How To Change Your Name, Date Of Birth Or Phone Number On Your NIN

It could be a misspelt surname, a date of birth with the wrong year, a phone number you stopped using in 2019. Small mistakes on a NIN record have a way of coming up at the worst time, usually when your bank is trying to verify you or your network is about to bar your line. The good news is that you don’t need to queue at a NIMC office to change any of these details. Here you can do that through the NIMC portal:

What you can change on the NIMC self-service portal

NIMC’s self-service modification portal allows you to change four things:

Your name: a spelling correction, a change after marriage, or a full change of name.
Your date of birth: day, month or year.
Your phone number: the number linked to your NIN, which is the one *346# and the NINAuth app relies on.
Your address: your current residential address.

Anything else, such as a change to your photograph or fingerprints, you’ll need to visit an enrolment centre. The portal is at selfservicemodification.nimc.gov.ng, and you’ll need your NIN, the email and phone number you registered with, to access it.

How much does it cost to change your NIN details?

NIMC reviewed its fees in May 2025, and the current charges are:

What you’re changing	Fee
Name	₦2,000 per field
Phone number	₦2,000
Address	₦2,000
Date of birth	₦28,574
Reprinting your NIN slip at a centre	₦600

Two things to know before you pay. The fee is per field, so if you’re correcting both your first name and your surname, check on the portal whether that’s one transaction or two before you start. And date of birth is by far the most expensive change, so it’s worth making sure your NPC certificate number is correct before you pay, because the date is filled in from that record and you can’t type it yourself.

Payment can be made on the portal through Paystack, so a Kuda card or any other debit card works.

Documents you’ll need

Each change needs its own proof. So make you have these documents either scanned or photographed clearly before you sign in to the portal::

Change of name: a court affidavit, a newspaper extract, a marriage certificate if the change is because you got married, and another government ID that shows the correct name.
Date of birth: a digitised NPC birth certificate if you were born after 1992, or a digitised NPC attestation certificate if you were born before 1992. If you’ve lost your birth certificate, do the attestation online with the National Population Commission first, then come back to the NIMC portal.
Address: a utility bill, a tenancy agreement, or a community leader’s attestation letter.
Phone number: a police report. When you type the number, use the +234 format and leave out the leading zero, so 0812… becomes +234812…

How to change your name on your NIN

Go to the self-service modification portal and verify your NIN to sign in.
On your dashboard, select the name modification option.
Pay the fee through the portal.
Type in the correct name and upload your supporting documents.
Preview the change and read it carefully. This is the version that’ll go on your record.
Tick the attestation box, then submit.
Save the modification transaction slip that appears on your modification table. It’s your proof that the request went in.

How to change your date of birth on your NIN

The steps are almost the same, with one difference that trips most people up:

Verify your NIN and log in.
Select the date of birth modification option and pay the fee.
Enter your NPC certificate number and validate it. Your date of birth will be filled in automatically from the NPC record, and you won’t be able to edit it. If the date on the certificate is also wrong, you’ll need to fix that with the NPC before NIMC can change anything.
Upload the NPC certificate and any other supporting documents.
Preview, tick the attestation box, and submit.
Save your transaction slip.

How to change your phone number on your NIN

Verify your NIN and log in.
Select the phone number modification option and pay the fee.
Type the new number in the +234 format without the leading zero.
Upload the police report.
Preview, tick the attestation box, and submit.

Once the new number is on your record, you’ll want to link your NIN to your phone number on the new line, and you can check your NIN by dialling *346# from it to confirm everything matches.

How long does it take?

NIMC doesn’t publish a fixed processing time for self-service changes, and anyone who gives you an exact number of days is guessing. What NIMC does say is that you’ll get a notification when the change is approved, your updated NIN slip will be sent to your email, and you can print it straight from your dashboard.

While you wait, check the status on your dashboard rather than submitting a second request. Duplicate requests for the same field are a common reason things stall. If nothing has changed after a few weeks, NIMC’s toll-free line is 0800 061 6462.

What to do if you can’t sign in to the portal

The portal is tied to one email address and one device, and that’s where most sign in issues can come from:

Your NIN won’t verify: check the eleven digits against your slip or the NINAuth app. If they’re right and it still fails, the record may be locked, and a call to NIMC is the next step.
The OTP doesn’t come in: wait, then request it again. OTPs to some networks can take a while. Make sure the number you’re expecting it on is the one currently on your NIN record.
Someone else’s email or device is linked to your NIN: this happens when an agent sets up the account for you. NIMC has a process for unlinking an old device or email from a self-service account so you can register your own.

NIN modification FAQs

Can I change my NIN name myself?

Yes. Name, date of birth, phone number and address can all be changed on NIMC’s self-service portal without visiting an office, as long as you have the supporting documents.

How much is the change of name on NIN?

₦2,000 per field, paid on the portal.

How long does it take to change my name on NIN?

NIMC doesn’t publish a timeline. You’ll be notified by email when it’s approved, and the updated slip appears on your dashboard.

Can I change my date of birth on NIN without a birth certificate?

Not directly. You’ll need an NPC birth certificate or attestation certificate, because the portal fills in the date from the NPC record. If you don’t have one, do the attestation online with the National Population Commission first.

Do I need to go to a NIMC office to modify my NIN?

Not for these four fields. Changes to your photograph or biometrics still need a visit.

Will my bank know when my NIN changes?

Not automatically. Your bank checks your NIN details against NIMC’s record when it verifies you, so after a name or date of birth change, update your details with your bank as well so the two match.

Keeping your bank details in step

Once NIMC approves the change, your bank records need to catch up, or the next verification check will fail because the name on your account and the name on your NIN no longer match. On Kuda, you can update your details from the app or reach out to support with your new NIN slip, and if it’s been a while, it’s a good moment to check your BVN details too.

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