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Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

Registration of information - Name changes - Application for name change

69: Application for name change by eligible person

You could also call this:

"How to Apply for a Name Change if You Are Eligible"

Illustration for Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

You can apply to change your name if you are eligible. You must include a statement that says you will use your new name and stop using your old one. You can verify this statement electronically or by statutory declaration, and you can find more information on this in section 128 and section 129. You also need to pay a fee and provide consent from your guardian if you are 16 or 17 years old and have never been married. If your birth is not registered, you need to provide your birth certificate or other evidence of your birth. The Registrar-General may ask you for identification to confirm who you are. You can ask for your documents to be returned or destroyed after your application is processed.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS53760.

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68: Eligibility to apply for name change, or

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Part 2Registration of information
Name changes: Application for name change

69Application for name change by eligible person

  1. An application by an eligible person must—

  2. include a statement made in accordance with subsection (2) and verified—
    1. electronically in a prescribed manner (see also section 128); or
      1. by statutory declaration (see also section 129); and
      2. be accompanied by—
        1. the prescribed fee; and
          1. if the application is made by a 16- or 17-year-old who has never been in a marriage, civil union, or de facto relationship, the written consent of the 16- or 17-year-old’s guardian.

          2. The eligible person—

          3. must declare in the statement provided under subsection (1)(a) that, if the application is approved, the eligible person intends to adopt the proposed name and to abandon the eligible person’s registered name; and
            1. may declare, if applicable, that the eligible person has already used the proposed name instead of the eligible person’s registered name.

              1. An eligible person whose birth is not registered under this Act must also provide—

              2. the eligible person’s birth certificate; or
                1. another certificate or other evidence that satisfies the Registrar-General of the date and place of the eligible person’s birth.

                  1. The Registrar-General may require the eligible person to provide any means of identification that the Registrar-General reasonably requires to confirm the identity of the eligible person.

                  2. The Registrar-General must, at the request of the eligible person, return or destroy the certificate or evidence provided under subsection (3) or (4).

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