I was asked to align the name of my foreign passport with my British one. To do so, I had to enrol in a process that would have taken more than six months and required the change of my name in my foreign birth certificate, citizenship card and finally of my foreign passport. This is not just an inconvenience; it is an unnecessary burden that infringes on personal rights.

The UK Passport Office currently demands that married women align their names on their British and foreign passports. This policy does not consider the cultural implications or personal reasons why a woman might choose to retain her maiden name on her foreign passport. A note on the British passport stating the name and number of the foreign passport should suffice.

According to data from Migration Observatory at Oxford University, there are over 3 million non-British nationals living in England alone (source: Migration Observatory). Many of these individuals could potentially face this issue when getting married in Britain.

We call upon Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) to reconsider this policy and respect individual choices regarding names on passports. We believe it should be possible for a note indicating a different identifying name on a separate national document, rather than forcing alignment across all documents which can be time-consuming, costly, and emotionally distressing.

Please sign this petition if you believe in upholding personal rights and reducing unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for international citizens residing in Britain.