Are you thinking of changing your name?

It’s a ritual in the Indian society that you have to adjust your surname according to your husband’s name. It’s a tradition. It determines that you have to make the necessary updates in your all documents, like Aadhaar Card, Voter ID card, Driving Licence and so on. Otherwise, several frictions will hamper your way to get visa or passport. At the worst, your application for these documents might be rejected.

So, always stay aware of this fact.

This article is really a helpful guide for those who want to change their name legally. If it’s adjusted in a document, you won’t have to wait for long to apply for the passport/visa.  

Steps to change your name legally in India: 

1. Get an affidavit:

An affidavit is a sworn statement in a document. The Indian court accepts this vital evidence. The practicing notary lawyer approves it via a notary stamp and his signature. He, usually, drafts it on a non-judicial stamp paper. It costs around INR 20 in India. Once the oath is written, the notary attests it with it while registering its entry into the Notarial Registration Book.

If you’re an NRI, you can follow the same process. Thereafter, you can get it attested by the nearest consulate in your residence country.  It’s quite similar to withdrawing CENOMAR before marriage.

Who can attest the affidavit?

• Commissioner for oaths by state, according to Section 3(2) (b) of the Oath Act (XLIV, 1969)
• Notary recruited under the Notaries Act, 1952
• Magistrate of the regional area

2. What to be written in the affidavit:

As aforesaid, you should take a plain white non-judiciary paper. It should consist of all these details:

• Current name
• The name that you want to replace the former one with
• Father’s name
• Husband’s name
• Address
• Mention the name of the employer, if there is any.
• Get the signature, name and address of two witnesses.

3. Publish publically:

This is a vital step to publicly announce that you have changed your name. The medium will be a newspaper. Choose a column that is specifically dedicated to serve this purpose in one of the reputed newspapers. What points it should read are:

• Name of the person (who changed his name)
• Old name of the person
• Father’s name/husband’s name
• Address

When it is published in the newspaper, keep its original copies with you as a proof. It’s paid. You have to pay for this NRI service. They will be used later when you will alter your name in other documents.

4. To Whom to send the documents:

Once you’ll have the published news of your changed name, you can take it along with other documents, like affidavit. Now, you have to visit the controller of publication. It basically verifies the inquiry regarding any publication in the Gazette in India. If you don’t intend to go in person, you can drop a message in its inbox via acobdep2017@gmail.com. 

Take these documents for verification:

• Attested affidavit/ sworn document
• The sworn statement with the details of witnesses
• Two passport size photographs
• The newspaper wherein the change of name is publically distributed
• The printing cost (It can vary due to revised service cost). If you want, pay for it through a demand draft/ Indian Postal Order. Mention the controller of the publication as the name of the recipient.
• If you’re an NRI, the service cost will be in ‘K’ or thousands. It includes air mail charges also.
• If you want some extra copies of it, you have to bear an additional cost per copy.
• You can either scan and mail or visit the publication office physically along with the documents. These documents should not be older than a year.
• Always keep this fact in your mind that the documents that you would enclose shall not be returned. So, send them cautiously.
• If you’ve adopted the name from another religion, make sure that you’ve submitted an affidavit. It should read that you have named yourself on the other religion but the religion is unchanged. It should be duly attested by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The cost of advertisement of such ads differs from the other one.
• Get along two witnesses. The oath statement would be similar (as aforementioned).

5. What do NRIs do after changing their name?

Many NRIs alter their name after solemnizing marriage with a foreigner. They have to publish the advertisement in a prominent newspaper wherein they live. It can be any foreign country. Remember that they have to specify the permanent address of place in India.

Subsequently, they have to follow the fourth step. Once these formalities will be fulfilled, they can alter the name in your passport or visa. Enclose all the requisite documents while following the steps.