Changing your surname after divorce. The new e-service will make life easier for thousands of Poles

The introduction of an e-service that will allow you to submit to the head of the registry office a declaration on returning to your former surname after divorce, without visiting the office – this is the assumption of the draft bill of the Ministry of Digitization. On Monday, it was submitted for public consultation.

This is a draft act amending certain acts in connection with the development of public registers kept using the state register system. It proposed amending certain provisions of the Family and Guardianship Code, the Act on Population Registration and the Act on Passport Documents.

The purpose of the proposed act is to introduce legal bases for the functioning of solutions improving and developing the functioning of the PESEL register, the civil status register and the Register of Passport Documents – we read in the justification for the project. According to it, some official matters will be able to be handled electronically without the need to visit the office.

Pursuant to the Family and Guardianship Code, within one year from the date of the divorce decree becoming final, a divorced spouse who changed his or her previous surname as a result of marriage may, by means of a declaration submitted to the head of the registry office or a consul, return to the surname he or she had before the marriage. As stated in the justification for the project, in 2023, 11,000 were submitted and in 2024, 11.7 thousand. such statements. According to the project, if such a declaration is to be submitted to the head of the registry office, it will be possible to use an electronic service dedicated to this purpose.

It was also proposed that deregistration could be recorded by the authority of any municipality, and not, as currently, by the municipal authority competent for the current place of stay.

The project also includes proposals for regulations enabling restrictions on issuing PESEL numbers to foreignerswho indicated as the legal basis for assigning a PESEL number only the need to confirm a trusted profile and provisions introducing the obligation to collect information in the PESEL register about the type of travel document or document confirming the identity and citizenship of a foreigner.

The amendment is intended to enable courts to use, among others, from access to data from the PESEL register, the register of passport documents, the register of identity cards, the civil status register and the register of contact details of natural persons based on the decision of the Minister of Digital Affairs issued to the Minister of Justice. There will be no need for each court to apply separately for access to these registers. (PAP)

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