Are the transgender person allowed to change their name?

Legal situation: Hi, I am a woman who reassigned from male to female. After the reassignment, I feel that my old name no longer aligns with my current gender identity. I would like to change my name. Is this possible, and if so, what are the procedures to carry out? I appreciate your guidance, thank you!

FDVN’s Opinion:

Under Article 28, Civil Code 2015, individuals have the right to request that the competent state authority recognizes a name change in the case of a gender identity change or gender reassignment.

Additionally, Article 37 of the Civil Code 2015 provides as follows: “The sex reassignment shall comply with regulations of law. Each surged transgender has the right and obligation to apply for change of civil status affairs as prescribed in law on civil status affairs and has the personal rights in conformity with the transformed gender as prescribed in this Code and relevant laws.”

Hence, according to the regulations, after gender reassignment, you have the right to change your name and are required to register the change of your civil status registration to align with the newly reassigned gender. 

Regarding the procedure for changing your name, you can follow these guidelines: 

– Competent Authority: 

+ For individuals under the age of 14, the competent authority to change their name is the People’s Committee at the commune level where the civil status was previously registered or where the individual resides. 

+ For individuals aged 14 and above, the competent authority to change their name is the People’s Committee at the district level where the civil status was previously registered or where the individual resides. 

The specific steps and procedures for registering the name change:

According to Article 28 and 47 of Law on Civil status 2014,

Step 1: Preparing the dossiers

– Prepare declarations, made according to a set form;

– Relevant papers to the civil status registration agency: Birth certificate, Certificate of Reassignment; other Identification papers…

Step 2: Submitting the dossiers

Individuals who wish to register a name change should prepare the necessary documents and submit their application to the People’s Committee at the commune level (for individuals under 14 years old) or the People’s Committee at the district level (for individuals aged 14 and above).

Step 3: Receiving the results

– Within 3 working days after receiving complete papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if seeing that the civil status change or correction is proper and compliant with civil and relevant laws, the justice and civil status officer shall record such change or correction in the civil status book and together with the registration requester sign in the civil status book, and report to the chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee to issue an extract to the requester.

– In case of civil status change or correction related to birth certificates or marriage certificates, the justice and civil status officer shall record the change or correction content in these certificates.

– In case of necessity to verify, the time limit may be prolonged for no more than 3 working days.

– In case a change of surname or name is registered anywhere other than the prior site of civil status registration, the civil status registration agency shall notify the People’s Committee where the civil status is registered in writing, accompanied by a copy of the civil status extract. Previous citizenship must be documented in the civil status book.

Lawyer Trần Hậu – FDVN Law Firm