British Passport + Surname

bblb · Post by **bblb** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:18 pm

My son is 28 years old, born in the UK and always held a British Passport. We as a family are of Indian Origin from the Punjab. As some of you may be aware, Singh, is a very common surname for people from that area of India.

My son has Singh as his surname in his passport but now his passport is coming up for renewal he wants to know if he will be able to use his proper surname, which is Bains and have this on his passprt in place of Singh. The surname on his Birth Certificate is also Singh.

He has other documentation that shows Bains as his surname, for example his Driving Licence (paper), bank accounts, all his education certificates.

Can anyone provide any help as to how he should go about this. Will he need to change his name by deed poll or is there a simpler way?

Sunnyboy · Post by **Sunnyboy** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 1:49 pm

Hi

I think change of sur name or rather an addition of clan so as to clarify your true identity and origin , as you intend to add, you may need to make a change of name deed or Poll Deed with a Statutory declaration . That might even show whether you have intended to change your signature , you can mention that as well in that deed if you are making any change in your signs . Deed will bear new adopted signs if you intend to change the same.

In your case it is also a positive clarification that proposed name for the renewal of your Passport , is already being used in other common ID documents by your son.

mhunjn · Post by **mhunjn** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 2:12 pm

Change of name will not apply here as he's not actually changing his name!...
The best course of action might be to go to the passport office with all the original documents with his full name ( First Singh Bains) on it... and explain to them why he didn't have Bains earlier...
Explain that Singh is not a surname, merely a middle name to signify the religion.
I am sure they have come across this quite a few times earlier!...

If then they say they need a statuatory declaration, then go with that route.

Do let us know how you get on.

ppron747 · Post by **ppron747** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 1:11 am

Bear in mind that it costs good money to cross the threshhold of a Passport Office so, unless there is particular urgency, it would be cheaper to deal with this by post and telephone...

On http://www.ukps.gov.uk/contact.asp there are details of their Passport Advice Line - 0870 521 0410 and I hope you'll be able to resolve this there. He should emphasise the number of other documents showing his surname as 'Bains', and offer to send them with the application (after first taking copies, of course, and use recorded delivery...). IMHO, the sensible answer should be that if he is prepared to write a letter confirming that he is (and has always been) known by that surname they should be prepared to accept that.

I have to say that, as a bloody-minded individual, even if the person at the other end of the line insisted on a statutory declaration, I'd still be inclined to submit a postal application supported by as many 'Bains' documents as possible, together with a letter explaining the position, and saying that he had accepted the previous passport only because he was much younger then, and having had his birth erroneously registered as 'Singh' he thought he was stuck with it. And even though this is a replacement passport, which doesn't usually need a counter-signature, it would be sensible to get the application and photographs countersigned by a qualified person, so they have this piece of additional evidence.

This suggestion might be just me, of course

But it is worth bearing in mind that - unlike immigration and naturalisation applications - the passport fee is for the issue of the document, not for applying for it. So if they refuse the request, it doesn't cost anything to apply again...

mhunjn · Post by **mhunjn** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 8:29 am

Paul's suggestion seems quite right...

bblb · Post by **bblb** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 10:26 am

Thanks for your suggestions. We will take your approach Paul and see what happens. I'll keep you informed as to how he gets on. Thanks again!

mhunjn · Post by **mhunjn** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:43 am

Did you get any progress with this?...

bblb · Post by **bblb** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:07 pm

mhunjn wrote:Did you get any progress with this?...

We have been in touch with the UK Passport Service helpline and we were told that as the surname on the Birth Certificate is Singh then some sort of official documentation will be required with the application for a new passport, such as Statuatory Declaration or Deed Poll.

mhunjn · Post by **mhunjn** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:29 pm

I got in touch with the passport office for the same query for myself. They said that it was no problem and they would use whatever name there was on the naturalisation certificate as they consider it 'equal' to the birth certificate for 'naturalised' citizens.

So that's another thing sorted, unless they change their mind when I send in my application forms!

I suppose, for a UK born person, it's a bit more complicated as they would need the birth certificate and that name stays, unless supported by a declaration etc?...

ppron747 · Post by **ppron747** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:08 pm

mhunjn wrote:I got in touch with the passport office for the same query for myself. They said that it was no problem and they would use whatever name there was on the naturalisation certificate as they consider it 'equal' to the birth certificate for 'naturalised' citizens.

So that's another thing sorted, unless they change their mind when I send in my application forms!

I suppose, for a UK born person, it's a bit more complicated as they would need the birth certificate and that name stays, unless supported by a declaration etc?...

As I understand it you can adopt any name you like, without any formalities. The problem arises in demonstrating to other people or authorities that this is what you have done. A former work colleague simply sent letters to everyone he could think of, explaining what he had done. He found it was like dominoes - once the first couple of contacts had accepted it, the others were queuing up to do the same.

mhunjn · Post by **mhunjn** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:53 am

Indeed you are right Paul.

In my case, the difference is that I am not actually changing my name. However, my surname does not appear on my passport... an oversight or lack of checks at the time!... on top of that, we don't get our names on the birth cert issued by the local council.

Since my naturalisation certificate would have my full name on it, I wanted to make sure that the passport office wouldn't be funny about the fact that the name on my original passport does not match the one on naturalisation cert.

Since I have been using my full name everywhere else (school/college/jobs etc)... so no problem regarding that. Only other thing is my UK licence, which i'll have to get amended once i get my UK passport.

So, much relieved after the contact with the passport office helpline yesterday.

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British Passport + Surname

British Passport + Surname