In Russia, you can change the surname given at birth to any other. The first right to change your surname arises at the age of 14, when a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation is issued. But despite this right, some restrictions on changing your surname still exist.
For example, you can change your last name to any other name between the ages of 14 and 18 only with the written consent of both parents. And, importantly, if the parents refuse, the teenager has the right to sue them in court. In this case, in order to protect their interests.
When changing your last name, it is important to indicate the reason for this action. It is the reason, as well as the sound of the new chosen surname, that can become a reason for government bodies to refuse to satisfy the citizen’s demands.
In fact, changing the last name in a passport is not such a rare occurrence. There are many reasons why people contact departments for this purpose. The most common of them are connected both with the ordinary everyday side of life, and with some personal beliefs of a person.
The most common reasons for changing a surname:
- marriage or divorce;
- desire to take the guardian's surname;
- discordant or difficult to pronounce surname;
- inconsistency of the surname with religious beliefs or nationality.
The procedure to follow to change your last name in your passport
- Contact the registry office at your registration address.
- Fill out a special form according to form No. 15.
- Obtain from the registry office the details for paying the state duty for this service.
- Submit an application to the receiving authority with a request to change the record with personal information about the person, plus all the necessary documents.
- After you receive a positive decision to change your last name, you again need to contact the registry office and obtain a certificate that you have made changes to your personal information.
- Next, we contact the internal migration department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the MFC.
- Here Form 1-P is filled out and documents are accepted.
- After 10 days you can apply for a new passport.
Grounds for change or refusal
In order to successfully change your surname at your own request, you must comply with the following rules:
- The first right to choose a surname at the request of a person arises at the moment of receiving the first document. That. At what age can you decide what full name a person will have? It is allowed after 14 years.
- To change your surname at an earlier age, you will have to obtain the consent of your legal representatives - parents, guardians. Written permission requires notarization.
- Changing your last name for no apparent reason will not work. In order not to be refused, a person will need to justify why there is a need for such changes.
Not all citizens have a high chance of approval, since changing their last name is often allowed under the following circumstances:
- The previous surname is dissonant and difficult to pronounce or write. This also includes situations like changing the name in your passport to a more harmonious one.
- When writing, there are problems with correct display.
- The bearer of the current surname believes that it contradicts the person’s position, his moral beliefs, faith, and ethical considerations.
- The choice of which surname you can change to includes the personal data of a guardian, parent, or relative.
- You need to get a creative pseudonym.
- The parent wishes to have a common surname with the child (for example, during pregnancy).
- Registration or divorce (a common reason for changing a surname among women).
- Other reasons that the registration authority considers valid.
Sometimes, in order to make changes to the passport, the desire to start a new life will be enough, or maintaining the same last name is impossible due to intra-family contradictions. In any case, the application indicates why it was decided to change the information, and the registry office considers the application on an individual basis.
[/su_list]For those who doubt whether it is possible to simply change a passport without any reason and without marriage, you should know that sometimes the applicant’s request is denied. This happens if a person intends to receive the surname of a politician or a famous creative personality, a surname belonging to an old family.
To successfully coordinate changes, the first thing you need to do is coordinate the process with the registry office and obtain the appropriate certificate.
If the change is refused, the applicant has the right to appeal the decision by going to court. If the actions of the registration authority employees are considered unlawful, the court will be obliged to grant the person’s request.
Where can I change my passport?
- Firstly, through the passport office at the place of residence or stay.
- Secondly, through the MFC at the citizen’s registration address, the MFC will transmit your request to the Main Department of Migration, which in turn will transfer the completed document to the MFC to which the applicant applied;
- Thirdly, you can write an application to change your passport through State Services. To do this, you need to use your personal account. Through it you can also send the applicant’s photo electronically.
Please note that in order to change your last name through State Services, you must register your account or personal account there. Then you need to select the service “receive a passport after changing your last name.” After this, you will be offered a list of departments at the Ministry of Internal Affairs where your application can be considered. After you select the desired branch, you fill out an online application and wait three days while the information you submitted is verified. After this, you will be sent a receipt for payment of the state fee and a day will be assigned for the issuance of a new document.
Is it possible to choose
Life is full of situations when you may need to change your personal information. You don't have to get married to take your husband's last name, and you don't even need to select new personal details from a list of relatives. Below are the rules on how to change your last name in your passport and correctly determine your new full name. Before you begin, you should study who has the right to undergo this procedure, and when there is no need to change documents after changing your name. For example, a certificate cannot be replaced, and a special certificate from the registry office will help confirm the fact of studying under the same last name.
How to choose a surname
If a person has already decided what his name will be, he will have to correlate his desires with the established order. For example, those who can prove the existence of a relationship with documents will be able to bear the surname of their biological father. An official paternity document often becomes such a document. Or the child decides to change his last name to his mother’s maiden name.
Despite the absence of a strict ban on changing the information in the passport to any other, the registry office, when deciding on the feasibility, will be guided by common sense, supported by the provisions of civil law.
- Changing the surname in the work book after marriage
Upon marriage, the newly-made wife takes her husband’s surname, and this does not require additional approval. The law allows for an automatic procedure for changing one's maiden name if, when submitting an application, the newlyweds indicated their intention to have the same last name.
Not only married girls can change their married name from their maiden name to their married name after marriage. A man has a similar right. Sometimes spouses decide to combine both surnames, creating a double one. If the bride or groom already has a double surname, it will not be possible to combine all surnames.
Who can change their last name?
All Russian citizens who have achieved legal capacity can independently change their last name, i.e. after your 18th birthday. However, at the request of the family, with the consent of adults, the child can receive new personal data earlier:
- From their 14th birthday, children change their last name when applying for their first passport, if their legal representatives have expressed their consent.
- Until the age of 14, parents have the right to decide for themselves what surname their child will bear. However, you will first need to obtain consent from the guardianship.
Citizen's name from the point of view of law
Many people in life attribute a mystical connection between a person’s name and the character of the name bearer, as well as his success (or failure) in life. Even at school, most are faced with the assignment of certain nicknames, usually having roots in their first or last name. Those with pretentious names and surnames suffer the most.
In single-parent families, children are often burdened by middle names. This is especially true for those children who have not seen their father since the divorce. In this case, the stepfather, or one of the mother’s closest relatives, may become closer to the child’s father. What to do in this situation? With age, the child begins to understand that the connection with the person who abandoned them through the surname does not correspond to his understanding of the situation.
So, the question of
whether it is possible to change a surname to any other is answered by Article 19 of the Civil Code, which explains the rights of such persons.
Last name, first name and patronymic are acquired at the time of birth to identify a person. Every citizen exercises his rights and responsibilities under his own name. Although in a number of cases, again defined by law, the same citizen can use a pseudonym, that is, a fictitious name.
The law does not prohibit, if desired, changing one’s last name, first name and patronymic, but one should not forget that all the duties that a citizen acquired under the previous name must be fulfilled. Moreover, when changing the surname, it is necessary to notify all the people with whom the citizen was bound by obligations. Both debtors and creditors should be notified. This is a duty.
When changing your last name, discrepancies may arise with the documents. This is a fixable problem. First of all, a citizen who wishes to change his last name is obliged to register such a change with the registry office and receive the appropriate document. And then he has the right to demand from the relevant authorities to replace all documents. True, at your own expense.
When changing your surname, an important circumstance should be taken into account. If you wished to take the data of a famous person as your new last name, first name and patronymic, and then by any of your actions damaged the reputation of this person, you will be held accountable by law. The law also does not allow the use of someone else's name to acquire rights and obligations. This will be called forgery and will also be prosecuted by law.
It is important to understand that although the law allows a change of surname, are the circumstances really so important as to radically distort the family tree and lose roots?
What surname, first name and patronymic can I take instead of the previous ones?
The law prohibits the RF IC, Article 58, only names with numbers, alphanumeric designations, numerals, symbols and signs that are not letters, with the exception of the hyphen. You still cannot use swear words, references to ranks, positions, or titles. They may also refuse. The Ministry of Justice explained in what cases registry offices may refuse to register a name in registration of a name that does not correspond to gender.
There may also be problems with patronymics. By default, it is formed from any male name. So if you want an exotic option or even a match, you will have to choose a male name that sounds similar.
Receiving a passport with new data
As mentioned above, a passport is replaced within 30 days by contacting the Federal Migration Service. After filling out the application, the state fee is paid. To ensure that a person does not remain for a whole month without a passport, he is issued a temporary identity card with a new surname. After the specified period, the citizen receives a passport with updated data.
Many people ask the question: what documents are needed to change their last name? The list is like this:
- Russian citizen passport.
- Certificate confirming marriage/divorce.
- A document confirming the birth of a child.
- A receipt for which the state duty has been paid.
To change the name of a child under 14 years of age, you will need:
- Birth certificate.
- Passports of biological parents.
- Documents confirming parental approval of the child’s name change
- A certificate confirming a new marriage.
The state fee for changing a surname is 1,000 rubles. To replace your passport you need to pay 200 rubles.
Restrictions on changing your name
Although the law states that a citizen has the right to change his name from the age of 14, in fact he receives it only after reaching adulthood. From 14 to 18 years of age, a change is possible by mutual consent of the parents or by court decision. An exception is the case of acquiring full legal capacity before the age of 18.
A child can change his first name, surname or patronymic only by decision of the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.
The law does not limit the imagination of citizens. The name can be changed to a double one, for example, although this does not correspond to Russian traditions. However, using curse words or slang will not work, because according to Federal Law-53, the official language of the Russian Federation is used in the documentation.
Through the State Services website
Procedures for changing your last name can be done remotely through the State Services website. To do this, create a profile on the portal according to the specified instructions. Government services provide broad functions. Customers are offered a convenient search on the site, which simplifies the task even for an inexperienced user. Creating a personal profile on the portal is mandatory. To do this you need:
- Go to the official website of Gususlug.
- Click on the “Registration” button.
- Enter the required information in the fields.
- Leave details for feedback, receive a confirmation code.
- Confirm the email to which you will receive a message with a password for authorization in the future.
- Log in to the site using your personal login and password.
Through the government services portal, you can quickly register for temporary registration.
What documents will need to be changed?
After completing the re-registration procedure, you will need to change the following documents:
- passport;
- TIN – only the last name will be replaced in it;
- driver's license;
- international passport;
- certificates of ownership;
- diplomas;
- SNISL - just like the TIN, only the last name will be changed;
- marriage certificate, divorce certificate.
This is a basic list of documents that need to be replaced first. You may need to change other papers as well.
Documents for the dacha
Title documents for the dacha
The law does not establish the obligation to re-register title documents for a land plot and garden house when the surname of the copyright holder changes. In subsequent transactions, a document confirming the change of surname is sent along with other documents in order to avoid suspension and refusal of registration13.
SNT
If a person is a member of the SNT, he is obliged to promptly inform the chairman or other authorized member of the SNT board about the change in his last name. Otherwise, he will have to bear the costs associated with the lack of up-to-date information in the register of SNT members. The law does not establish the procedure for informing (list of documents, deadline, form of notification), but it must be spelled out in the SNT charter.
If a person is not a member of the SNT, then even if he has consent to include information about him in a separate section of the register of SNT members, he is not responsible for failure to report a change of surname, since such an obligation is not provided for by law14.
Reasons for changing the surname
The reasons why a person is interested in changing his or her name are varied. These are: divorce, the desire of the spouse to have the same last name, changed after marriage; poor sonority of the name; the desire to again become a namesake with close relatives; the desire to get rid of the unpronounceable middle name; desire to change passport data for religious reasons; banal psychological discomfort associated with the child’s reluctance to bear the middle name of the person who left the family.
The name may cause ridicule from those closest to you. A citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to change his last name as a result of marriage. A name change is possible only at the request of the person himself. The main thing is that the process is carried out in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation.
Can they refuse to change their last name?
People are refused to change their last name in their passport at their own request in very rare cases. A refusal can only be obtained if a person plans to become a namesake:
- policy;
- poet or writer;
- actor or singer;
- an eminent person whose family belongs to the nobility.
You can also get a refusal in cases where a person wants to get a new surname, which means:
- name of the locality;
- name of the retail facility;
- name of a historical object or architectural monument.
If a person who wishes to change documents is refused, he can ask the civil registry office employee for an explanation of such a decision. In the case where there is no confirmation of the refusal by a legislative document, you can achieve your goal through a court decision.
