The purpose of this draft law is to improve the procedure for the state registration of changes to surname, first name, and patronymic for those citizens who were born in Kyrgyzstan and have changed their personal data abroad.
As part of the project, it is proposed to supplement the law with a provision that allows for changes to be made in civil status records based on official documents issued by competent authorities of foreign states, confirming the change of name. The new certificate will either be handed over personally or sent through the relevant authorities of the foreign state.
As stated in the justification for the project, its necessity is dictated by the fulfillment of international obligations arising from the Chisinau Convention on Legal Assistance. Currently, there are no provisions in Kyrgyz legislation that allow for changes to be made in records based on documents from foreign states.
This creates difficulties in fulfilling requests from the countries that are parties to the convention. For example, the legislation of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan does not require the creation of a separate record of the change of name, while in Russia, changes for minors can be made based on a decision from guardianship authorities without the need to register a separate record. At the same time, Article 31 of the Kyrgyz law allows changes to be made only based on an existing record of the change of surname, first name, and patronymic.
Since the beginning of 2024, Kyrgyz authorities have received more than 25 refusals from Kazakhstan, 2 refusals from Uzbekistan, and 1 refusal from Russia due to the impossibility of fulfilling requests.
The proposed addition aims to ensure the fulfillment of international obligations, eliminate discrepancies between national legal systems, protect citizens' rights, and reduce the number of complaints. The changes will allow for the registration of changes to surname, first name, and patronymic based on foreign documents for citizens of Kyrgyzstan and other individuals from countries that are parties to the conventions.
Comparative Table:
| Current Edition | Proposed Edition |
| Article 31. Making Changes to Civil Status Records in Connection with the Registration of Name Change Changes are made to civil status records previously drawn up concerning a person who has changed their name based on the record of the change of surname, first name, and patronymic, and a certificate of the change of surname, first name, and patronymic is issued. A new birth certificate is issued to the person who has applied for the change of surname, first name, and patronymic. | Article 31. Making Changes to Civil Status Records in Connection with the Registration of Name Change Changes are made to civil status records previously drawn up concerning a person who has changed their name based on the record of the change of surname, first name, and patronymic, and a certificate of the change of surname, first name, and patronymic is issued. A new birth certificate is issued to the person who has applied for the change of surname, first name, and patronymic. Based on official documents issued by competent authorities of foreign states regarding the change of surname, first name, and patronymic, necessary changes are made to the corresponding civil status records previously drawn up on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. A new certificate of state registration of the civil status act is issued to the person who has changed their surname, first name, and patronymic, or it is sent for issuance through the competent authorities of the foreign state. |
