Changing your last name in your passport at your own request in 2021 (replacement)

Reasons for action

In accordance with current legislation, a change of first name, surname or patronymic can be made by a person who has reached the age of 14 years (up to 14 years old, only the parents/guardians/adoptive parents/trustees of the child can provide the specified data).

The main reasons for changing personal data may be:

marriage
divorce
adoption
own wish

The current regulations do not establish reasons why a citizen’s data change may be refused.

See also: What to do if you lose your passport.

However, government agencies make replacements only in significant situations, which include:

cacophony of first or last name
difficulty in pronunciation, which leads to frequent mistakes
desire to take the surname or first name of a close relative
inconsistency of personal data with spiritual/religious beliefs
designing a pseudonym for creative activities
the opportunity to share the same surname with children
obtaining a premarital surname and so on

Reasons for changing a surname

The government does not set restrictions on how many times you are allowed to change your name. The reasons may be as follows:

Divorce/marriage;
Adoption of a child;
Determination of paternity;
Refusal of one’s own surname in favor of another (for example, belonging to a guardian or close relative);
The applicant's own wishes.

The last point can be justified by various factors. For example:

Unpronounceable;
Inconsistency with first name/patronymic;
Religious/national beliefs;
Desire to have the same surname as children/parents;
The owner does not like the surname.

Not only girls decide to change this information after marriage, but also men. The applicant for a replacement has the right to indicate in the application any reason that he considers adequate. The application will be considered on an individual basis.

Important! To obtain the surname of the biological father (provided that another person is listed on the birth certificate), you will have to provide official confirmation of paternity.

Conditions for change

Typically, the civil registry office approves any version of the applicant’s new surname. It does not necessarily have to duplicate information about a close relative. Alternatively, you can use any last name you like.

But there are certain conditions for choosing it. According to the law, you cannot appropriate personal data:

Actors, famous artists, poets and writers;
Famous media persons;
Politicians;
Historical figures;
Names of services or goods;
Names of cities, regions, historical monuments.

In rare cases, civil servants may take the applicant’s side and assign him the surname Bulgakov or Yesenin. But, as a rule, it is possible to achieve such “indulgences” only for an additional fee and in a special manner.

What documents are needed (sample application)

To carry out the procedure for changing personal data, a man or woman must first submit a written application to the relevant authorities, to which a certain package of documents must be attached.

The application form is established by Government Decree No. 1274. The document states:

Name of the organization to which the document is submitted.
Full name of the applicant (in accordance with current documents).
New last name, first name or patronymic.
Information about the applicant:

Full name
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
details of the birth certificate (indicated at the bottom of the birth certificate issued by the registry office)
citizenship
nationality (specified upon request)
marital status (if the applicant is legally married, then the details of the relevant civil status act are indicated)
information about children under 18 years of age (full name, date of birth, details of the birth certificate)
reason for data change
location
details of the passport or other identification document of the applicant

List of attached documents.
Date of submission of documents.

The following must be attached to the written application:

passport
birth certificate (the document is required for all citizens, regardless of their age)
certificate of marriage or divorce (if the surname changes after marriage or divorce, respectively)
birth certificates of all minor children
receipt of payment of state duty for the provision of public services

If the change of data is made by a minor citizen aged 14 to 18 years, then parental consent is additionally attached.

If a change of name is made after registration of guardianship/trusteeship/adoption, then an additional document on the appointment of a guardian issued by the guardianship authorities will be required.

Package of documents for changing your last name

For the procedure to be successful, you need to collect the main package and select additional papers for it.

The documents in the main package include:

What surname can I take?

The registry office may refuse to register a name change if (Article 11 of Federal Law No. 143 “On Civil Registration”):

the action being performed is contrary to the law
not all documents required by law have been submitted

Additionally, you can receive a refusal if the applicant tries to obtain a full name in the form of:

personal data of a famous person, without confirmation of relationship or legal marriage
names of the country, region, city, monument and so on
names of food products and consumer goods
personal data of historical figures, including royalty

There are no further requirements for choosing a surname or first name.

Why change your surname to your maiden name?

It's no secret that surnames can be strange and funny. When getting married, the bride, not wanting to seem disrespectful, can take her husband's surname without thinking about anything. But time passes and the woman cannot get used to the new surname. Also, it is not always convenient for a young lady to “shine” a badge at presentations, on which is written a dissonant surname, which can cause laughter or hostility. Then the idea comes to change my surname to my maiden name. The husband’s disagreement can only result in a scandal; it will not affect the wife’s firm decision. To register a change of surname, you will need to go through the usual procedure.

How long does it take to complete documents?

To get a new passport with changed data you will need:

about 30 days to consider an application to change your name at the registry office and obtain the appropriate certificate
10 days to replace your passport

In some cases the terms may be longer. For example, when applying for a replacement passport, a citizen applies not at the place of permanent registration, but at the place of temporary residence, which allows increasing the period for replacing the document to 1 month.

Additional time will also be required if the civil registry office refuses to issue a certificate of name change and the decision is appealed by the applicant in court.

Description of the process of changing your last name in your passport at your own request

The following are authorized to deal with issues of re-registration of personal parameters of a citizen of the Russian Federation:

divisions of the Main Department of Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, organizing the change of documents;
the registration authority of the civil registry office at the local administration, where they receive a certificate of validity of the procedure after successful consideration of the application;
branch of the MFC, where packages of documents from citizens are submitted.

For the convenience of citizens, an online portal of State Services is provided, where an initial application to replace a civil passport is made. Replacing documents when changing your last name is the final stage of 10 days, during which an updated passport is prepared. Only the applicant himself can receive it. Passports are not issued by proxy.

What is the algorithm

The process of what needs to be done to change a surname consists of two large stages:

Approval of new full names in the authorized body.
Re-issuance of main personal documents (replacement of passport).

Below is a step-by-step algorithm for what you need to do to change your last name in full compliance with the law:

Find out which registry office the person belongs to at their residential address and clarify the days and hours of reception.
Make a personal visit to the registration department and fill out a special form according to form No. 15.
Pay the fee according to the details provided by the registry office.
Submit an application to the receiving employee with a request to change the record with personal information about the person. The necessary copies of attachments are submitted along with the application.
After a decision has been made to grant the request, they return to the registry office and receive a certificate confirming the fact that changes have been made to personal information.
Then they proceed to the next stage - obtaining an updated passport, for which they contact the internal migration department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or submit an application through the MFC.
To process the request, fill out Form 1-P.
The submitted papers and application are checked by a civil service employee, and then he provides the details for paying the fee.
Payment is accepted through a bank at a cash desk or a bank terminal, but you can also pay by receipt online.
After submitting the documents, preparation and receipt of a new passport will be organized. After 10 days you can pick it up.

The algorithm for submitting documents using the online government service assumes that you have a registered account. After authorization in the system, go to the State Services menu and select the service for obtaining a passport after changing the last name and other personal data.

The user will have to select from the proposed list the department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs where the application will be considered. Next, you fill out an online application and organize a three-day background check.

After reviewing the online application, a receipt for payment of the state fee will be sent and the day for issuing the updated document will be set.

Documentation

To change your name, you do not need a long list of papers. The main thing is to confirm the identity of the applicant and attach passport documents when changing the last name, and documentary evidence to the application.

It is this that serves as the reason for considering a citizen’s appeal.

The application is filled out in Form No. 15, approved by the RF Government in 1998 (Resolution No. 1274).

Download Form 15. Application for change of name (last name, patronymic) (62.0 KiB, 1,648 hits)

Mandatory application details include:

Comprehensive passport data.
Information about children under 14 years of age.
Details of children’s documents, certificates of the applicant’s marital status, etc.
New surname that must be indicated in the passport.
The reason why there was a need to change a person’s personal parameters.
Link to documents confirming the eligibility of the request and their details.
Applicant's birth certificate.

The following documents are required as attachments to the application:

Photo (attached separately to the application) in 3.5x4.5 format.
Certificate of divorce or registration.
A document from the court confirming the legal capacity of persons aged 14-18 years.
Certificates for children.
Documents about the reasons for changing the full name.
Certificate of change of surname and change of registration in the registry office.
Current passport.

At what age can you change

You can change your name at any age, subject to the following conditions:

Children under 10 years old can change their name with the consent of both parents and guardianship authorities
if the child is from 10 to 14 years old, then the consent of the minor citizen will be additionally required
When submitting documents for minors aged 14–18 years, only parental consent is required
upon reaching adulthood, only the desire of the citizen himself is necessary

Reason for name change

There are no legal reasons for changing the name; only the personal desire of the citizen matters. He has the right to change a name that is difficult to pronounce or dissonant to a more pleasant one. For example, a child whose parents gave him a rather strange name (Legend, Svyatozar, Cosmos and others) has the right to receive any other name upon reaching the age of 14.

With the help of MFC and State Services (step by step)

To change your name through the multifunctional center (MFC) you must:

Prepare the package of documents presented earlier.
Make an appointment with a specialist. This can be done at the MFC branch, using the terminal, by phone or on the official website of the organization according to the following scheme:

Login to the site (can be done after registration or using the data from the State Services portal) and select the subsection “Sign up for the MFC”

choosing a center branch in the city

selecting a service located in the section “Repeated certificate of civil registration”

selecting the date and time of visiting the center

Submission of documents.
Documents receiving.

Recently, it has become possible to submit documents to change your name online using your personal account on the Public Services service.

The procedure is carried out in the following sequence:

login to your personal account. If access to your personal account is not previously opened, you will need to register and confirm the details of the created account.

choice, located in the “Family and Children” section (currently the service is not available in all regions of the Russian Federation)

filling out an application similar to a written form

choosing a place, date and time for personal submission of documents.

Deadlines for passport replacement

Documents with invalid data must be replaced within a month after receiving a certificate of their change. If this rule is not followed, penalties will be applied to the violator.

These are cash payments in the amount of:

From 3000 to 5000 rub. in Moscow and St. Petersburg;
From 2000 to 3000 rub. in the regions.

The total amount is determined by the inspector individually. It depends on the time period during which the citizen walked with an expired passport.

Consequences after completion of the procedure

After receiving a new passport, you will additionally need to replace (make changes) to the following documents:

TIN (territorial branch of the regional tax service)
SNILS (territorial branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation)
medical policy (insurance company)
driver's license (traffic police)
work book (personnel service at the place of work)
foreign passport (Ministry of Internal Affairs)
agreements, including loan agreements
securities
car insurance
documents on ownership of movable and immovable property

State duty when changing data

Replacing any personal data is a paid procedure. An applicant for a new surname or first name will have to pay a state fee in the amount of 1,600 rubles.

In addition, you will subsequently need to pay a state fee for replacing documents. It will cost:

300 rub. for issuing a passport;
200 rub. for printing out a birth certificate for a child;
2000 rub. for replacing a driver's license.

If a citizen intends to change his first or last name again, the price is set at 350 rubles. The third and subsequent procedures will cost the same amount.

Important! Money for changing personal information is transferred using the old full name. The recipient is the territorial civil registry office at the place of registration.

How to change a child's last name?

Changing the data of minors has a number of nuances.
The consent of the guardianship authorities will be required. Let's consider the procedure in detail:

Contact the guardianship authorities for permission. Consent is usually given if the surname is changed for the benefit of the minor.
Provide parental consent in writing.
Submit documents to the registry office.
Obtain a certificate of name change.

State duty and documents

Changing a child's surname costs 1,600 rubles.

When applying to the registry office, the parent provides:

statement;
passport of a child over 14 years old;
certificate of a minor;
your passport;
consent of a child over 10 years old to change his surname;
consent of the second parent;
permission from guardianship authorities;
court decision to establish paternity or adoption (if changes occur on such grounds);
a court decision to deprive the second parent of parental rights.

Is the other parent's consent required?

By law, both parents have the same rights to common children, and the written consent of the second, not participating in the submission of documents, is required.

There are exceptions when permission is not required:

death or recognition of the mother or father as missing;
deprivation of parental rights.

Consent is not required if the man's paternity has not been established. The main list of documents must be accompanied by evidence confirming the possibility of changing data without the permission of the second parent.

How the procedure works

To change your last name, you must follow the general procedure. First of all, this means paying the state fee and visiting the registry office to write the appropriate application. On the day of contacting the civil registry authorities, you must have your passport and the originals of all the necessary documents discussed above.

According to Federal laws, an application can be considered within 30 days from the date of its submission. If the deadline is delayed, the registry office employees are obliged to inform the applicant about this.

After changing personal information, a certificate is issued, on the basis of which a new passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation will be issued. An application for its replacement is submitted to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation at the place of residence. It must be accompanied by 2 photographs and documents on the basis of which it is necessary to put marks in the passport (certificates of marriage or birth of children, certificate confirming registration at the place of residence, military ID, etc.).