For many Ukrainians, changing a name or surname is associated with life circumstances that affect daily comfort, self-perception, family history and attitude to one’s own documents. For some, this issue arises after a divorce, for others – due to the unwillingness to continue living with a surname that has caused inconvenience for years, and for some, the decision to change a name becomes a continuation of a personal choice that a person has been making for a long time and consciously.
Lawyers from the Repeshko and Partners Law Firm commented on how a name, surname and patronymic change takes place in Ukraine, who has the right to initiate such a procedure, what documents must be submitted and what terms are used to consider the application, and in which cases the applicant may be refused.
Oddly enough, there is a fashion for a child’s name. The most popular names in Ukraine now are Sofia, Eva, Emilia, Maria, Zlata for girls and Mykyta, Nazar, Matviy, Mark, Artem, Timofey for boys. However, not all girls want to be Evas, or boys Matviy. At the same time, many people do not like it if their parents gave them the surname Tarakanchykov, Tupitsyna, Ponosova, Popyk or Dokhlyk.
For such cases, Ukraine has a procedure for changing a name (surname, first name, patronymic) approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated July 11, 2007 No. 915. This Procedure regulates the mechanism for accepting and considering applications for changing the name (surname, first name, patronymic) of individuals – citizens of Ukraine.
Applications for a change of name (surname, first name, patronymic) (hereinafter – the name) of citizens of Ukraine residing in the territory of Ukraine are accepted, considered, and also kept in their records by the
department of state registration of civil status acts at the place of their residence; citizens of Ukraine permanently residing abroad – by the diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine, where they are on permanent consular registration. However, now on this issue in the territory of Ukraine it is also possible to contact the Center for the Provision of Administrative Services. In this case, an application for a change of name is submitted by a citizen of Ukraine personally in writing, provided that a passport of a citizen of Ukraine is presented, and in the case when the applicant permanently resides abroad, provided that a passport of a citizen of Ukraine is presented for traveling abroad.
Separately, it is worth paying attention to an important detail that not everyone knows about. The law also allows a woman to change her last name if, for certain reasons, she did not immediately return to her pre-marital name after the divorce, but later decided to do so. A separate procedure is provided for this: an application for a change of last name in connection with the divorce, if the last name was not changed during the state registration of the divorce or after the case was considered in court, can be submitted through a representative or sent by mail, if the authenticity of the applicant’s signature on such an application is notarized. That is, even if a woman was left with her married name after the divorce, she does not lose the right to return to her pre-marital name later. If, for example, after the divorce, the last name “Petrenko” remained in the documents, she can later legally return to her pre-marital name “Sydorenko”.
In addition, the law provides for the possibility of changing the name from the age of fourteen, but at this age, the written consent of the parents or guardian is still required. Together with the teenager’s application, a written statement of the parents is submitted to give their consent to the name change. If one of the parents has died, is recognized as missing, declared deceased, is recognized as having limited legal capacity or incompetent, is deprived of parental rights in relation to the child, as well as in cases where information about the father or mother is excluded from the birth certificate, or information about the husband as the father is entered at the mother’s request, a statement from one of the parents is sufficient. Such an application can be submitted personally, and in some cases, one of the parents has the right to submit it through the other parent, if his signature on the document is notarized.
So, from the age of fourteen, a name change is already possible, but before achieving full independence in this matter, a properly executed consent of adults representing the interests of the child is required.
An application for the consent of the parents (one of the parents) or guardian to change the name of the specified person may be submitted by them personally. An application by one of the parents, the authenticity of the signature of which is notarized, may be submitted by the other parent. In the event of objection by one of the parents to the change of the child’s patronymic, the dispute regarding such a change may be resolved by the guardianship and trusteeship body or by court. When resolving the dispute, the parents’ fulfillment of their duties towards the child and other circumstances that confirm the compliance of the change of patronymic with the interests of the child shall be taken into account.
From the age of sixteen, a name change may be made without the consent of the parents, only at the child’s request. The following documents are attached to the application for a name change:
- the applicant’s birth certificate;
- marriage certificate (if the applicant is married);
- dissolution certificate (if the marriage is dissolved);
- birth certificates of children (if the applicant has minor or underage children);
- certificate of change of the applicant’s, father’s or mother’s name, if it was previously changed;
- photograph of the applicant;
- written undertaking of the applicant, drawn up in any form, the authenticity of the signature on which is notarized, about the applicant’s awareness of the liability established by law for providing false information and the need to exchange the passport of a citizen of Ukraine or a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad and other documents in case of a name change (in case of submitting an application through a representative or sending it by mail)
- receipt of payment of state duty.
It is worth knowing that when submitting an application for a name change, the civil registry office, diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine warns the applicant about the liability established by law for reporting false information and the need to exchange the passport of a citizen of Ukraine or a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad and other documents in case of a name change, except for submitting an application through a representative or sending it by mail.
The department of the Civil Registry Office, diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine that
accepted the application for a name change shall verify the information specified in the application and in the documents attached to it. To confirm the authenticity of the documents submitted by the applicant, the department of the Civil Registry Office that accepted the application for a name change shall attach to the specified documents copies of the
relevant civil status records or extracts from the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens.
In the event that civil status records are stored in the archives of other departments of the Civil Registry Office, the department that accepted the application for a name change shall send the relevant requests to the specified departments.
The diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine, which has accepted the application for a name change, sends requests through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ukrainian State Register for further forwarding to the departments of state registration of civil status acts, where the relevant civil status records are stored, to request their copies or extracts from the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens. In this case, the name change is carried out if the archives of the departments of state registration of civil status acts of Ukraine contain the relevant civil status records and data in the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens.
In the absence of civil status records in the archives of the departments of the State Civil Status Register of Ukraine, which, based on the results of the state registration of a name change, require changes in accordance with the law, or data in the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens, an application for a name change may be considered only after their renewal and entry of information into the specified Register in accordance with the established procedure. This may especially apply to persons who previously lived in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories.
Regarding the terms. An application for a name change by a department of the State Civil Status Register of Ukraine is considered within three months from the date of its submission. If there are good reasons, this term may be extended, but not more than three months, with the written permission of the head of the relevant department of state civil status registration.
An application for a name change by a diplomatic mission or consular institution of Ukraine is considered within six months from the date of its submission. Moreover, the term for considering an application for a name change may be suspended if it is necessary to renew and enter information into the State Register of Civil Status Acts of Citizens.
There is an important nuance, especially for those who consider a change of surname to be, as they say, covering up traces in some criminal situation. The State Civil Status Acts Registration Department sends the necessary materials to the territorial body of the National Police at the applicant’s place of residence to provide an opinion on the possibility of changing the name. The diplomatic mission or consular post of Ukraine does the same through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the National Police for further forwarding to the territorial body of the National Police at the applicant’s last place of residence in Ukraine.
In turn, the territorial body of the National Police, based on the results of the relevant inspection, which is carried out free of charge, within a month prepares and sends a conclusion on the possibility of changing the name together with all materials to the department of state registration of civil status acts or through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the relevant diplomatic mission or consular institution of Ukraine.
The department of the State Civil Status Registration Office, diplomatic mission or consular institution of Ukraine, based on the documents on the change of name and the conclusion of the territorial body of the National Police on the possibility of changing the name, prepares a conclusion on granting permission to change the name or refusing to grant it and sends it to the applicant. At the same time, there are the following grounds for refusing to grant permission to change the name:
- criminal proceedings against the applicant or his/her stay under administrative supervision;
- the applicant has a criminal record that has not been cleared or withdrawn in accordance with the procedure established by law;
- an official appeal by law enforcement agencies of foreign countries to declare the applicant wanted;
- the applicant providing false information;
- submitting an application for a name change in a manner not provided for by the current procedure.
It should be noted that the refusal to grant permission to change the name may be appealed in court in accordance with the established procedure.
If permission to change the name is granted, the applicant may, within a three-month period, apply in person for state registration of the name change to the department of the State Civil Status Registry, diplomatic mission or consular institution of Ukraine, which draws up a record of the name change, or in the case of a change of surname in connection with the dissolution of marriage, which was not changed during the state registration of the dissolution of marriage or the dissolution of marriage in court, through a representative acting on the basis of a notarized power of attorney.
If the applicant or representative, without good reason, does not apply to the department of state civil status registration, diplomatic mission or consular institution of Ukraine within the specified period for state registration of the name change, the permission to change the name
loses its validity. That is, from the moment of granting permission for the change, the applicant has only three months to implement it. In case of missing the specified period, the procedure will have to be repeated.
State registration of the change of name of citizens of Ukraine residing in the territory of Ukraine is carried out by the Department of the State Registration and Registration of Citizens of Ukraine after payment of the state fee, and the change of name of citizens of Ukraine permanently residing abroad is carried out by the diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine after payment of the consular fee. In the event that the applicant is exempted from these payments in accordance with the procedure established by law, he must present an appropriate document confirming such right.
Following the results of the state registration procedure for the change of name, the applicant is issued a certificate of name change. At the same time, the DRACS department shall, within seven days, notify the territorial body of the National Police, the territorial unit of the State Migration Service at their place of residence and the territorial center of recruitment and social support where they are registered, of any change in the name of citizens of Ukraine permanently residing abroad.
The diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine shall, within seven days, enter information on the change in the name of citizens of Ukraine permanently residing abroad into the card of permanent consular registration of a citizen of Ukraine (registration card) and shall notify the territorial body of the National Police, the territorial unit of the State Migration Service at their last place of residence in Ukraine and the territorial center of recruitment and social support where they are registered, of such a change through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After state registration of a name change, in the event of an applicant’s personal application, the DRACS department shall make a note in the passport of a citizen of Ukraine in the form of a passport booklet, and a diplomatic mission or consular office of Ukraine shall make a note in the passport of a citizen of Ukraine in the form of a passport booklet for traveling abroad that the passport must be exchanged within a month due to the name change.
It should be noted that state registration of a name change does not entail making changes to the civil status records drawn up in respect of the person who changed the name and his or her minor and underage children, except in cases provided for by law, as well as adult children. In the event of making changes, certificates of state registration of civil status acts shall be reissued. Previously issued certificates of state registration of civil status acts shall cease to be valid and shall be destroyed in accordance with the established procedure.
In the event of state registration by a citizen of Ukraine of civil status acts in the competent authorities of foreign states with which Ukraine has not concluded agreements on the provision of legal assistance in civil and family matters, consideration of applications for a name change shall be carried out without requesting copies of civil status records and without making relevant changes to such records.
State registration by competent authorities of foreign states of civil status acts shall be confirmed by relevant documents on state registration of the civil status act, legalized in accordance with the established procedure.
Therefore, before submitting an application, we advise you to check in advance which documents need to be added in your situation, whether all the necessary records are available, whether there will be any difficulties with confirming the data, and also immediately take into account that after changing the name, you will have to exchange your passport and other documents within the established time limits. If the issue is related to changing the surname after the dissolution of the marriage, with the consent of the parents to change the child’s name, with the absence of archival records or with receiving a refusal, it is worth getting professional advice before contacting the DRACS or ASNAP so as not to waste time and not go through the procedure again.
