Recently, many foreigners are changing their names in Singapore, and if you’re not native to Singapore, you may be thinking of doing so as well.

As a relatively recent news article states, foreigners tend to change their names after getting Singapore citizenship or permanent residency. While there can be any number of reasons why people change their names, local lawyers suggest that the main reason is that these immigrants simply wish to blend in with Singaporean culture.

While English names have always been popular, variations of hanyu pinyin names to dialect names have also been increasing due to the addition of more China-born individuals getting citizenship and permanent residency here. Some local lawyers do note, however, that the bulk of the deed polls they do usually involve the addition of an English name. This can be useful in a personal as well as professional context, as an English name tends to be a lot easier to remember than a dialect name.

So what’s the process when you’re a foreigner in Singapore, and wish to change your name?

If you’ve gotten Singapore citizenship or permanent residency in Singapore, the process is a much simpler one. All you have to do is to get a lawyer to execute a deed poll for you.

However, if you wish to change your name in a foreign passport, it’s necessary to check with the appropriate foreign embassy or consulate office in Singapore on whether a Singaporean deed poll will be accepted.

Many law firms in Singapore will be willing to prepare a deed poll for you but it’s likely that they don’t guarantee that this will be accepted for the change of name in your country.