emergency travel documents for mothers funeral

[Jaffacakesaremyfave]

I am wondering if anyone is able to help me.

My ex husband (legally still married but separated) found out yesterday that his mother passed away suddenly. It was unexpected and he is currently in shock.

He is Tanzanian and has lived here with indefinite leave to remain for 12 years. The funeral will be in Tanzania in the next couple of days and he needs to go.

He was in the process of renewing his Tanzanian passport through the embassy in London but there has been delays (I'm not sure of the whole situation)

I have tried to contact the Tanzanian embassy in the uk to see if they could issue emergency travel documents but no one is answering the phone and there are no opening hours on the website.

As he has been in the uk for 12 years, could he apply for an emergency British passport or travel documents of some kind. He has never had a British passport before.

He's in shock right now and doesn't know what to do and I'm trying my best to get him home on time for the funeral.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman]

So sorry for your husband's loss.

If he's a Tanzanian national with indefinite leave to remain, I can't see how he'll be eligible for a British passport or travel documents of any kind.

I think it's the Tanzanian embassy or nothing.

I hope you do manage to sort something out, but I fear this may be one of those awful times when it just doesn't happen.

[Frazzled2207]

Unless he has british citizenship there is no way he can get a uk passport.
It sounds like the only option may be to try and visit the tanzanian embassy in person on monday...is this an option?

[Frazzled2207]

Has your xdp read this?
Not in english but this should help.
Also there are email addresses on the website which would be worth trying.

tanzaniahighcomm.co.uk/?page_id=9

[Jaffacakesaremyfave]

Thank you everyone for your advice so far.

I spoke to the British passport office and you were right, there's no way he can get a British passport or travel docs.

I've emailed both email addresses on the website and they come back as undeliverable. I called both numbers and there is an option to leave a voicemail but again no opening times etc.

I think he will have to travel to London on Monday and just check if they are open. It just seems so unfair that he might miss his mothers funeral because no one is picking up the bloody phone. I feel so helpless, he needs to book a flight but can't until this whole mess is sorted

[SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman]

And he needs to check VERY carefully that he has proof of his indefinite leave to remain, or he may find himself unable to get back into the UK.

IIRC, it used to be stamped in the passport. I don't know who does that or how long it takes to acquire the stamp.

[Frazzled2207]

Good point if he gets new passport he will need a new stamp though uk authorities may accept stamp in old passport, not sure

[Jaffacakesaremyfave]

Oh god, I'd not even thought about having to get his passport stamped. If he goes on Monday to the Tanzanian embassy and hopefully manages to get a passport/emergency travel docs, where would he have to go to get his indefinite leave to remain status stamped? Is there somewhere in London he could get that done same day?

It's looking more and more unlikely that he will be able to go It's bad enough that our 3 children won't be able to say good bye to their grandma but at least if he could go it would help him come to terms with it (he keeps saying he can't accept she's dead)

This is so horrible but thank you all for your help so far

[SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman]

Is this dealt with by the Borders Agency now? He can ask, but I don't fancy his chances.

Maybe divert your energies into seeing how he can be present without being present? Skype if you can, phone pics if you can't?

[zaalitje]

I'm sat with my cousin who works for Border Force (Borders Agency), she's asked does he have a previous passport with proof of indefinite leave to remain in it? If so, this combined with his emergency travel doc should be enough to get back into the country, but he should be prepared to wait on re-entry to the UK whilst staff carry out back office checks to verify.

There is also a page in an emergency travel doc for conditions of entry, but he'd need extra time to get proof of IDL added here.

[peteneras]

Sorry to hear of your ex husband’s bereavement.

The Tanzania High Commission is normally very helpful. A few years ago I went there with my son to get a visa for him to enter Tanzania to do some charitable work there and he got the visa within a few hours. I suggest your ex visit Tanzania House first thing on Monday morning. They are behind Oxford Street in London (opposite Bond Street tube station) and explain to them the unfortunate circumstances that have suddenly arisen. The High Commission should be able to issue him with some emergency travel documents.

And no, he cannot get a British passport with his present status. He should have a letter from the Home Office stating his ‘permanent residence’ status when he was first given leave to remain in the UK for an indefinite period. This letter is good enough for re-entry into the UK if the re-entry is within two years. Better still, if he can get his old passport back, the stamp there is also good enough for re-entry purposes. Good luck!