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Prerequisites

• You have German citizenship.
• You are entitled to asylum, a foreign refugee, a stateless person, a homeless foreigner or a quota refugee.
• There is an important or serious reason that justifies the name change.

Documents required

• Registration certificate or valid official photo ID (identity card, passport)
• Extract from the birth register (available from the registry office of the place of birth)
• for stateless persons: travel document or entry of the immigration authorities in the passport or passport substitute
• for stateless foreigners or asylum seekers: entry by the immigration authorities in the passport or passport substitute
• for foreign refugees: entry by the immigration authorities in the passport or passport substitute

For further documents, please contact the name change authority responsible for you

Please note

First ask your authority by telephone whether the application has any chance of success.

Deadlines

no

Procedure

You must apply in writing to change your first name.

• Ask your competent authority for the application form or download and fill it out completely. For minors, the legal representative submits the application.
• State the reasons for your application in detail. The authority must weigh up and decide, taking into account all the circumstances of the individual case. The longer the name has been in use, the greater the public interest in keeping the name.
• Your competent authority will collect an advance fee and then carry out the necessary investigations. In doing so, it involves various bodies, such as the police, in the case of people over 14 years old. It obtains information from the register of debtors at the district court and, if necessary, from other bodies.
• If the requirements are met, you will receive a certificate of the name change. The change of name becomes effective upon delivery. Otherwise you will receive a rejection letter.
• The name change authority will notify other bodies of your name change. This includes
  • the registration authority,
  • the registry office that keeps the birth register,
  • the registry office that keeps the marriage register or the civil partnership register.
• As soon as the name change has taken effect, you must have various documents (identity card, passport, vehicle registration) changed. You must apply for these changes yourself.

Note: If another person is involved, for example the other parent when changing the name of a child after the parents have divorced, you will initially only receive notification of the name change. It advises that you must wait until the name change is no longer open to legal challenge. In these cases, the name change will take effect under the following conditions:

• the other person involved accepts the name change or
• the appeals authority or the courts confirm the change of name.

Processing time

About 6 months

Fees

Depending on the administrative effort and federal state.


Note: If the change is successful, follow-up costs will arise because you will have to reapply for documents, such as your identity card or passport. If the application is rejected, a fee of 10 to 50 percent of the administration fee will be charged.

Legal remedies

no

Legal basis

Name Change Act






Change of surnames and first names






Ordinance to Enforce the Surname and First Name Change Act