If you are an adult or a minor with an IC, the the adult or minor (assisted by parents) should change the name of his/her IC/NRIC at ICA within 28 days from the date of the Deed Poll.
Apart from updating your identity card and passport, common questions are “who I need to notify of my change of name” and “whether I need to update my change of name in my personal documents (eg. degree certificate)”. These are difficult questions as there are so many possibilities, and you should check with the various parties on updating your name. The onus of notifying/updating these parties are solely on you/your parents.
For government agencies, it is not clear if ICA will notify or update the various government agencies upon the change of name in your IC at ICA. You may verify with ICA and/or the various agencies whether you need to forward to the various agencies a copy each of your new IC and/or your Deed Poll.
Below are the list of common documents / agencies (not exhaustive) and suggested solutions (subject to errors and your verifications with the proper bodies):-
- birth certificate – usually, you cannot update name after child is 1 year old
- marriage certificage – new IC and Deed Poll may be sufficient, but check with ROM
- CPF – check with ICA at time of change of IC, or CPF Board. Name change in IC may be updated automatically
- banks – onus is on you to notify the banks of your change of name. You may wish to produce your new IC and original Deed Poll (and an extra copy for the bank)
- educational certificates – the option is yours, and the onus is on you to check with the relevant education institutions on whether you are able to update your name in your educational certificates
- insurance – check with your insurer or your insurance agent
- property (real estate) – usually it is up to you if you wish to incur legal costs to update your name in title deeds, and the onus is on you. If property is secured by a mortgage or charge, the process can be fairly complicated.
- vehicle ownership – check with LTA, but may be updated automatically
- school – onus is on you to notify the school, please furnish a copy of the Deed Poll to the school
- utilities service providers – onus is you if you wish to notify them
You may wish to refer to our Information Sheet for Singapore Deed Poll (Change of Name) on What should I do after I have done a Deed Poll. The information stated in the Singapore Deed Poll’s Information Sheet is strictly for general information and is not meant to be exhaustive or comprehensive.
It is important to that you should keep your original Deed Poll safely as various authorities (including immigration authorities overseas for migration purposes) may require sight of the original Deed Poll or a certified true copy thereof in lieu of the original.
We have received numerous enquiries to retrieve copies of old Deed Polls done by other law firms in Singapore for those who had lost their original Deed Polls, but we can’t do so as their Deed Polls are not in our archive database.
