You need to get a form from your post office to apply for a driving licence.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) now issues only photocard-style driving licenses, so you will now be asked for a photograph which will be included on your new licence. Try to get a photo which you will be happy with for some time in your new role, and make sure that it complies with the DVLA's criteria.

Send the form, along with a covering letter, to the DVLA in Swansea together with a copy of your Doctor's or Psychiatrist's letter and a copy of your Statutory Declaration and your old driving licence. (The DVLA's website includes a useful page on How to Apply for your Driving Licence & How much it will cost.)

Send a letter, and the documentation required, in confidence, to your Inspector of Taxes — the address is available from your employer’s personnel or wages office.

Mark the envelope as “private and confidential” of the tax office which deals with your affairs and quote your National Insurance number and Tax reference (available from your wages office or often it is on your wages slip).

Your income tax records will always be changed and any further correspondence will always be addressed in your new legal name. If you advise

Once you have chosen your name and prepared your statutory declaration you need to swear it in front of someone who is authorised to notarise it.

Notarised copies

It is then a very good idea to get several notarised copies of your statutory declaration. That way, you will rarely have to use the original copy, which you can keep safely at home.

Send a certified copy of your statutory declaration with your doctor’s letter together with a letter from yourself quoting your National Insurance (NI) number to the central office of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as follows:

• Department of Social Security,
  Special Section D, Room 105H,
  Contributions Agency Central Operations,
  Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE98 1YX.
  Telephone: 0191 225 7123

The DWP will acknowledge your change of name and style of address and reply in a standard letter stating that in effect that the change will have no effect to any legal entitlement to state benefits, especially the state pension. You may also receive a plastic NI numbercard which will show the new title and name but there will be nothing on the card to indicate any change of name or previous name.

To obtain a new NHS Medical Card you should write to your local Family Practitioner Committee [address available from your GP], requesting a Medical Card in your new name, and enclosing the letter from your Doctor or Psychiatrist as outlined above together with a copy of your Statutory Declaration and your old NHS Medical Card.

Your new Medical Card number will be a completely new number, though the last three figures which are the ID suffix will remain the same. Your new number will also have a special prefix of an A or a Z which denotes that an alteration or variation in unspecified status has taken place.

To facilitate the change of name on statutory documents as discussed below, you will need to send:

• a copy of your statutory declaration, and
• a copy of your birth certificate, and
• a letter from your Doctor (GP or Consultant psychiatrist).

The letter from your doctor must be similar to that shown below. It must state that the change you are undergoing is permanent. Without this, many of the authorities such as the passport office will not make the necessary changes.

You can change a range of documentation (see the following sections of this FAQ), by sending both your Statutory Declaration and the doctor's letter along with a short note simply explaining that you are undergoing gender reassignment from female to male and that you need your documentation changing to recognise your new name and gender.

Technically you should always send the original documents by Registered Post, ensuring you enclose the return postage and any extra cost required to ensure that they are returned by Registered Post. Most solicitors will certify photocopies of your statutory declaration for a very small fee.

However, apart from the Passport Office, it would now appear that most of these bodies will now accept photocopies of your Doctor’s letter and your statutory declaration.

Sample Doctor's letter