Following is the name change requirements in India: A Complete 3-Step Guide
Changing one’s name, adding initials or even just one letter is regular in India, more so than in many parts of the world. We believe in vaastu, numerology, and it’s common for women from many communities to change their first and last names after marriage.
Given how common this is, you would expect the procedure for changing your name to be fairly quick. But it is, in fact, pretty lengthy, even requiring a newspaper advertisement.
Even though it is lengthy, though, the procedure for changing your name is quite simple. All you need to do is to understand how it is done, what steps needs to be taken, what are the documents essential for submitting the request, and you are good to go. Read the below-mentioned steps to ensure you have everything in place for changing your name to the new initials, as preferred.
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PROCEDURE FOR NAME CHANGE IN INDIA
There are three mandatory things, which are needed to be done for authorizing the name change:
1. Affidavit Submission: An affidavit needs to be prepared for name change.
2. Ad Publication: An announcement should be published in the newspaper.
3. Gazette Notification: A notification should be published in the Gazette of India regarding the name change.
The first step in the legal procedure is affidavit submission. You need to contact a notary to do the needful. The following steps would make the process simpler and clearer:
1. Approach your local notary and mention your request.
2. The notary will suggest the stamp paper of required value on which the affidavit for name change is made.
3. Once you have the paper, you need to provide the following details:
a.Name and New name
b.Current address
c.Reason for name change (Astrology, numerology, marriage, etc)
4. Once the affidavit is printed on a plain stamp paper, it needs to be signed by two witnesses. The legal procedure is to get it signed by two persons of gazetted officer rank. Ensure that you have their signature, along with their stamp (rubber stamp).
5. The procedure for a name change, in the case of a central government employee, needs to be done in lieu with the Ministry of Home Affairs O.M. No. – 190016/1/87-Estt. Dated 12.03.1987