British Passport after name change

[raykau]

Hello

My wife recently applied for naturalisastion and we are waiting for the decision.

She completed a deed poll to change her Surname as before she used to have both her maiden surname and my surname as part of her full name and that is what her current passport reflects.

She applied for the naturalisation with the name that is being shown on the deed poll.

Just wanted to know, if her application for naturalisation gets approved and she goes on to apply for her British Passport, will it cause issues that her current passport name is different.

Or the deed poll should be sufficient for the Passport office?

If anyone can advise or share their experiences, it will be much appreciated.

Also let me know if you need any more information.

Thanks in advance.

[noajthan]

Hello

My wife recently applied for naturalisastion and we are waiting for the decision.
...

If anyone can advise or share their experiences, it will be much appreciated.

Also let me know if you need any more information.

Thanks in advance.

raykau,
Yes there may be complications if a person is naturalised in one name and the applicant holds any current (uncancelled) passport in a different name.

It's all due to a HO passport office policy change in February 2015.
Ref: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crac ... -detection

Note this passport policy is currently incompatible with HO naturalisation policy as that division of HO will naturalise someone in a different name from their passport

Sadly the passport guidance on website & booklet is not at all clear on this point about names.
The Post Office Check & Send seem unclear & untrained about it too.

See my wife's (and other peoples') experiences in this thread.
Summary of current learnings to be found here:
british-citizenship/passport-refused-un ... d#p1196883

One solution (we have used successfully) is to cancel passports in other names preferably before applying for the passport.
Reason: cancelled passports do not need to be declared or submitted to HO.

Good luck.

[raykau]

Thanks a lot noajthan for your reply.

So since we have just started the naturisation process, from the link you sent, the best way for me is to get my wife to change her name in her current passport to be the one that will be in the naturalisation certificate and apply for a British Passport in due course of time?

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

[noajthan]

Thanks a lot noajthan for your reply.

So since we have just started the naturisation process, from the link you sent, the best way for me is to get my wife to change her name in her current passport to be the one that will be in the naturalisation certificate and apply for a British Passport in due course of time?

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

raykau,
In an ideal world the fact you have a recent deed poll should be adequate but the new policy seems quite categorical that foreign passports (if they exist & are uncancelled) have to match the single name that is in use.
The guidance also indicates that passports (and names in them) take precedence over deed polls & only one 'identity' is permitted (by HO passport office).

So yes, updating the foreign passport to reflect the current name is another option.

It just depends what is easier (cheaper, quicker, involves less stress/hassle etc) as well as what is legal & possible in your case, bearing in mind the rules & regulations of the original country.
Options also depend whether your spouse is a dual national or not.
Another consideration is can you make such changes via an embassy in UK or does it involve a trip abroad, etc.

The problem we had, 3 or 4 months ago, was we fell into the trap unawares as the policy was not well publicised & the passport instructions didn't cover this type of case.
(afaik the passport guide notes still don't cover 'dual' identities, & nor does the Check & Send service).

Forewarned is forearmed so hopefully you can now plan accordingly.

[raykau]

Thanks again.

So we can cancel the old passport in the previous name before the naturalization is approved, right?

[noajthan]

Thanks again.

So we can cancel the old passport in the previous name before the naturalization is approved, right?

Yes, if your country (embassy) allows you to cancel the passport you can do that.
This cancellation option has certainly worked for us.

Note In our case the naturalisation was approved first;
we then had to cancel the foreign passport as HO objected to it being in a different name (maiden name) & blocked issuing the British passport.

We did the cancellation for my wife through the Philippines embassy for her case.
The HO (who had her passport application on hold) then accepted the cancelled foreign passport (plus a 'certificate of cancellation' we also obtained from the embassy);
a British passport was then issued.

If you cancel the foreign passport before applying for the British passport you won't have to mention it nor submit the cancelled passport with the application.

My wife ended up with one nationality (British) & 1 passport (British).
(In her case, she also has the right to regain her old citizenship & 'foreign' passport, if she wishes to, at some time in the future).

[raykau]

Thanks again. the entire process is quite confusing

I had hoped the marriage certificate and the deed poll would have been enough.

Thanks

[noajthan]

Thanks again. the entire process is quite confusing

I had hoped the marriage certificate and the deed poll would have been enough.

Thanks

Yes, quite a fog of confusion.
It's not really about people changing their names as such.

HO state they're not targeting regular, law-abiding people; it's just unfortunate this whole policy has had such a troublesome impact on many respectable, married ladies.

HO policy seems to be all about limiting passports held in different names.
It's the dual or multiple identities and travel documents that HO objects to & is attempting to control.

The trouble is it's not compatible with naturalisation policy nor with so many laws & practices in other countries.
And it's still not properly explained clearly or documented properly in the passport guidance notes (or by the PO's Check & Send service).
So people can still get trapped at the last hurdle (their passport application) having successfully got their naturalisation.