Name change on naturalisation certificate and first UK passport

[JulijaY]

Hello, I’ve obtained the naturalisation certificate back in 2019, but haven’t applied for my first Uk passport yet. I have a dual citizenship ( Latvia and Uk). I got married in 2021 and want to change my surname, also to make my maiden surname - my middle name. And get the first uk passport. What order of event should I follow?

Do the deed poll, update driving license, etc, then take my marriage certificate and deed poll and apply for the uk passport in the new name?

Thanks
Julija

[CR001]

You cannot change your name on your naturalisation certificate.

You will also have to change your name on your foreign passport. HMPO won't issue a passport if your name in your Latvian passport is different

[JulijaY]

Thank you for the reply. So what order should I proceed in? Deed poll, request Latvian passport change and then - first British passport?

[Ticktack]

Thank you for the reply. So what order should I proceed in? Deed poll, request Latvian passport change and then - first British passport?

Sounds about right in that order.

[Deryck]

Deed poll is not accepted in Latvia so you don’t need that yet and you may want to see what your new name looks like on your Latvian passport before doing the deed poll.

First thing you need to do is get your marriage certificate translated to Latvian and then you need to apply for a name change on your Latvian passport. You can’t change your last name to whatever you want in Latvia hence you need to prove why you’re changing it. They do allow you to add a middle name without requiring justification so that should work.

Please note that there are certain issues with your plan. Does your married name comply with Latvian grammar rules? (Did you marry someone with Latvian sounding name?) If not, then your last name on Latvian passport will be different from your marriage certificate as they will make it Latvian sounding.

As to your plan to add your maiden name as your middle name instead of a second last name, knowing how Latvian authorities work, they might try to argue with you as to why you don’t want to keep your maiden name as second last name because “it’s obviously last name not a first name and you’d have the same full name anyway” but I don’t see any rules against “last name sounding” first names so ask them to quote legislation if they try to pull this off.

If you end up with a name that is different from what you want, you will need to obtain a confirmation from Latvian authorities (PMLP) that they can’t change your name to the exact one you want. This will allow you to obtain British passport with a different name. Or you may decide to stick with whatever name you end up having on your Latvian passport to keep things simple.

Good luck!

[AmazonianX]

Deed poll is not accepted in Latvia so you don’t need that yet and you may want to see what your new name looks like on your Latvian passport before doing the deed poll.

First thing you need to do is get your marriage certificate translated to Latvian and then you need to apply for a name change on your Latvian passport. You can’t change your last name to whatever you want in Latvia hence you need to prove why you’re changing it. They do allow you to add a middle name without requiring justification so that should work.

Please note that there are certain issues with your plan. Does your married name comply with Latvian grammar rules? (Did you marry someone with Latvian sounding name?) If not, then your last name on Latvian passport will be different from your marriage certificate as they will make it Latvian sounding.

As to your plan to add your maiden name as your middle name instead of a second last name, knowing how Latvian authorities work, they might try to argue with you as to why you don’t want to keep your maiden name as second last name because “it’s obviously last name not a first name and you’d have the same full name anyway” but I don’t see any rules against “last name sounding” first names so ask them to quote legislation if they try to pull this off.

If you end up with a name that is different from what you want, you will need to obtain a confirmation from Latvian authorities (PMLP) that they can’t change your name to the exact one you want. This will allow you to obtain British passport with a different name. Or you may decide to stick with whatever name you end up having on your Latvian passport to keep things simple.

Good luck!

This doesn't look like a walk in the park. Changing name on Latvian passport is the real deal.