530. Changing name on school -

marriage certificate . . .

Question: Dear Sir, I'm planning to change my name legally; but before i do that i would like to know if i can change the name in my other documents ex; School Leaving Certificate, Marriage Certificate Etc. I inquired at the local consulate and they told me that name can be changed only in Passport & not in certificate's. At present there is no provision to do that. If you have any information regarding the subject matter, i request you to share it with me as soon as possible. Thanks in advance leo pereira Answer: Your local consulate is correct in saying that they can only do changes on Passports and not certificates! Consulates abroad, deal in visas and passports and have nothing to do with other certificates or documents a person may possess. They can do the name change on passports for their citizens, only after being provided proof that the name change has been legally done in accordance of prescribe law and that the name change has been advertised in two daily newspapers, one in the country where the consulate is located and the other in the home country in the area of the persons residence. To clarify: • A person provides the consulate with the legally required documentation they have obtained after legally changing their name and the consulate will issue a new passport that reflects the changed name. • As far as other certificates such as school certificates are concerned, such records are not easy to get corrected. There may be a possibility of using your legal name change documents, that may say ‘formerly known as . . .’ to prove the school certificate is showing your previous name, is indeed yours.