Office’s Passport Adviceline to post you one. Printed photos go with it.
Children applying on paperApply on a paper form: £80Pick up the form at a Post Office with the Check and Send service, or ask HM Passport Office’s Passport Adviceline to post you one. Printed photos go with it.
If there is a passport alreadyThe current passportIt is cancelled and posted back to you.
AdultsYour original Deed PollThe deed itself, with both your signatures, the witnesses’ and the date. HM Passport Office will not take a photocopy, a scan or a certified copy, and it posts the original back.
ChildrenThe original Child Deed PollSigned by the parent or parents and witnessed. Only the original will do, never a copy, and it comes back by post.
AdultsOne document showing you already use the new nameFrom the past year: a bank statement, a payslip, a current driving licence, or a letter from your council or HMRC, for example. The part of your name that changed must appear on it.
ChildrenOne document showing the new name in useFrom the past year, in the child’s new name: a school record, a medical card or child benefit papers, for example.
Proof of any earlier name changeIf the name has changed before, the evidence for each earlier change as well.
ChildrenConsent from everyone with parental responsibilityEvery person who holds it has to agree, unless a court order lets the change go ahead without them.
A new photo, taken in the last monthA plain, light background, a plain expression, eyes open, and no glasses unless they have to be worn.
Adults with a passport alreadyNo countersignatureA change of name on its own does not need one, unless you can no longer be recognised from your old photo.
First passportsA countersignatureFrom someone who has known you, or for a child the adult signing, for at least 2 years, holds a current British or Irish passport, and is not related to you or living with you.
Children with a passport alreadyA countersignature if your child is 11 or underOlder children renewing do not need one, unless they can no longer be recognised from the old photo.
Allow 3 weeksLonger if HM Passport Office needs more information, and it tells you within 3 weeks if so.
Adults with a passport alreadyIn a hurry? Fast Track takes a week£192, and it covers a change of name.
ChildrenIn a hurry? Fast Track takes a week£156.50 for a child’s passport, and it covers a change of name.
First adult passportsNo Fast Track for a first adult passportSo allow the full 3 weeks before you book any travel.
Everything comes backYour documents are posted back separately, by tracked post, once the new passport is printed. Time left on an old passport is not carried over.

Start on GOV.UK

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

Where to apply

Apply direct, in your new name

Your Deed Poll is what we provide. The passport application is between you and HM Passport Office, so make it yourself, direct, and never through any other website, company or agent.

We do not help with passport applications

Online, on GOV.UK

£102 for an adult, or £66.50 for a child. You upload a photo, then post your documents. In a hurry? Fast Track, £192 for an adult, is booked on GOV.UK too.
Apply on GOV.UK
At a Post Office

Check and Send staff look over your application before it goes, or help you apply online, for an extra fee. Paper forms are £115.50 for an adult.
The Post Office

Not through any other website, company or agent.

On the application

Your new name, everywhereGOV.UK asks you to fill in and sign the application in the name you want printed in the passport.
Declare the changeOn a paper form, the change of name goes in section 1 and your previous name in section 2. Online, you still give your previous name.
No countersignature for the nameA change of name on its own does not need one.
Visas in the old passportGOV.UK warns they may stop being valid once your name changes, so check with the country that issued them.
Applying from abroadIt goes through GOV.UK’s overseas service, and HM Passport Office asks for extra evidence of a new name depending on the country. A Deed Poll while you are abroad.

Travelling soon?

Book in the name on the passport you will carry

GOV.UK puts it simply: book in the name your passport shows, and hold off booking at all until you have a valid passport in hand, because the new one carries a different number.

So if a trip is booked, time the new passport around it. Allow 3 weeks for the standard service, or a week with Fast Track, and book anything new in the name that will be on the passport you travel with.

Changing your driving licence as well? The two cannot go at once, because each office wants your original Deed Poll: licence or passport first?

How long a passport takes

The passport you carryJANE SMITH

BookingJANE SMITHMatches

BookingJANE TAYLORDoes not match

An example: the booking has to match the name on the passport you travel with.

Your Deed Poll

The original goes, and comes back

HM Passport Office works from originals, so the Deed Poll you send is the one you and your witnesses signed. Its guidance accepts copies only of certificates issued by the General Register Office, and a Deed Poll is not one of those.

A deed bought online is fine. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance tells its staff to accept an unenrolled deed poll that is signed by hand in the old and new names, witnessed and dated, and not to pass comment on the company that drafted it.

Your documents are posted back separately, by tracked post, once the new passport is printed, and your old passport comes back cancelled.

That is where certified copies earn their keep. While the original is away, many other organisations will accept a certified copy, so the rest of your list can update at the same time. Certified copies explained.

If the original is lost, a Replacement Deed Poll gives you an original again.

In the envelope, and back again

Your current passportBack, cancelled
Your original Deed PollBack, by tracked post
Proof you use the new nameBack, by tracked post
Certified copiesStay with you

The second document

Showing you already use your new name

Alongside the Deed Poll, HM Passport Office asks for evidence that you are using your new name. For an application made in the UK, one document is enough, as long as it shows the part of your name that changed.

Issued in the last 12 months

A payslip or other employment record
A bank statement
Tax records
A letter from your council or a government department
A utility bill
A medical card
A voter card
Educational records
Child benefit records
A visa
A baptismal certificate

Accepted after 12 months too

A UK or overseas driving licence
A foreign passport
A national identity card

Which comes first? Tell your bank or your employer before the Passport Office. A statement or payslip in your new name is then the evidence the passport application needs. Who to tell, and in what order.

The photo

The rules on GOV.UK, in short:

Taken in the last month
A plain, light-coloured background
A plain expression, with your mouth closed
Eyes open, with no hair across them
No glasses unless you have to wear them, and never tinted
Nothing covering your face, and no head covering unless it is for religious or medical reasons

A countersignature, only sometimes

A change of name on its own does not need one. It is needed for a first adult or child passport, a replacement for one lost, stolen or damaged, a renewal for a child aged 11 or under, and a renewal where you can no longer be recognised from the old photo.

The person signing must have known you, or for a child the adult signing the form, for at least 2 years, be able to identify you, be of good standing or work in a recognised profession, and hold a current British or Irish passport. They cannot be related to you by birth or marriage, be your partner, or live at your address. Countersigning, on GOV.UK.

Not the same as your witnesses. The people who witnessed your Deed Poll and the person who countersigns a passport application do different jobs, under different rules.

How long

Three speeds, three prices

3 weeks

The standard service

£102 online or £115.50 on a paper form for an adult. Allow longer if HM Passport Office needs more information: it tells you within 3 weeks if so.
1 week

Fast Track

Delivered by courier a week after an appointment, which can be the day after you apply. £192 for an adult, £156.50 for a child. It covers a change of name, but not a first adult passport or an application from outside the UK.
4 hours

1 Day Premium

Ready to collect 4 hours after an appointment, and the earliest appointment is 2 days after you apply. £239.50. It is only for renewing an adult passport, so check on GOV.UK whether yours counts.

Fees and times from GOV.UK, checked October 2026. The clock starts when HM Passport Office receives your documents.

Marriage, divorce, dual nationals and the rest of the rules: the HM Passport Office guide on the Deed Polls Online handbook, our sister site.

Questions & answers

More about your passport

How do I change the name on my passport after a Deed Poll?

Apply for a new passport in your new name, online on GOV.UK (£102 for an adult) or on a paper form from a Post Office (£115.50). Then post your current passport, your original Deed Poll and one document from the past year that shows you using the new name. HM Passport Office usually takes 3 weeks from receiving your documents, and posts the originals back.

Can you apply for my passport for me?

No. We draft and post your Deed Poll, and the passport application is yours to make direct with the government: online on GOV.UK, or at a Post Office with the Check and Send service. Please do not use any other website, company or agent for it. Where to apply.

Will HM Passport Office accept a Deed Poll I bought online?

Yes. HM Passport Office’s caseworker guidance tells staff to treat an unenrolled deed poll as proof of a new name when it is signed by hand in the old and new names, witnessed and dated, and not to make comments about the company that issued it. If one of our Deed Polls is ever refused, we refund you in full.

Can I travel on my current passport after changing my name?

Yes, until you send it off, as long as any booking is in the name printed in it. GOV.UK asks you not to book new travel until you hold a valid passport, since the new one has a different number. Once the old passport goes in with your application you cannot travel on it, and it comes back cancelled.

Do I lose the time left on my current passport?

Yes. GOV.UK says time left on your old passport will not be added to your new one, and the new passport has a different number.

Can I use Fast Track to change my name?

Yes. The 1 week Fast Track service covers changing your personal details, including your name. It cannot be used for a first adult passport, or if you are applying from outside the UK. Getting a passport urgently, on GOV.UK.

Does my Deed Poll need to be enrolled for a passport?

No. HM Passport Office accepts an unenrolled Deed Poll that carries your signatures in both names, your witnesses’ signatures and a date. An enrolled one is accepted too, but it still has to come with evidence that you use the new name. More on enrolment.

Do I need a Deed Poll for a small change, like Jane to Jayne?

Not for your passport. For a slight respelling, your forenames in a different order or a dropped middle name, GOV.UK asks instead for 2 documents that show the new version in use, such as a bank statement or a council letter. Other organisations set their own rules, so check with each.

What if my child's other parent will not consent?

HM Passport Office needs the consent of everyone with parental responsibility to change the name of a child under 16, unless a court order allows the change without it. The Child Deed Poll.

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

Keep reading

Ready to change your name?

Apply online in about five minutes. Your Deed Poll is drafted, checked and dispatched the same working day, and guaranteed to be accepted.

Apply online – £18.50 Ask a paralegal

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