To want to use my maiden name?

[RedxRobin]

Currently going through a ridiculous situation at the moment and wondering if others have any experience.
I was born in the UK and have lived here all my life. I have Dutch parents & have always had a dutch passport (not sure why, we all did & it was never a big deal). After Brexit I decided to apply for a UK passport.
My dutch passport is in my maiden name & I applied for my UK passport in my married name - not realising that they had to match. Since then I've had a nightmare - the passport office first said that I had to change my dutch passport to my married name. I pointed out that in holland you don't tend to change your name & I would rather have my maiden name of both passports as I still use my maiden name professionally & often travel for work.
I've now been sent a letter telling me that if I want to have my maiden name on my UK passport I have to have a change of name deed showing that I was reverting to my maiden name & sign a statement declaring that I will only be know by my maiden name from now on.
As far as I can see, I can legally use both names so I don't see why I would have to do a change of name deed (I never officially changed it in the first place) or renounce the use of my married name. Has anyone else experience this???

Of course your two passports have to match. Not least because your passport name has to match whatever name is on your tickets. So, for example, if you left the UK and flew to Holland, you'd leave on your British passport and then arrive in Holland using your Dutch passport. Both passports would need to match the name on the ticket for your flight. I assume that as you've been travelling on a passport in your maiden name for years, that you tend to buy your plane tickets etc in your maiden name.

Surely the answer here is to tell the passport office the tyou made a mistake and that yes, your legal name remains your maiden name and ask if you can now please apply in your maiden name.

If you want to change to your married name, that's fine, but I'd 100% agree with the passport office that you then need to change the name in your dutch passport too.

These are legal documents, not how you preferred to be called at a PTA meeting.

I've spoken to the passport office 3 times & each time been given differing advice.
One guy even admitted he probably had his information wrong as he had only been in the job for a couple of days!! (at least he was honest!)

You can issue it in one name and have the other listed on the passport as a legal alias. Probably easiest to do maiden name with married listed as your alias.

@Flickeringgreenlight - no, I've never done a deed poll to officially change my name

@TyrannosaurusRights

You can issue it in one name and have the other listed on the passport as a legal alias. Probably easiest to do maiden name with married listed as your alias.

I wondered about that. DH's Greek passport spells his name the Greek way, but they have also given him a form that explains that outside of Greece it is spelt in an anglicised way (because, when travelling, we don't tend to buy tickets using his greek name - he has only ever been known by the Anglicised version. It's just that Greece doesn't like using that version!).

@Triffid1 Surely the answer here is to tell the passport office the tyou made a mistake and that yes, your legal name remains your maiden name and ask if you can now please apply in your maiden name. - yes that is what I have tried to do! Now they are telling me I have to provide a name change deed to my maiden name (I never did have one to my married name) & sign a statement that I was reverting to using only my maiden name.

The issue is I'm happy to have my maiden name in both passports.
What I don't get is why I have to renounce the use of my married name completely to do so.
Have found a home office document that states that dual nationals are allowed to have their passport matching their maiden name so I am hoping to write and complain and quote that to them.

This is why I suggested writing to them and I do not think they are correct in stating you need a deed poll to use your birth name on your UK passport. No UK citizen would need to do that (I didn't as an example) so why the difference for you? Baloney.

Did you manage to get your passport with the observation? I am just going through the same process so final hints would be appreciated

I’ve got my driving license in married name, and passport in married name with observation in with my maiden name. Because if you want to get a DBS it is a pain in the arse if you don’t have documents in your work name. Even with marriage certificate.

Bank accounts are in maiden name. HMRC- maiden name.

However you signed your U.K. marriage certificate is your legal name in the U.K.

You don’t need to change your name by deed poll after marriage if you sign it using your new name - but that is then your name.

You cannot apply for a legal document with two items showing different names.

You can call yourself whatever you like but legal name is different and distinct.

So are you using a married name without it being your legal name on your marriage certificate? Did you sign it ‘firstname maiden name’ or ‘firstname married name’?

This was explained to me when I got married as I wanted to keep my maiden name and they confirmed I had no plans to use a married name before letting me sign.

@Merryoldgoat on my first divorce my solicitor advised me that my legal name was my birth surname as the married name was only taken out of courtesy. Upon my second marriage, I retained my birth surname and I didn’t have to confirm that I was taking my husband’s name.

Guessing not a dual citizen? Has anyone had success with obtaining an observation for Dutch/foreign passport in their maiden name but British passport in married?

@Merryoldgoat

However you signed your U.K. marriage certificate is your legal name in the U.K.

You don’t need to change your name by deed poll after marriage if you sign it using your new name - but that is then your name.

You cannot apply for a legal document with two items showing different names.

You can call yourself whatever you like but legal name is different and distinct.

So are you using a married name without it being your legal name on your marriage certificate? Did you sign it ‘firstname maiden name’ or ‘firstname married name’?

This was explained to me when I got married as I wanted to keep my maiden name and they confirmed I had no plans to use a married name before letting me sign.

You dont sign the marriage certificate in a new name

You use the marriage certificate at the bank/for a new passport ro indicate that you are changing your surname.

Women don’t need to change their name by deed poll after marriage.

Men do.

I think the issue is that the passport office have changed the passport to her married name and now she says she wants it back to her maiden name without having got divorced they are asking for a deed poll document so they have a paper trail.

@Jengnr

Women don’t need to change their name by deed poll after marriage.

Men do.

Apparently the passport office will accept a marriage certificate if the husband wants to take the name of his wife or wants to double barrel them

Don't even TRY to argue with these jobs' worths. They are the most unreasonable, unhelpful, racist, chauvinist, nasty people I have ever had to deal with. If you are not simply British, and don't want to lose your other nationality, (Heaven forfend you should be dual or even triple nationality, or gain another nationality by marriage or long term residence in a different country) there is absolutely no discussion with them, they are right and you can only have one name, British approved, or you are clearly suspect. And that is that. It started when a certain T May was Home Secretary, and has gradually been getting worse since 2014, with Brexit having a massive impact on it. It would be funny if it weren't all so nasty "Little Englander" jingoistic.
(Can you tell, I'm bitter.)

[quote RedxRobin]@Flickeringgreenlight - no, I've never done a deed poll to officially change my name[/quote]
You don’t after marriage. When you provided your marriage certificate to get a passport you effectively changed your legal name.

Unanswered Freedom of Information question (Dual Nationals' right to choose) posed in 2015

I agree. You putting the marriage certificate in with your passport application in your married name has acted as proof of a name change with no need for a deed poll.

However you signed your U.K. marriage certificate is your legal name in the U.K.

There is no such thing as a legal name in the UK. So this is nonsense.

It seems like there’s loads of people giving us shitty information as that’s literally what I was told by the registrar when I got married.

Thankfully I just signed my maiden name as that’s how I’ve been known forever.

They are wrong, but the issue is going to be getting them to accept that. Maybe see what other evidence they would accept to show that you are still using your birth name.

@AndSoFinally

You can only have one legal name. It can be either your maiden name or married name (or anything else you like via deed poll). It's defined by what is on your legal documentation eg passport or driving license.

You can call yourself whatever you want on a day to day basis though.

Not true. I have my married name and my maiden name listed in my U.K. passport. One is down as the issued name, the other as a legal alias. They are both legally, my name.