General #
In general, we do not process Deed Poll application for change of name in your Singapore Identity Card (IC or NRIC) to be signed overseas. We require the applicant to be in Singapore to sign the formal Deed Poll in the presence of one of our lawyers.
Replacement of Singapore IC has to be done in person at ICA (and/or via ICA’s website, as the case may be). Applicants who are overseas are advised to go down to ICA in Singapore to alter the name in their ICs with their Deed Poll.
By Singapore law, an IC holder who changes his name should apply for a replacement identity card within 28 days. You may visit ICA’s website for more information.
If you are currently overseas and intend to return to Singapore soon (temporarily or permanently), you may apply for a Deed Poll first through our websites or SG Lawyers mobile app, and make an appointment via our booking system.
Child under 15 with no IC #
Subject to relevant authorities’ policies and procedures, if a child is under 15 years and has no Singapore identity card issued, a Deed Poll executed by both parents (with exceptions) in the presence of a Singapore Consulate Officer or Notary Public may be acceptable to the ICA or Singapore missions overseas (eg. Singapore Embassy) so long it is in English. You are advised to check with ICA or the relevant Singapore mission in the country of your stay on their policies and procedures.
If you require this special service to prepare a Deed Poll, ie. for child under 15 with no idenity card, please make a request via email or online submission, and note that our charges will be higher than our usual standard rate, currently, estimated at $200 (subject to change without prior notice). In your online submission, please indicate that you are signing overseas for child under 15 with no IC. For payment, please visit our Payment page.
Upon engagement, if not already furnished via online submission, we will require the following supporting documents to be emailed to us (not exhaustive):
- parents’ Singapore identity cards or passports
- child’s birth certificate showing parents’ name (if in not in English, a certified English translation)
Once the Deed Poll is prepared in accordance with the parents’ instructions, we will email to the parents’ email address the Deed Poll for them to carefully review, and if it in order, to print out the same in A4 size white paper and to arrange for execution.
After signning the Deed Poll before a Singapore Consulate Officer (which is the preferred mode) or a Notary Public in the country of your stay, you may email us a scan copy of the signed Deed Poll for our record. You should ensure that the attestation clauses, certificates, and/or stamps of the officer witnessing the Deed Poll do not contain any non-English character.
We reserve the right to reject engagement without assigning any reason, and will decide on the engagement on a case by case basis. For this service, please note that we do not warrant that the Deed Poll will be acceptable to any relevant authority, including but not limited to ICA, for your child’s purposes.
Child above 15 with IC #
If the child is above 15 years (but under 21) and has an identity card, the parents will need to change the child’s IC (which can only be done in Singapore) first before the child can make changes to the child’s passport.
Since an identity card has to be changed within 28 days from the date of the Deed Poll, the parents will have to change the child’s identity card in Singapore within that time frame. In that event, we will be unable to assist the child’s parents unless they sign the Deed Poll in our office in Singapore.
Caution Note #
Important Note: this article contains governmental policy issues and precedures, please check with the Immigration & Checkpoint Authority (ICA) and other relevant authorities.
