WHAT IS A CHANGE OF NAME?
Pursuant to section 55 of the Civil Status Act, any Mauritian citizen may petition the Attorney-General for leave to change his name(s)/surname. A standard form is provided by our Office to that effect. This form has to be filled by the Applicant or the responsible party (if the Applicant is a minor) and then lodged with our Office. The Applicant has to provide good and sufficient grounds in support of the application and the application involves costs, as explained below.
Please click on links below to download the application form for Change of Name.
HOW IS AN APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF NAME PROCESSED?
· The Applicant must leave a completed application form on the 2nd Floor of the Attorney General’s Office, Change of Name Section with payment of a processing fee of Rs. 1000;
· The Applicant will thereafter receive a letter from our Office. The letter will inform the Applicant that he/she has to give notice of his/her application in the Gazette and 2 daily newspapers, one of which at least must be approved by the Attorney-General;
· The application will be assigned to a designated law officer who will enquire into its merits. At this stage, the application may be forwarded to the police, requesting them to conduct an enquiry in connection with the reasons put forward by the Applicant; and
· The notice must be published 3 times in the Gazette and in each of the newspapers at the costs of the Applicant.
CAN SOMEONE OBJECT TO THE APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF NAME
Yes. Any interested person may oppose the application by filing an objection in writing. The objection must specify the grounds of objection and must reach our Office within a delay of 28 days from the last publication of the notice given by the Applicant in the Gazette and the newspapers.
It will be for the Attorney-General to consider whether the grounds of objection are valid or not.
WHEN DOES THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AUTHORISE CHANGE
If no objection to the application is received within the statutory delay of 28 days or where the Attorney-General has rejected the grounds of objection received and is satisfied that there are good and sufficient grounds in support of the application, the Attorney-General may authorise the change. If that is the case, the Applicant is issued with a Change of Name certificate under the signature of the Attorney-General, who also causes a notice of the authorised Change of Name to be published in the Gazette.
The person issued with a Change of Name certificate needs to bring it to the Registrar of Civil Status Office and cause the change to be made.
