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Enforcement Rules of the Name Act

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Article 1


These Rules are enacted pursuant to Article 16 of the Name Act (hereinafter referred to as "this Act").


Article 2


A national doing Birth Registration or Initial Household Registration should make certain of his/her real/legal name to ensure lawful registration.
A foreign national or stateless person applying for naturalization to the Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as ROC) or who is to marry an ROC national, shall confirm his or her Chinese name in written form on the Marriage Registration; his or her children’s Chinese names are processed according to related laws.
A Chinese-language name in accordance with the preceding paragraph may be taken in the form of an original Chinese name or a transliteration.
The Chinese name of a foreign national or stateless person who has undergone the naturalization process as the spouse of an ROC national should be based on the spouse’s name according to the ROC national household registration record.
The Chinese name of a foreign national or stateless person, who has undergone naturalization while married to an ROC national before the permit, should be based on the name used when the application was made for naturalization.


Article 3


The real/legal name of a national registered in a household shall be identified by the National Identification Card; whereas the real/legal name of a person under the age of fourteen can be identified by the household certificate or the household registration transcript as a substitute.
Before a person applies for naturalization or restoration of nationality, his/her real/legal name shall be identified by the permit of naturalization or restoration of nationality. The real/legal name of a national residing abroad without household registration in the Republic of China may be identified by one of the following documents:
1. Passport
2. Overseas Compatriot Identity Certificate
3. Overseas Compatriot Registry Certificate
4. Nationality Certificate
5. Credentials containing the formal Chinese name and certified by ROC embassies, consulates, representative offices or offices (hereinafter referred to as the "Diplomatic Missions"):
(1) Identity document or any other certificate issued by the government of the ROC,
(2) Certificate issued by an overseas school (non-military) registered or filed with the government of the ROC,
(3) Certificate issued by an overseas compatriot association registered with the competent government authority,
(4) Document certified by an ROC Diplomatic Mission.


Article 4


A person who applies for a surname alteration, attaching surname, a restoration to original surname, an alteration of first or full name, a resumption of traditional indigenous name, a resumption of Chinese name, an additional Romanized traditional name, or an additional Romanized original foreign name according to this Act, shall complete an application form, along with the certificate (This is unnecessary if the application is for a restoration of his or her traditional name), and submit it for approval to the household registration office where the domicile is registered. For registration of an item announced by the Ministry of the Interior and assigned by the Executive Yuan, the applicant may apply to a household registration office other than where his or her domicile is registered.
The application of a national residing abroad applying for the matters set forth in the preceding paragraph shall be:
1. Approved by, thence transferred from an ROC Diplomatic Mission for approval to the household registration office where the national most recently had or once had household registration in the ROC.
2. Approved by an ROC Diplomatic Mission where there has been no household registration in the ROC.


Article 5


Where the legal name of a citizen of the ROC or the Chinese name of a foreign national or stateless person does not use Chinese characters found in the Chinese etymological dictionary Ci Yuan, the Chinese encyclopedic dictionary Ci Hai, Kangxi Dictionary, or the Guoyu Cidian compiled by the Ministry of Education, or such Chinese characters found in the Dictionary of Chinese Characters Variant compiled by the Ministry of Education, the party concerned may apply for corrections to commonly used characters or predominant Chinese characters found in the aforementioned dictionaries.


Article 6


The name of a Taiwan indigenous person or member of another ethnic minority is based on that from the applicants themselves; and the Romanization system for Taiwan indigenous persons is provided by the Aboriginal Affairs Commission under the Executive Yuan.
When a foreign national or stateless person is naturalized as an ROC national, his or her original foreign name in Romanized spelling shall be recognized as declared by the person.


Article 7


The credentials for applying for alteration of a surname pursuant to provisions mentioned in Paragraph 1 of Article 8 are as follows:
1. The credentials of acknowledgment of paternity or revocation of such acknowledgment, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 1.
2. The credentials of a court’s judgment document and Court's Final Verdict, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 2; the credentials for an adoption termination agreement where the adoptive child is an adult.
3. The credentials that can sufficiently prove the correct family name, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 3.
4. The credentials for surname alteration, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 5.
If the credentials mentioned above can be verified according to the household registration record, they shall be approved by the household registration authorities.


Article 8


The credentials or household registration record (verified by a household registration authority) for applying for first name alteration according to Subparagraph 1 of Article 9 are as follows:
1. The credentials issued by a public or private sector enterprise, entity (organization), association or school, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 1.
2. The lineal ascendant household registration record with the same name verified by the household registration authority, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 2.
3. The applicant shall provide information (township, city or district) on the domicile carrying the same name to the household registration authorities to verify the household registration record, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 3.
4. The official document or bulletin carrying the arrest warrant data, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 4.
5. The official document proving the applicant’s paternity has been acknowledged by the natural father or the acknowledgement thereof has been revoked, or the applicant has been adopted or his/her adoption has been annulled or terminated, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 5.
6. The household registration record, detailing the times of name alterations of the applicant and whether the applicant is an adult, shall be verified by a household registration authority, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 6.


Article 9


The credentials for applying for a real/legal name alteration according to Article 10 of this statute are as follows:
1. The certificate carrying the real/legal name, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 1.
2. The identity certificate of a monk or nun, or the certificate of restoration to the laity, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 2.
3. The certificate issued by the organization where a person works, where the application is made pursuant to Subparagraph 3.


Article 10


Any person who applies for any item in Article 4 and Article 5, if registered and holding the documents, may file for the registration of a name alteration or for an alteration of registration on the certificate.


Article 11


Where application is being made pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 11 of this Act for the names on diplomas, work certificates, licenses, property certificates and other certificates, an application form shall be completed, stating the reason for the difference between the name in such documents and the real/legal name, and attached with the Household Registration Transcript, a Household Certificate with detailed notes or the documents fully proving that these two names actually belong to the same person and the certificates in which the names in the diplomas, work certificates, licenses and other certificates should be corrected, to apply to the original issuing authorities or competent authorities for correction, re-marking or replacement.


Article 12


Where application is being made pursuant to Paragraph 1, Article 11 of this Act to correct any real/legal name, an application form shall be completed, attached with the diplomas, work certificates, licenses, other certificates or other credentials issued before this Act was enacted, to apply for correction to the household registration office where the domicile is registered.


Article 13


After an application for a surname alteration, attaching surname, a return to an original surname, an alteration of first name or real/legal name, a correction of a real/legal name, a resumption of traditional indigenous name, resumption of a Chinese name, an additional Romanized traditional name, or an additional Romanized original foreign name is approved, the household registration office shall provide information when related organizations apply for a query according to relevant regulations.


Article 14


Before the amendments of the Act took effect and were promulgated on May 20, 2015, in the event that a person applies for a change of surname, attachment of the spouse’s surname, restoration of an original surname, change of a given name, change of a full name, or correction of a legal name, restoration of an ethnic name, restoration of an original Han Chinese name under the provisions of this Act, without making changes (corrections) to the names of the person’s spouse and child(ren), the household registration office shall, in accordance with its authority, update the household registration records of the person’s spouse and child(ren).
After the household registration office updates the household registration records in accordance with its authority, it shall notify the person’s spouse and child(ren), if any, with respect to the listing of his/her new name and request them to apply for a replacement of their National ID Card and Household Certificate at the same time.


Article 15


If each kind of application stipulated by this statute is incompliant with the rules, the relevant receiving authorities shall request correction within a certain time or reject it in written form.


Article 16


When it receives an application for a surname alteration, a first name alteration, or a real/legal name alteration by a national above fourteen years of age, the household registration office shall check for compliance with the condition of Article 15 in these enforcement rules.


Article 17


These enforcement rules shall come into force from the date of promulgation.