Get Rechristened Via Newspaper Advert And Move Ahead With Your New Identity

Passport is not just meant for your foreign visits but is a very important identity proof of the citizen of any country. Hence, all the information provided on this legal proof that is recognized world-wide should be correct or else you might land into trouble! If you want to make any changes to the existing information on your passport, you first need to follow a proper procedure and produce valid proofs to get the information changed on this document.

Say, for instance, you want to change your surname or name on your passport, you will have to follow a legal process without which you cannot proceed with the name change. Mostly, females put forward a name change request on passport post marriage when they add their husband’s surname to their existing maiden name. It takes about a month or so to get name changed on the passport after an applicant is done with all the mandatory steps of the name change process.

To get name changed (in general), one has to produce an affidavit for the same stating that you are changing your name. Plus, you also need to provide the details viz. existing name, new name, residential address, etc. Second, comes, a newspaper advert that a name change seeker has to mandatorily publish providing the aforesaid details (the ones produced in the affidavit). A name change seeker can choose any news journal for this purpose; a national daily or a regional news supplement can be used for this purpose. It is advisable that one should go for both a national daily as well as a vernacular for such notices. The third and the final step is to get a Gazette notification published for the name change act. Once a person is through all these steps, only then can they proceed to get their name changed on passports, PAN Cards, Driving License, etc. 

There is no need to publish exclusive adverts for name change on passport i.e. if suppose you choose The Times of India than a general advert will suffice and will be an enough proof. You do not have to exclusively publish name change ad in Times of India for passport. A name change ad in the newspaper can be produced before any authority to get name changed on Passports, Driving License, etc. (as mentioned above). Hence, no need to go for passport name change ad in Times of India or in any other newspaper for that matter.

Such stringent rules and regulations for name change are usually to put a check on fraudulent activities that anti-social elements usually undertake by hiding their identity and taking on a fake identity. It is due to this reason that concerned authorities have made strict rules in regards with name change activity that no individual can simply take on a new name without going through the streamlined process that is mandatory to follow. If at any point of time it is found that the information produced by an applicant is misleading in any manner, then the name change process of such a person is put to halt and strict actions are taken against them.

So, if you are about to get your name changed on Passport then do keep in mind to produce correct information with essential details or else you will be liable to penalty and punishment in cases of serious grievances.