Change your name by deed poll
Registrar of Documents · sources read 30 Sep 2026
Sign a deed poll in both your old and new names, then register it with the Registrar of Documents at the lands registry with your birth certificate, ID copy, KRA PIN and 2 photos. The official charter lists registration at KSh 500.
- Fee
- KSh 500Registration of a deed poll
- Where
- Registrar of Documents, Land Registration Department (State Department for Lands)
What you need
- The deed poll, signed in both your old and new names
- Your birth certificate (unless your birth was never registered)
- A statutory declaration (Form 6) by someone living in Kenya who knows you
- Certified copy of your ID or passport, copy of your KRA PIN certificate, 2 passport-size photos and proof of stamp duty payment
- For a married woman: her husband's written consent, witnessed by an advocate
Steps
- Prepare a deed poll saying you are changing your name, and sign it in both your old and new names.
- Have someone who lives in Kenya make a statutory declaration (Form 6) with your birth certificate and other documents attached.
- Pay the stamp duty, then lodge the deed poll for registration under the Registration of Documents Act at the lands registry, with your ID copy, KRA PIN and 2 photos.
- Keep the registered deed poll and its Kenya Gazette notice. You'll need both to update your passport and other records.
Watch out
- A registered deed poll alone isn't enough for Immigration: they also ask for the Kenya Gazette notice of your name change.
- A married woman changing her name needs her husband's written consent written on the deed poll and witnessed by an advocate.
Who can apply
- Adults sign for themselves. For a child, a parent or legal guardian signs, and a child over 16 must also consent before an advocate.
Official sources (4)
- Service Charter (State Department for Lands) lands.go.ke · read 30 Sep 2026
- Registration of Deeds/Contracts/Bonds lands.go.ke · read 30 Sep 2026
- The Registration of Documents (Change of Name) Regulations new.kenyalaw.org · read 30 Sep 2026
- Application Requirements immigration.go.ke · read 30 Sep 2026