Change your Legal Name with a Prezzy Card

June 15 was a proud day for the Aotearoa Queer Community, as the amendments to the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 2021 came into full effect. The changes to the act make the process of changing your name and sex marker more accessible and significantly easier. 

"Parliament has voted in favour of inclusivity and against discrimination," then Internal Affairs Minister Jan Tinetti said when the bill was first passed. 

Individuals over the age of 18 are now able use a ‘self-identification process’ to apply for a name or marker change for their official identification documents. Applicants must complete a form and attach ID and proof of ‘identity in the community’, such as a bank statement, and have it signed by an authorised witness like a Justice of the Peace. 

It costs $170 NZD to change names, and $55 to change a sex marker. Sex marker options include male, female, and non-binary. According to the New Zealand Government website, you can pay this fee by credit card, in person, or by Prezzy card. Individuals aged 16 and 17 can go through the self-identification process as long as they have parental consent. 

Prior to these changes, if you wanted to change your name or sex marker you had to “apply to the Family Court for a declaration that the sex on your birth certificate should be changed”, and deal with unaffordable fees, according to the Ministry of Justice website. 

Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere highly commended the changes, reportedly speaking with tears in her eyes as the bill was passed. “This bill recognises that those who need to amend their birth certificate can do so, that the courts do not have the right to make that choice for them,” she said. 

She commented that despite the win, 15 June was still “bittersweet”, as the self identification process will only be available to NZ citizens. “People who hold birth certificates from other countries will not have access to the self-ID process, including residents, recent migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers,” she said.