Passport office wanting GREAT Grandmother’s birth certificate

Yes it is correct and it will become more of a problem in the future because you are automatically British if you were born in Britain before 1983. If you were born after that then it needs to be that one of your parents was. If your parents were born AFTER 1983 though then it would have to be one of their parents (which sounds like the situation you are in!) and in time it'll be great grandparents and so on.

You can apply for a same day birth certificate to collect or have posted 1st class. This sounds like your best option.

If my Mums birth certificate was asked for I wouldn't think it was batshit. So it's no different for your Mums to be asked for.

I too was going to ask if the child's mother's birth certificate was sent or just yours?
Would you have been able to get a child's passport back in 4 weeks? Is your holiday refundable? Insured for a cancellation?

I must say, you are the youngest grandmother I've heard of. I assume you get confused for her mum all the time (far better than being mum and being called grandma by strangers though 😬)

I vaguely remember something about this when I applied for my children's passports, as I was born after 01.01.1983 as well. Umm, will they accept your mothers passport number? Can she send it to you?

Yes but citizenship by descent is not "worth" as much as citizenship by birth and don't confer the same rights to children. The passport doesn't reflect that. My DCs were born in the UK and I wasn't, I had to show a ridiculous amount of documents to get them british passports.

If the Op has a passport that is her proof of British citizenship. We don't know whether her daughter has a passport or not.

It's not batshittery. It's because having a UK birth certificate doesn't imply you have British citizenship. One of the parents need to be a British citizen and having a passport is proof of that. Alternative proof is birth certificates of ancestors dating back to before 1983.

Contact the passport office - if you have a UK passport, presumably that proves your citizenship and they will be able to check this.
We had a similar nonsensical request for additional documentation - wanred grandfather's parents birth certificate and marriage certificate (they were long dead). Turned out there had been an error at their end when loading the information. Person we spoke to was very helpful and passport was received within the week.

Thanks. I had never heard of freebie. I think it will be very useful

I’m sure you’ve triple checked this. But do they definitely mean your mothers cert and not that they’ve got it confused and are emailing you but intending the read recipient to be your granddaughter so are asking for her mothers cert?

This is bonkers, but very British.

But it's about grandparents, not great-grandparents, right?

(* Great grandmother)

So you are the grandmother trying to get a passport for your granddaughter? If that's correct that's why they're asking for your mother's nationality details( her grandmother).

If you were her mother, they would be asking for grandparents details(yours) to decide whether she's a British citizen or not.

Maybe the passport office is confused and thinks you are the mother.

Could either of the parents not apply?

If she was born in England or Wales, there's a priority service which costs £38.50 if ordered online, certs are sent by 1st class post on the next working day. www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/faq.asp

The GRO has an index on the site which you can use to find the details needed.

To add to my post above, I would double check what the passport office needs, the first time I called them, they gave me incorrect information.

You’ll be fine op if you do the fast track appointment, which unfortunately costs a lot more. We just got dd her first adult passport (which is the same process as a first child’s passport). Appointment 2 days ago, the passport arrived this morning.

I think the passport office have got confused. Its the mother's birth certificate and passport number that would normally show if British citizenship can pass to the child. They would then look to you if those details are missing or insufficient. I'm assuming you have a British passport?

You could also try and check free bmd to see where the great grandmother's birth cert is held:

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/

I think you can get an accelerated service to get the birth cert but it’s expensive. It may be worth it in your circumstances though.

The onus is on the applicant to prove they are a citizen for the purposes of obtaining a passport. The home office guidance for passport applications can show what you need to provide.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/british-citizenship-caseworker-guidance/british-citizenship-accessible#customers-born-in-the-uk-or-qualifying-dependent-territory

Did you send her mother's birth certificate? Does her mother have a passport or are you not in contact? It should be her mother's birth certificate and your details they would need I would have thought

The rule about pre 1983 is about citizenship rules, and whether the children are automatically entitled to a British passport or not. I regularly apply for passports in relation to work (I work with children who don't live with their parents) and it's a pain, but it's been the case for a long time!

This. Clearly great parents don't prove nationality, parents, and in some circumstances grandparents do. Presumably you sent your own birth cert rather than her mother's.