NO2ID

I've recently changed my surname by deed poll, and so my passport is now in the wrong surname name as a result.

I'm assuming I can't simply leave my passport in the wrong name, so I imagine I'd need to get a new one (from what I've read, it needs to be canceled, they can't just update it. Shame as I think it would have lasted until 2014).

With that in mind, am I going to be subjected to "the interview" to get my replacement, and (even if I'm not) will I stand a good chance of being primed to end up in the not-yet-with-us database of doom?

Absolutely not or they would be interviewing every newlywed bride. Simply enclose your change of name deed along with everything else and you will get your passport back in the normal time.

...as to the database, well there is no real infrastructure in place specific to the NIR, just the normal records they have always had BUT I would suggest that the sooner you renew the better.

It is not legally required to use the (expensive) deed poll process to change a surname.
(First names are more complicated to go beyong social use into formal records)

To change your surname you just start using the new name.
The tradition, which is sensible, is to complete all forms over a period of a year like this:

J. Smith
(previously known as J. Jones)


Write to bank, council, utility bills etc explaining very briefly that as of (DATE you choose] you are to be known as NEW NAME IN FULL including your old first name.
Sign both the old name sig and the new one.

You are likely to get gobbling and gushing. Experian in particular is prone to illegally demanding a copy of a deed poll.
Just state clearly that it is not legally required. If necessary ask THEM under what law are they requiring you to produce a deed poll?

It can be helpful to do an affidavit stating that I NEW NAME previously known as OLD NAME undertake to be known as NEW NAME from this date.
When the dinosaurs ask for bits of paper, they can have a "certified copy." This is a copy that the solicitor signs to say it really is a copy of the original.

It's a statutory declaration rather than an affidavit these days.

I do statutory declarations and certified copies all the time for my commercial work, and even in a smart bit of central London, the friendly local solicitor does it without notice in a couple of minutes for a fiver.