Three offices touch your name after a wedding: a court, NIMC and NIS. NIS takes your passport details from your NIN record, so the order matters.
The order, and why it matters
- A High Court affidavit of change of name.
- NIN modification with NIMC.
- Your passport's data page.
- Everything else: bank accounts, work ID, property papers and so on. It can help to do these once the first three agree.
NIS lists a High Court affidavit among its documents. A portal walkthrough reported by TechCabal lists a court affidavit for NIMC too. NIMC's own site does not list documents by field.
So get the affidavit first, and have it ready when either office asks. The NIN change then comes before the passport, because NIS takes your personal details from your NIMC (NIN) record.
Keep these together as you go. The lists differ by agency, so treat this as a working pile:
- your marriage certificate
- the sworn affidavit and a copy of the newspaper publication
- a government-issued ID and your NIN slip
- your current passport data page
- an NPC birth certificate or a declaration of age
- your state of origin certificate
Step 1: the affidavit
A commissioner for oaths, a notary public, or a judge of the Federal High Court or a higher court can take this affidavit inside Nigeria. Abroad, a Nigerian embassy or high commission official of the rank of secretary or above can do the same, and the result counts as if you had sworn it in Nigeria. Confirm with NIS and NIMC that they accept an affidavit sworn at a mission.
Our post on changing your name by affidavit after marriage covers the wording. Newspaper notice after a change of name affidavit covers the publication. Swearing an affidavit abroad covers the mission route.
If you want a vetted partner firm to file the affidavit, start a change of name request. That request covers the affidavit step only.
Step 2: your NIN
With the affidavit in hand, NIMC's modification comes next. The portal walkthrough reported by TechCabal lists a court affidavit, a government-issued ID, your marriage certificate and a newspaper publication.
Our post on changing your surname on NIN after marriage walks through the modification itself. Finish it before you start the passport step.
Step 3: your passport
NIS's list for this step is your marriage certificate, a High Court affidavit, a newspaper publication, an application letter, an NPC birth certificate or declaration of age, a state of origin certificate and your passport data page.
Changing your name on your passport after marriage lists the documents NIS asks for. You attend with your current booklet for a new photo and biometrics.
What still needs to catch up
Your bank, employer, landlord and any property or business records are separate. Docufy does not handle any of them.
If you update out of order, your documents can end up disagreeing. Your name doesn't match across your documents covers how a mismatch arises and how to fix one.
Common mistakes
- Starting the NIN or passport step before the affidavit exists. NIS lists it, and a portal walkthrough lists it for NIMC.
- Assuming a foreign marriage certificate will be accepted as it is. Ask NIS and NIMC what they want for a certificate issued abroad.
- Skipping the newspaper publication, although NIS lists it.
- Leaving years between the NIN change and the passport change, so your two documents carry different names in the meantime.
Married abroad and starting from scratch? Begin with the affidavit, then work down this list. The diaspora and life events hub has the other chains.