Summary
With effect from 1 August 2018, the entire procedure for changing your given name(s) is now handled by the municipalities.
If you want to change your given name(s), you must contact your local authority.
The civil registrar may authorise the change of your given name(s). This procedure is reserved for Belgian citizens, as well as recognised refugees and stateless persons. The given name(s) requested must not cause confusion and must not be harmful to you or others.
In detail
If you wish to change your given name(s), please contact:
- the municipality where you are registered in the population register;
- the municipality where you were last registered, if you no longer reside in Belgium; or
- the City of Brussels, if you have never resided in Belgium.
Go in person to the registry office with:
- your identity card; and
- your birth certificate, which must be duly legalised or apostilled if you were born abroad. Birth certificates in a foreign language must be accompanied by a sworn translation.
In addition, recognised refugees and stateless persons must provide a certificate issued by the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS).
An application for a change of given name(s) may also be submitted by a third person. In this case, in addition to all the documents listed above, that person must provide their identity card and power of attorney. The power of attorney must have been legalised at the municipality or before a public official, such as a notary, clerk or bailiff.
Transgender persons who wish to change their given name(s) under the Law of 25 June 2017 must additionally provide:
- a criminal record extract, model 595 (issued by the municipality’s population and civil status department); and
- a sworn statement by the applicant, confirming that they believe that the sex listed on their birth certificate does not match the gender with which they identify most deeply. The given name(s) chosen must be consistent with this belief.
An application for a change of first name(s) involving a non-emancipated minor child must be made by the child’s parents or legal representative.
Where an application is submitted by a single parent, the other parent’s written consent is required.
Costs
The cost of the procedure is set by each municipality, and may vary from free of charge to EUR 500.
Timeframe
The maximum duration of the procedure is 3 months.
The change of given name(s) takes effect on the date on which the certificate of change of given name(s) is drawn up.