What is the right order?

[bergersultan]

Hi,

I am Hungarian (EU member) who has been living and working in the UK for almost 6 years.
I would like to start applying for naturalisation in October and when I have the citizenship, I want a British passport, as well.
I want to abandon my Hungarian family name and adopt a new one that sounds more English.

My question is about the right order. When shall I change my family name? Before starting applying for naturalisation or between the naturalisation ceremony and apllying for the British passport?

And an extra question in the end: will I have to change my family name in Hungary, too? I can keep my Hungarian citizenship and I can have dual citizenship. Does the name on the British and Hungarian passports must match?

I hope I can get some good suggestions.

[geriatrix]

Changing name on the Hungarian passport first will make the whole process smooth.
You cannot have one person to have two different names ... one name for one passport and another for the other passport.

IMHO ...

[secret.simon]

There will need to be a good reason to have two names concurrently. Being a celebrity is typically accepted. Have you tried the TV series?

Silliness aside, the British passport does allow a possible endorsement "The Holder is also known as ...", but that is used in limited circumstances.

From Wikipedia
The Holder is or The Holder is also known as ...

This endorsement is found in passports where the holder uses or retains another professional, stage or religious name and is known by it "for all purposes", or has a recognised form of address, academic, feudal or legal title (e.g. Doctor, Judge, Queen's Counsel, Professor, Minister of Religion) regarded as important identifiers of an individual.[31] The styling 'Dr ...', 'Professor ...' or similar is recorded here, or the alternative professional/stage/religious name, usually on request by the passport holder.[31] For example, Cliff Richard's birth name was Harry Webb, and the passport Observations page would read:

"The Holder is also known as Cliff Richard"

This endorsement is also found if the passport holder's name is too long to fit within the 30-character limits (including spaces) on the passport information page; applies to each line reserved for the surname and the first given name including any middle name(s). In this scenario the holder's full name will be written out in full on the Observations page. According to the UK passport agency guidelines, a person with a long or multiple given name, which cannot fit within the 30-character passport information page limits, should enter as much of the first given name, followed by the initials of all middle names (if any). The same advice applies to a long or multiple surname. The holder's full name is then shown printed out in its entirety on the passport Observations page. For example, Kiefer Sutherland's birth name would read on the passport information page:

Surname: "Sutherland"
Given names: "Kiefer W F D G R"

Observations page:
"The Holder is Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland"

Also see Name to appear on passport

[noajthan]

Hi,

I am Hungarian (EU member) who has been living and working in the UK for almost 6 years.
I would like to start applying for naturalisation in October and when I have the citizenship, I want a British passport, as well.
I want to abandon my Hungarian family name and adopt a new one that sounds more English.

My question is about the right order. When shall I change my family name? Before starting applying for naturalisation or between the naturalisation ceremony and apllying for the British passport?

And an extra question in the end: will I have to change my family name in Hungary, too? I can keep my Hungarian citizenship and I can have dual citizenship. Does the name on the British and Hungarian passports must match?

I hope I can get some good suggestions.

Good & sensible question.

I think foreign passport first.

Yes, names have to match in all id documents from all countries unless you can claim an exceptional reason why they should remain different.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -_v1_0.pdf

Holders of non-British passports and national identity cards must also provide evidence they have amended the details in other passport(s) and any national identity cards they hold, unless there are exceptional circumstances that would seriously adversely affect their life in the UK

[Gomjaba]

Doesn't it a bit depend on how easy it is to change your name in Hungary?

Once you are British and you got a British passport, I thought you have the same rights I.e. Changing your name. That costs like £15 to do.

I am German and I had the same idea. However,German law does not even permit me changing names. So I would myself get the British citizenship, get a passport and then change my name . That's just me. A lot less hassle.

[secret.simon]

German law does not even permit me changing names

Really!!! I did not know that German law was so strict. I can imagine making it difficult, but not permitting any change at all!!!

I digress, but on a point of interest I presume that such a rigid rule does not apply in case of transgender individuals.

[jaweb]

As they wrote earlier you need to change your documents first then apply for naturalisation. If you read this forum you would see some people were refused to get passport because of their different names or even a person was refused for approval because of it.

Good luck with the Hungarian burocracy! Defo you are not going to finish by October...

[LilyLalilu]

There have recently been some changes in policy and in how HMPO handle passport applications from people who have different names in their other passport (as discussed in this forum).
They now usually require the names in the foreign passport and the name in the UK passport application to match, otherwise this will cause problems and HMPO may refuse to issue a UK passport (apparently to prevent identity fraud).
So if you are able to change your name in your country of origin passport I suggest you do so before you begin the naturalisation process. If you are from a country which only allows name changes under limited circumstances (e.g. Germany) you should still be able to get a UK passport in a afferent name provided you can supply other documents proving that you are using the new name for all purposes. (e.g. deed poll, HMRC docs and driving license in new name)