Botswana - Change Your Name (Deed Poll)

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Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. Any citizens of Botswana that wish to change their official birth registered name should visit the nearest Regional or District Department of Civil and National Registration office to file the request. (Contact details listed below).
2. Complete and submit Application for Change of Name (with relevant support documents) to the Department of Civil and National Registration to the civil registrar. Forms are available for free at any of the department offices.
3. The registrar will then verify, if all the necessary information and documents have been provided and that the applications comply with the selection criteria, if everything is in order, the application file will be registered and recorded after payment of the required application fee, and the applicant will be issued with an acknowledgment letter containing details of the application.
4. The application will be processed and publicized in the Government Gazette for 30 days to accommodate possible objections from the general public.
   • Note; All publication are at the applicant’s own cost.
5. If there are no objections, an authorization is publicized for 14 days in the Government Gazette to inform members of the proposed change.
6. After the expiration of 14 days, if there is no public objection to the authorization, a deed poll (authorization letter) is issued to the client against the acknowledgment letter and the name change is effected at this point.

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Required Documents

Certified copies of the following documents should accompany the application form when applying for this service.
Change of Name due to marriage

• Marriage Certificate or certificate from customary authorities in the case of a customary marriage (on the marriage of applicant’s parents).

Change of Name due to any other reasons

• Birth Certificate or Affidavit of Birth.
• School Academic Certificates.
• Omang Card.
• Page 1 and 2 of passport.
• Any other legal documents.

Office Locations & Contacts

Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs
Block 8, Government Enclave, Khama Crescent
Private Bag 002
Gaborone
Botswana
Tel: (+267)3611115 / 3611234 / 3611132
Fax: (+267) 3907426
Email: [email protected]

Department of Civil and National Registration
Ministry of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affair
Head Office, Block 8, Government Enclave
Khama Crescent
Private Bag 00240
Gaborone
Botswana
TEL: (+267) 361100/1400/ 1465
Toll-free number. 0800 600 777

• Ministry contact details link: Link
  

ALL REGIONAL AND DISTRICT OFFICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY; DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL & NATIONAL REGISTRATION – OFFICES CONTACT LIST LINK: Link

Opening hours: 7:30 to 12:45, and 13:45 to 16:30, Monday to Friday, except public holidays.

Eligibility

• All citizens of Botswana.

Fees

• The cost of obtaining this service is BWP100.00

Validity

• The deed poll is valid forever

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

• Change of name due to marriage is processed the same day
• Change of name due to any other reason takes 69 days to complete.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since january 1908.

Required Information

• Applicant {Old name/New name}
• Birth certificate details
• Contact details/residential address details
• Marriage certificate/divorce certificate or proof
• Reasons for the request
• School Academic Certificates
• Identity document details
• Declaration by the applicant

Need for the Document

• Change of names can be effected through the use of a Deed Poll. A deed poll is a legal document binding only to a single person or several persons acting jointly to express an active intention. With a deed poll, you can change your forenames and/or surname, add names, remove names or rearrange your existing names.
• A Deed Poll is a formal statement to prove that you have changed your name and it provides you with the necessary documentary evidence of the name by which you wish to be known.

Information which might help

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Other uses of the Document/Certificate

• Deed Poll is required when applying for a change of name on other civil registration documents (identity document/passport/birth certificate/marriage certificate/driver's license etc.)
  

External Links

Government procedure link: Link

Others

More information which might help people.