How can I change my name through the gazette in Assam?+
Make a notarised affidavit, publish one newspaper ad (both official procedures ask for one paper, not two), then get the gazette notification. The Assam State Gazette costs Rs 240 via e-GRAS, applied in person at the Directorate in Guwahati with the Public Notice form; the Central Gazette (Rs 1,100 adult) is the pan-India route, filed by post to Delhi.
Does Assam have its own state gazette for name change?+
Yes, and unusually clearly. The Directorate of Printing & Stationery publishes an official Name Change/Correction Procedure on dpns.assam.gov.in: affidavit, one newspaper ad, then the Public Notice form and documents submitted at its Guwahati office with the Rs 240 fee via e-GRAS.
Which gazette should I use, Assam or Central?+
The Assam State Gazette is fine for records within the state. For a passport, PAN, bank, a central job or work abroad, the Central Gazette is the safer, pan-India choice.
What is the fee for name change in Assam?+
The Assam State Gazette fee is Rs 240, paid via e-GRAS/online mode, fixed in the Directorate’s official procedure. The Central Gazette fee is Rs 1,100 for adults and Rs 1,700 for minors on BharatKosh (Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,100 from abroad). Stamp paper, notary and the one newspaper ad are extra.
How long does a name change take in Assam?+
Neither office publishes a processing timeline. The Assam Gazette prints every Wednesday, so publication follows soon after your file clears verification, though verification time itself is not fixed; the Central Gazette’s Part IV prints weekly with no committed turnaround. Treat any firm day-count you read online as a guess.
Where is the Assam gazette office?+
The Directorate of Printing & Stationery, Bamunimaidan, Guwahati-781021, the application is addressed to “The Publisher, Assam Gazette”. The portal is dpns.assam.gov.in, which hosts the procedure, the Public Notice form and the full gazette archive.
Do I have to go to Delhi for the Central Gazette?+
No. The Central Gazette file is sent by post or courier, the Department’s own instruction says only personal or postal submission is entertained, and agents are not permitted. You can complete the central route from anywhere in Assam; the state route needs one visit to the Directorate in Guwahati.
Is the Assam State Gazette valid for a passport?+
For a passport, the Central Gazette is the safe, standard choice. That said, passport rules accept newspaper cuttings or a “Union/State Official Gazette” notification, so a published Assam Gazette notice carries real weight. For PAN, banks and most pan-India records, the Central Gazette remains the least-questioned proof.
Which cities in Assam do you serve?+
We serve Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Nagaon, Tinsukia, Jorhat, Bongaigaon, Tezpur, Dhubri and nearby towns.
Do you help update Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID and birth certificate after the gazette?+
Yes. We help update Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID, passport, driving licence, bank records, SEBA and university certificates, and insurance policies with your gazette proof. Birth certificate corrections are handled through the local Registrar route, not the gazette.
Can I change my name online in Assam?+
Partly. On the state route the Rs 240 fee is paid online via e-GRAS and every published issue is downloadable free from dpns.assam.gov.in, but the submission itself is in person at the Directorate. On the Central route, fee payment (BharatKosh) and the download (egazette.gov.in) are online while the affidavit, the one newspaper ad and the postal filing are offline, though all of it can be run remotely.
Where do I download my gazette once it is published?+
For the Central Gazette, from egazette.gov.in under Weekly Gazette, Part IV. For the Assam Gazette, from the free archive on dpns.assam.gov.in, weekly and extraordinary issues are posted year by year (back to 2017), so you can download the Wednesday issue carrying your notice. Keep several printouts.
Do I need a lawyer to change my name in Assam?+
No. A notary attests the affidavit. Help from a consultant mainly saves you from format mistakes and rejections.
Can I change my name without a gazette notification?+
For small local needs an affidavit may pass, but passport, PAN, bank and job records generally ask for the gazette, and if you have already used Aadhaar’s two name-updates, UIDAI’s exception process requires a gazette notification, so the gazette can become unavoidable.
Which newspapers should I use in Assam?+
Just one paper is required, “any national or regional daily” per the Assam procedure. Asomiya Pratidin, Amar Asom or Dainik Asam in Assamese, The Assam Tribune or The Sentinel in English, or a Bengali daily in the Barak Valley all qualify. Two cuttings are a passport requirement, not a gazette one.
I want to change my surname after marriage. What extra do I need?+
Add your marriage certificate to the file. The affidavit states your maiden name and married name. The rest is the same.
Do I need signatures from two gazetted officers on my affidavit?+
For an ordinary name change, no. That extra step mainly applies to government employees, who follow their department's deed rules.
What if there is a spelling mismatch in my documents?+
Mismatched spellings across the affidavit, newspaper ad and ID proof are the biggest cause of rejection. Every spelling must match exactly.
How do I update Aadhaar and PAN after the gazette?+
Use the gazette copy as proof and apply through the normal Aadhaar and PAN update routes, or let us handle it for you.
Can NRIs from Assam change their name?+
Yes, with valid Indian ID, the Central Gazette route is recommended, with the deed attested by the Indian Embassy or High Commission and the higher abroad fees (Rs 3,500 adult, Rs 5,100 minor). An NRI who has taken foreign citizenship generally changes their name under that country’s law and then has the Indian mission update Indian records.
