Mauritania: Knowledge Base profile
Published 2 May 2025
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About: Mauritania
This document contains useful information about Mauritania 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 2.0
- published for Home Office staff on 1 May 2025
Changes from last version of this document
This document has been updated with formatting changes.
Mauritania: names
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Mauritania.
Change of name
Name changes are allowed in Mauritania.
Name changes are done by a deed poll, validated in a local court.
Upon marriage a woman will take her husband’s surname.
Name alignment
Mauritania passports are issued in the holder’s legal name.
Where a woman uses her husband’s surname, this will be shown as an observation in the Mauritania passport.
Mauritania: adoption
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Mauritania.
Adoption is not allowed in Mauritania.
Mauritania: surrogacy
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Mauritania.
Surrogacy is not allowed in Mauritania.
Mauritania: gender recognition
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Mauritania.
Transgender citizens are not recognised in Mauritania.
Mauritania: civil partnerships and marriage
This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnerships and marriage in Mauritania.
Civil partnerships and same sex marriages are illegal in Mauritania.