Opening Hours:

The Annotations and Adjustments Section can be found at:

Malta - Public Registry, Onda Building, Aldo Moro Street Marsa, MRS 9065

Gozo - Floor 1, Tower Building, Fortunato Mizzi Street, Victoria VCT 2571

No, there is no need to set an appointment when visiting the Annotations and Adjustments Section. You may visit during our regular business hours.

Yes, you need to submit a supporting document showing the name you are currently using.

You may provide:

1. a copy of your Maltese Identity Card or
2. a copy of your Maltese Passport or
3. your Maltese or foreign marriage certificate showing your current name.

Please note that such documents must have been issued before the 1^st December 2012.

 If the difference in your name is considered by the Director of Public Registry as a minor correction, you can submit the Form V without any supporting documents required.

Yes, when using the Form V:

1. minor spelling corrections are allowed (e.g., "Emmanuel" to "Emanuel") without the need of any supporting document
2. inclusion of Maltese diacritic letters in the Maltese alphabet (ċ,ġ,ħ,ż), and (à, è, ì, ò, ù) can be added
3. other corrections in name which are not considered as ‘minor’, if such different name versions are listed on official supporting documents which were issued before the 1^st December 2012.

The only official supporting documents issued before the 1^st December 2012 that may bee used by the Public Registry to carry out these changes are:

1. a copy of the Maltese Identity Card or
2. a copy of the Maltese passport or
3. a Maltese or foreign marriage certificate showing the current name.

Parents or legal guardians may apply on behalf of minors under 18, provided the correction is minor (e.g., adding accents or standardising spelling).

No. Once a change is approved and recorded at the Public Registry, it is irrevocable and permanently reflected in the Act of Birth.

Yes. Once the name is amended, you must update your Maltese ID Card and Passport through Identità, so that your name will be correctly recorded on these documents.

Yes, a fee of €5 is applicable.

Yes, you can, if you provide a supporting document issued before the 1^st December 2012 or if the change is considered as a minor spelling correction.

Yes, if you wish to speak to a member of our team, you can contact our customer care team at (+356) 2590 4200

It depends on what kind of change you wish to do. If you want to change your name completely, you should then seek assistance of a practising Maltese lawyer. However, if you wish to amend your name to a similar or a comparable one, you may be eligible to use the Form V.

Changes in names through Form V is used when:

1. you wish to make a minor spelling correction (e.g., "Emmanuel" to "Emanuel").
2. you wish to include Maltese diacritic letters ċ,ġ,ħ,ż and accents à, è, ì, ò, ù to your name (e.g., Ġanni, Marì).
3. other corrections in name which were listed on official supporting documents issued before the 1^st December 2012.

If your children are under 18 years of age, the submission of Form UU shall be made by both parents, or by one of the parents if the other parent is deceased, or, if both parents are deceased, by their tutor or curator.

If you are over 18 years of age, you only need to provide your valid Maltese Identity Card and fill in the Form UU

Yes, a fee of €5 is applicable.

Yes, they can. The spouse or the children of a parent who changed a surname with the Form TT may use the Form UU so that they also can change their surname to their spouse’s/parent’s surname.

To amend the surname chosen by the ascendant/spouses who have already filled in the Form WW, the Form XX is used.

If you are over 18 years of age, you only need to provide your valid Maltese Identity Card.

Yes, a fee of €5 is applicable. 

No. Changes made through Form XX are final and irrevocable.

Yes. The spouse or the children of a parent who changed a surname with the Form WW may use the Form XX so that they also can change their surname to their spouse’s/parent’s surname.

There are three main types of separations:

1. Judicial separation (through the Family Court)
2. Voluntary separation (by mutual consent through the Family Court)
3. Private (informal) separation (separated without legal recognition).

Regarding local separations, a certified true copy of the judgment and a certified true copy of the certificate of no appeal, both signed and stamped by the competent Maltese Court, are required.

A separation judgement cannot be registered before one of the spouses takes the true copy of the judgement and letter of no appeal to a Notary to sign the separation contract and enrol the separation deed.

The note of enrolment, through which a party formally registers a case before the Family Court, will be then sent directly to the Searches Unit and eventually forwarded to the Public Registry for any annotations as applicable.

If one or both spouses wish to revert to the use of their surname at birth, the notary must make a declaration of this fact on the note of enrolment. Once received at the Public Registry, an annotation will be inserted on the respective marriage act.

Children under the age of 18 can add their mother’s maiden surname after their father’s surname by means of another declaration made on the note of enrolment.

Please provide a certified true copy of the judgment and a certified true copy of the certificate of no appeal, both signed and stamped by the competent Maltese Court, are we will register them at the Public Registry.

If your surname was changed by separation, you must update your Maltese ID Card and passport, so that your surname will be correctly recorded on these documents.

No, a separated person in Malta cannot marry. Separation means you're still legally married, and remarriage requires a formal divorce or annulment.

In order to marry again civilly, your church annulment must first be presented before the Maltese Court of Appeal, which reviews and approves the ecclesiastical decision to have civil consequences (such as allowing remarriage under civil law). Once you’re the Court of Appeal approves the church annulment, and it is registered at the Public Registry, you are free to marry in a civil ceremony.

Annulment is when the spouses prove before a Court that, at the time of marriage, they lacked an important condition for contracting marriage, such as for example, when one of the spouses did not understand the importance of fidelity.

Divorce, on the other hand, does not require proof that at the time of their marriage either or both of the parties did not have the essential capacity to contract marriage, or there was a defect in the ceremony.

Regarding local divorces, a certified true copy of the judgment and a certified true copy of the certificate of no appeal, both signed and stamped by the competent Maltese Court, are required.

Regarding foreign divorces issued in EU countries, we require:

1. The original or a certified true copy of the Court Decree/ Judgement/ Decree Nisi/ Divorce Certificate and the Article 39 certificate, signed and stamped by the competent court.
2. A translation of Article 39, which must be apostilled.
3. Judgements which are not in English or Maltese, must be translated into English or Maltese by approved translators. Identità has a list of approved translators which may be viewed at https://identita.gov.mt/public-registry-sec-page-translators-list/

Regarding foreign divorces pronounced from non-EU countries, we require:

1. The original or a certified true copy of the Court Decree/ Judgement/ Decree Nisi/ Divorce Certificate, signed and stamped by the competent court, which must be apostilled or legalised.
2. Judgements which are not in English or Maltese, must be translated into English or Maltese by approved translators. Identità has a list of approved translators which may be viewed at https://identita.gov.mt/public-registry-sec-page-translators-list/

The documents may be brought to our office either in person by the applicant or, if one is residing abroad, through any Maltese Embassy.

Individuals are required to seek advice from a Notary Public of their choice to formalise a deed of cohabitation in accordance with the provisions of Article 614 of the Laws of Malta.

No, both parties must be single, and they must share a common address. Under cohabitation, only the status will change, as cohabitants do not adopt each other’s surname.

Any cohabitating couple can marry each other without terminating the cohabitation contract.

By mutual agreement before a Notary or automatically upon marriage or death of one of the cohabitants.

No, there is no need to set an appointment when visiting the Annotations and Adjustments Section. Please feel free to visit during our regular business hours or contact us directly if you need assistance.

Cohabitation is the situation where two people live together in a long-term relationship without being married. In Malta, cohabitation is regulated by the Cohabitation Act (2015), which gives legal recognition to certain rights and obligations of partners who live together.

Cohabitation can only be contracted by parties who are eighteen (18) years of age and over, are not married or in civil union, are not already in a deed of Cohabitation with another person and who are not biologically related.

A Cohabitation deed is deemed null and void when:

• one (or both) cohabitants are under eighteen (18) years of age.
• they are direct relatives in a straight line, such as parents and children or grandparents and grandchildren.
• there are brothers and sisters who share both parents or just one parent;
• contracted between an adoptive parent and the adopted person.
• one (or both) persons cannot give valid consent because of civil interdiction, legal incapacity, or lack of mental ability.
• one (or both) cohabitants are already married or in a civil union, either with each other or with someone else, in Malta or abroad.
• one (or both) parties are already bound by another public deed of cohabitation, either with each other or with someone else.
• one (or both) persons are already bound by a registered or declared cohabitation under the Cohabitation Act, either with each other or with another person.
• one (or both) cohabitants are already in a relationship with someone else that is regulated by foreign law and gives rights and duties between them, regardless of the title of that relationship.

Upon the date of publication, the deed is effective between the parties and would subsequently be effective against third parties upon enrolment thereof in the Public Registry. After enrolment, the Director of the Public Registry has twenty working days to issue a Cohabitation Certificate.

Reconciliation occurs when spouses who have been legally separated decide to resume cohabitation and marital relations. In Malta, reconciliation is recognised under the Civil Code (Cap. 16) and effectively ends the separation, restoring the spouses’ legal obligations towards each other.

If a judicial separation or divorce was ongoing, please notify the Family Court first so that the case can be updated or withdrawn. Regarding the Public Registry, we receive the notes of enrolment directly from the Searches Unit regarding your reconciliation.

You need to visit a Notary who will declare the use of the previous surname on the note of enrolment so that when your documents are received at the Public Registry, this will be annotated on your marriage certificate.

In order to change your gender, you should start by contacting a practising Notary Public in Malta who shall assist you by  legally changing your gender under Chapter 540 of the Laws of Malta,  You must make a public deed through Notary, declaring the change in gender and/or a change in name.

In the case of changing gender procedures of minors below the age of 16 years or of persons who are adopted, the Public Registry would require a court decree delivered by the competent Maltese Court to be in a position to legally change the gender on the respective Acts of Civil Status.

A copy of the note of enrolment together with a true copy of the deed are sent to the Public Registry for registration from the Searches Unit. Your Notary has 15 days from the date of the declaration on the deed to register the note of enrolment at the Searches Unit.

Yes, you can request a birth certificate according to Cap 540 of the Civil Code. On this birth certificate, the annotations are incorporated in the birth certificate so that the general public would not realise that you had a change in gender and/or a change in name.

Identità updates official records, but applicants must inform banks, employers, and other agencies individually.

No, you do not need to show medical proof or undergo any medical treatment to request a gender change.

 A new gender marker “X” was introduced in 2024. Individuals can choose this on all their official documents (birth certificate, I.D., passport, etc.) if they identify as non-binary. The term “non-binary gender” was explicitly defined in the Act beyond just “male” or “female” gender.

One may opt to have a gender-neutral designation on official documents, if one does not identify exclusively as male (“M”) or female (“F”). We use gender X as a non-binary gender marker for a gender-neutral legal designation

Adoptions in Malta are regulated by the Social Care Standards Authority (SCSA), which is the Central Authority for Adoption in Malta. They are responsible for international and local adoptions in Malta. More information at www.scsa.gov.mt 

Once the process of adoption is finalised through the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction in Malta, an adoption decree is issued by the Court. Your adopted child’s adoption decree will be sent directly from the Courts at the Public Registry. Your accredited agency or your lawyer will inform you about this.

After your adoption is finalised through the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction in Malta, an adoption decree is issued. Your adoption decree will be sent directly from the Courts at the Public Registry. Your accredited agency or your lawyer will inform you when your adoption is registered at the Public Registry.

After the adoption process is finalised through the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction in Malta, an adoption decree is issued. The adoption decreed will be sent directly from the Courts to the Public Registry. Once we receive the adoption decree, your child’s original birth certificate will be replaced with a new birth certificate and your child will have a new Act of Birth number.

Yes, with consent from the biological parent and authorisation by the Court of Voluntary Jurisdiction.