Guidance

Azerbaijan: Knowledge Base profile

Published 25 March 2025

Version 3.0

About: Azerbaijan

This document contains useful information about Azerbaijan which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 3.0

• published for Home Office staff on 21 March 2025

Changes from last version of this document

This guidance has been updated with formatting changes.

Azerbaijan: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Azerbaijan.

Names in Azerbaijan consist of:

• a forename (consisting of one or more names with or without a hyphen)

• the father’s forename with a gender suffix added meaning ‘of the father’ (these are known as patronymic names)

• the father’s family name with a gender suffix (or occasionally the grandfather’s patronymic name)

Azerbaijan uses gender suffixes for male and female patronymic and family names. The Azeri style of presenting names includes the patronymic name and cannot be altered or removed. Suffixes for:

• Russian originating male names include -yev and -ov

• Russian originating female names include -yeva and -ova

• Iranian originating names include -pour and -zadeh

• Azeri originating names include -li and -zade

In English the full name is deemed to be the first and last name without the patronymic name.

Azerbaijan passports show the holder’s names, in Azeri and English. The customer may apply for a British passport in either the Azeri or English version of their name.

Change of name

Name changes other than by marriage, divorce or adoption are allowed if they are done through the Registration Departments and confirmed by a court. If approved a new birth certificate will be issued in the new name.

Name changes as a result of marriage are entered onto the marriage certificate.

Name alignment

The Azeri alphabet is different from the English alphabet. It does not contain the letter W, but does contain the additional letters Ç, Ə, Ğ, İ, Ö, Ş and Ü.

HM Passport Office will not ask the customer to align their Azerbaijan passport where a variation in the name requested on the British passport is due to transliteration (using the closest corresponding letters a different alphabet).

Azerbaijan: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Azerbaijan.

Dual nationality is not recognised in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Azerbaijan.

Legitimacy

Azerbaijan recognises a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births.

A child will be considered:

• legitimate:

  • if their parents were married at the time of the birth

  • if born within 300 days of the parents getting divorced

• illegitimate if their parents never marry

Parental responsibility

Parental responsibility is usually shared equally between both parents in Azerbaijan. Either parent can lose parental responsibility for their child, only if it is removed by the court.

Azerbaijan: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Azerbaijan.

Adoption is legal in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Azerbaijan.

Surrogacy is illegal in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Azerbaijan.

Transgender citizens are not recognised in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: civil partnerships and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships in Azerbaijan.

Civil partnerships and same sex relationships are not recognised in Azerbaijan.

Only civil marriage ceremonies are recognised in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents from Azerbaijan.

Birth certificates

Birth registrations are held on a central register. There is no time limit to registering a child’s birth but if the registration takes place over 3 months from the date of birth the Health Certificate of the child must be provided to the registrar.

Birth certificates are only issued when the parent provides a hospital notification ‘109 form’. If an error is identified on a birth certificate a new certificate is re-issued.

Birth certificates will:

• always include a father’s name

• never record the child’s gender

Marriage certificates

Marriages are recorded at a local registrar office and held on a central register. Marriage certificates are issued for all marriages. There is no time limit to register a marriage.

Death certificates

All deaths must be registered in Azerbaijan. There is no time limit to register a death.

Identity documents

Azerbaijan citizens must hold an identity card. Foreign nationals must hold a Residency Permit card. Identity cards and residency permit cards are issued regionally. These documents and drivers’ licences are the only documents officially laminated in Azerbaijan.

School records

Examination certificates will always be signed by someone with the title ‘Bursar’.