How to Get a Gazette Notification for Name Change in India?

To obtain a Gazette notification for a name change in India, you prepare a notarized affidavit declaring your old and new names, publish an advertisement in a daily newspaper, complete the Department of Publication’s prescribed forms, and submit the full package with a fee payment to the Controller of Publications in Delhi. If everything is in order, the notification appears in the e-Gazette within 25 to 45 working days of acceptance. The published notification is your permanent, nationally recognized legal record and is what banks, the passport office, UIDAI, and the Income Tax Department will ask to see when you update your identity documents.

Draft and Notarize the Affidavit

The affidavit goes on non-judicial stamp paper and must state your current name, your new name, your father’s, mother’s, or husband’s name, and your permanent address. A notary public then attests it. Stamp paper denomination depends on your state: ₹10 in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala, up to ₹100 in Maharashtra, Bihar, and Assam, and as little as ₹1 in Puducherry.

Spelling has to match your existing identity documents exactly. A single-letter difference between the affidavit and your Aadhaar or PAN card is enough for the Department to return the whole file. Filing a false affidavit is a criminal offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which now replaces the Indian Penal Code, and carries the same penalty as giving false evidence in court.

Publish the Newspaper Advertisement

After the affidavit is notarized, publish the name change in one daily national newspaper in English or Hindi. Weekly papers, evening dailies, and fortnightly publications will not be accepted.¹ The advertisement must carry your old name, new name, your father’s or husband’s name, and your address so identity is unambiguous.²

Keep the full original newspaper page. Do not cut out the clipping and do not submit a photocopy. If you lose it or hand in a copy, you re-advertise.

A practical note if a passport update is coming: Passport Seva separately requires clippings from two local newspapers or the Gazette notification when you apply in your new name.³ Publishing in two newspapers at the outset covers both requirements, even though the Gazette itself asks for only one.

Complete the Department of Publication Forms

Two forms need to be typed on a computer (not handwritten) and signed in your old name: the Specimen for Change of Name, sometimes called the Deed Poll, and the Prescribed Proforma.² The specimen follows a fixed format that declares your old name, your relationship (son, daughter, or wife of), your occupation and employer, your address, and your new name. The proforma goes in duplicate and needs two witnesses to sign with their full name, address, mobile number, and signature. The guidelines don’t explicitly bar family witnesses, but unrelated witnesses strengthen the file.

You also prepare a digital copy of the same text on a Compact Disc in Microsoft Word format. The CD version omits the witness details, and the signature field is replaced with your old name typed out. A separate signed certificate then declares that the hard copy and the soft copy carry identical content.²

Add two recent self-attested passport-size colour photographs and a self-attested photocopy of a photo ID (Aadhaar, voter ID, or passport) showing your current name and address.¹

Pay the Fee and Submit the Package

Pay the publication fee on the Non-Tax Receipt Portal at bharatkosh.gov.in before you post the file. The adult fee is around ₹1,100. Indians abroad pay more. Print the payment receipt right after the transaction, because it is the only proof of payment the Department accepts.¹

Your complete submission should include:

Original notarized affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper
The full original newspaper page carrying your advertisement
Prescribed Proforma, two typed copies, signed in your old name and by two witnesses
Specimen for Change of Name, typed on plain paper, signed in your old name
CD with the print matter in MS Word format
Signed certificate confirming hard and soft copies are identical
Two recent self-attested passport-size photographs
Self-attested copy of Aadhaar, voter ID, or passport
Printed Bharatkosh payment receipt
Request letter to the Controller of Publications with your phone number and email

Send the package to: The Controller of Publications, Department of Publication, Civil Lines, Delhi-110054, behind Delhi Vidhan Sabha Metro Station.⁴ Deliver it in person, by Speed Post, or by courier. Ordinary post is a poor idea, because lost originals mean starting again. The Department does not return any submitted documents.

Why Applications Get Rejected

Most rejections come from small inconsistencies rather than substantive problems. Common triggers:

Spelling variations across the affidavit, newspaper ad, proforma, and identity documents (for example, “Mohammed” versus “Mohammad,” or a missing middle name)
Initials like “Md.” or “P.” where the full name should be spelled out
A weekly or evening paper instead of a daily, or ad wording that does not match the affidavit word for word
Blurry phone photos, cropped edges, or an unreadable notary stamp
A signature on the proforma that does not match your Aadhaar or PAN card, or is placed outside the marked area
Vague reasons such as “personal reasons,” or reasons that suggest avoiding a legal obligation
Failing to disclose an earlier name change and its Gazette notification

If the Department finds deficiencies, it contacts you by email, phone, or letter. You have six months from that first communication to send the missing items. After six months the case is cancelled and you start over with a fresh application and a new fee.¹

Name Changes for a Minor

For a minor, a parent or legal guardian runs the entire process: signs the affidavit, publishes the newspaper advertisement, and submits the application. The advertisement must add the child’s age to the usual details of guardian’s name, father’s or husband’s name, and address.⁵

The checklist mirrors the adult version with three additions: a signed undertaking from the guardian, two self-attested passport-size photographs of both guardian and child, and the guardian’s photo ID. The fee is higher; the Department’s published schedule has listed ₹1,700 for minors, but that figure dates from an older rate sheet, so confirm the current amount on Bharatkosh before paying.⁵ No agent or advocate can submit a minor’s application. The guardian appears in person or sends the package themselves.

Combined Name and Gender Change

If you are changing name and recorded gender together, the Department publishes a combined notification in Part IV of the Gazette. Requirements largely track a standard name change, with the addition of photocopies of a Gender Identity Disorder certificate issued by the Chief Medical Officer or Head of Department at the hospital where treatment was provided.¹

A separate pathway also exists under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, through the District Magistrate, which requires a medical certificate from a Medical Superintendent or Chief Medical Officer. That route produces a different certificate, not a Gazette notification. If you are using both, keep the name identical across documents so that downstream record updates do not stall.

Finding and Downloading the Notification

Once processed, your notification appears on the e-Gazette portal at egazette.gov.in. Older guides sometimes point to egazette.nic.in, which is not the current address. The site lets you search by category and date and download your notification as a PDF.⁶

The Department no longer sends physical copies. The digital PDF carries the same legal weight as the old printed volumes and is what every bank, passport office, and government agency will ask for. Save multiple copies. Expect the notification within 25 to 45 working days of a complete, error-free submission; anything the Department has to send back for correction takes considerably longer.

Updating Your Identity Documents

The Gazette notification is proof, not an automatic update. Each agency has its own procedure, and the order you tackle them in matters.

Aadhaar

Visit the nearest Aadhaar enrolment centre with a copy of the Gazette notification and an old ID showing the name currently on your Aadhaar. The address on the notification should match your Aadhaar address. If you have already used both allowed name changes on Aadhaar, request an exception through the UIDAI helpline on 1947, or email help@uidai.net.in with your enrolment ID slip, the Gazette notification, and old ID proof.⁷

PAN Card

Corrections go through Form PAN CR-01 for individuals, filed physically at a PAN Centre run by UTIITSL or Protean eGov, or online on their sites. Attach a copy of the Gazette notification and your existing PAN card. If the PAN card is lost, include a copy of the FIR. Aadhaar is mandatory for individual applicants unless you fall in an exempt category.⁸

Passport

Passport Seva asks for either clippings from two local newspapers or the Gazette notification, plus at least two public or school documents already issued in the new name.³ That is why the passport update should come after Aadhaar and PAN: each updated document becomes supporting evidence for the next one.

1
Department of Publication. Guidelines for Change of Name and Gender in Public Notice
2
Department of Publication. Guidelines for Change of Name for Adult (Major)
3
Passport Seva. Revised Annexures
4
Department of Publication. Department of Publication – Introduction
5
Department of Publication, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Guidelines for Change of Name for Minor
6
e-Gazette. e-Gazette Home
7
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Aadhaar Updation
8
Income Tax Department. Order for Specifying Procedure for PAN Correction