Page 2 | AIBU To think the passport application is ridiculous?!

Pinkwithwhite · 2022-04-03T19:56:03+00:00

Trying to fill out uk passport application and they want grandparents birth certificates and grandparents wedding certificate! This is a joke! DH is going to call up in the morning and find out exactly what we need to do but we have 2 children and myself that need passports. It's going to take forever if we have to send all this off and wait for it to be sent back for each person. Anyone got any advice on how to speed this up?

dementedpixie · 03/04/2022 21:39

His passport number will change on renewal

bellac11 · 03/04/2022 21:40

I never noticed that, shows how much attention I pay to things!

MurmuratingStarling · 03/04/2022 21:45

They do make you jump through hoops don't they?!

I remember a woman once (work colleague some 10 years back, I will call her Jane.) She lived with her dad - a British born man, and her mother was Filipina. Her mother had never become a British citizen, and had never married Jane's dad. She never got proper visas, she was working illegally, and was staying in the UK illegally.

Jane's mother left the UK and went back to the Philippines when Jane was 5.

Jane was in her early to mid 20s when I knew her, and had only seen her mother twice since she was 5. Once when she was 10, and once when she was 12. Both times, her mother visited for a few weeks. Sadly, her mother lost touch after that, and Jane never knew where she was. Her dad got married to another woman when she was 14, and she had a half sister.

Long story short, Jane went to get a passport when she was 23, and she couldn't get one, because her mother was not a British citizen, and had never been married to her dad. AND she had never been here legally. She could not get hold of her, and could not get hold of her birth certificate. Even if she could have got it, it would not have helped as her mother was Filipina! (Oh, and she DEFINITELY never knew who her grandparents were on her mother's side. OR where they were! So she would never have got their birth certificates either.)

She left the workplace about 6 or 7 months later, and I don't know if she ever got a passport! I guess SOMETHING must have been done eventually, but yeah, her mum being a non-Brit, and not being married to her dad, caused huge problems when applying for a passport. They basically refused her.

Good luck @Pinkwithwhite !!! Sorry about that - but your issue just brought all this back to me!

Pinkywoo · 03/04/2022 21:46

[quote dementedpixie]@SapereAude That's what I was saying. It's not grandparents details that are required for OPs passport; it's her parents details or passport numbers That's required if they have british citizenship[/quote]
The grandparents (OP and her DH's parents) documents are needed for the two DC's first passports though. I did DS's first passport application a couple of weeks ago, but because I was born before 1983 and have a British passport all I needed to send was his birth certificate.

MurmuratingStarling · 03/04/2022 21:47

Sorry, meant to say ...

'Even if she could have got it, (her mum's birth certificate,) it would not have helped as her mother was Filipina, and here in the UK illegally and not married to her dad!'

Beseen22 · 03/04/2022 21:48

I had to do this for my youngest who wasn't born in the UK to prove his citizenship though I think in the end they didn't need quite as much as the application suggested. Think they maybe just needed the baby's birth cert and ours and our passport because the Grandparents details were on our birth cert and marriage cert

SapereAude · 03/04/2022 21:50

@MurmuratingStarling

They do make you jump through hoops don't they?!

I remember a woman once (work colleague some 10 years back, I will call her Jane.) She lived with her dad - a British born man, and her mother was Filipina. Her mother had never become a British citizen, and had never married Jane's dad. She never got proper visas, she was working illegally, and was staying in the UK illegally.

Jane's mother left the UK and went back to the Philippines when Jane was 5.

Jane was in her early to mid 20s when I knew her, and had only seen her mother twice since she was 5. Once when she was 10, and once when she was 12. Both times, her mother visited for a few weeks. Sadly, her mother lost touch after that, and Jane never knew where she was. Her dad got married to another woman when she was 14, and she had a half sister.

Long story short, Jane went to get a passport when she was 23, and she couldn't get one, because her mother was not a British citizen, and had never been married to her dad. AND she had never been here legally. She could not get hold of her, and could not get hold of her birth certificate. Even if she could have got it, it would not have helped as her mother was Filipina! (Oh, and she DEFINITELY never knew who her grandparents were on her mother's side. OR where they were! So she would never have got their birth certificates either.)

She left the workplace about 6 or 7 months later, and I don't know if she ever got a passport! I guess SOMETHING must have been done eventually, but yeah, her mum being a non-Brit, and not being married to her dad, caused huge problems when applying for a passport. They basically refused her.

Good luck @Pinkwithwhite !!! Sorry about that - but your issue just brought all this back to me!

Yes, it was an anomaly of Nationality Acts up to very recently that unmarried fathers weren't able to pass on their BC status. That's changed now.

WalltoWallBtards · 03/04/2022 21:51

Get your kids Irish passports - if they don’t have them. So much cheaper than
U.K. ones , plus you just need your birth cert and your DH details.
1st time U.K. passports will take some a bit of paperwork cos of when you when your were born but once you have it renewals are straight forward.

gogohm · 03/04/2022 21:52

Get yours first then all you need to do for theirs is put your passport number and send their full passport

gogohm · 03/04/2022 21:53

Not passport, birth certificate!

MurmuratingStarling · 03/04/2022 21:53

@SapereAude Oh that's good news!

dementedpixie · 03/04/2022 21:54

@Pinkywoo they won't need the grandparents details once OP or her DH have their passports back as OP/her dh will use their own passport numbers to pass on british citizenship to their children.

WalltoWallBtards · 03/04/2022 21:55

Thing is - once you have a passport it is used to prove sooo much, and many - western European ones in particular- are trusted in the wider world for finance, banks, travel etc. - that there is a lot of red tape and proof needed to get them in first place

2bazookas · 03/04/2022 21:58

Or you can send your parents British passport numbers. Simples.

WalltoWallBtards · 03/04/2022 22:02

DP wanted to give our kids ( born in U.K.) their nationality/passport - flipping hell!
Needed ours, parents and grandparents birth and marriage certs., sworn affidavit to identity of DP, passports and driving licences, all to be taken to an interview at the Embassy in London, WITH the kids in tow.
What. A.PALAVER.

Pinkywoo · 03/04/2022 22:31

@dementedpixie but I thought that if you're born in 83 or later you don't automatically pass on citizenship? It could also be because my parents don't have passports and DH isn't British.

Original poster

Pinkwithwhite · 03/04/2022 23:03

MurmuratingStarling
I hope she got it sorted in the end. How awful for her not to know where she came from and one side of her family.

I have an Irish passport but that's in my maiden name. The plan was to get the kids Irish passports but that seemed like a lot of faff. I'm thinking maybe we just look back and those forms.

I just thought we would send our birth certificates, kids birth certificates and wedding certificate. Didn't know it would be all our parents certificates too!
My parents both have Irish passports.
And we do have to send our parents details as Dh and I both born after 83.

OP posts:

chipmunkcalling · 03/04/2022 23:41

I would get it done asap if you're planning to go away any point this year. A friend of a friend works in the home office dealing with passports. They had an emergency meeting a week ago,(on a Sunday evening) saying that there is now going to be up to a 3 month wait for renewals and new passports. Due to people letting their passports expire during lockdowns and travel bans. Now the world is opening up again people have started panicking about it.

I don't have any advice on the application process, sorry, my ex done our son's first one, and we're both BC's so it was pretty straightforward.

midsomermurderess · 03/04/2022 23:47

It takes no time at all to get birth and marriage certificates, either from the registers in the UK or Ireland.

Perpetualstateofchaos · 04/04/2022 00:02

I'm born after 83 did my dcs i just had to send their birth certificates and mine as I'd put my passport number on. I put all the documents in 1 envelope and put on both application numbers 1st.

mathanxiety · 04/04/2022 03:54

I would honestly go for the Irish passports for the kids if that's possible under the GFA.

My DCs are all US born and got their Irish passports with no fuss or bother. They needed my long form Irish BC plus their own American BCs, money, photos, filled out forms - job done.

SapereAude · 04/04/2022 05:44

@Pinkwithwhite

MurmuratingStarling I hope she got it sorted in the end. How awful for her not to know where she came from and one side of her family.

I have an Irish passport but that's in my maiden name. The plan was to get the kids Irish passports but that seemed like a lot of faff. I'm thinking maybe we just look back and those forms.

I just thought we would send our birth certificates, kids birth certificates and wedding certificate. Didn't know it would be all our parents certificates too!
My parents both have Irish passports.
And we do have to send our parents details as Dh and I both born after 83.

It looks like they need to see evidence of your BC status. It's not because you were born after 1/1/83, it's because they don't know if you're British from the information you've given on the form. Your husband's information should (from what you've said) be enough to grant a ppt for the children.

Ring them this morning and check.

SapereAude · 04/04/2022 05:51

[quote Pinkywoo]@dementedpixie but I thought that if you're born in 83 or later you don't automatically pass on citizenship? It could also be because my parents don't have passports and DH isn't British.[/quote]
Yes, that's right.
Before the BNA 81 (which came into force on 1/1/83) being born here (ius soli) was the basis of acquiring British nationality at birth. After that it became more ius sanguinis.
There's a lot of "extra" clauses that are looked at when Irish/British citizenships coincide. Lots of British people also have the right to Irish Citizenship and vice versa (and many don't know) and in the same vein lots of people think they are one and they're actually not, not without registering etc.
Looking at what the OP has said: born in NI after 1/1/83 to Irish passport holders, they need to see docs that she is British as well as Irish.

dementedpixie · 04/04/2022 07:41

[quote Pinkywoo]@dementedpixie but I thought that if you're born in 83 or later you don't automatically pass on citizenship? It could also be because my parents don't have passports and DH isn't British.[/quote]
You dont automatically get citizenship if born after 1983. Once you have it you can pass it to your children which is why your kids need proof of your BC and you need proof of your parents' right to BC. If your dh already has a passport then he has his proof of BC and doesn't need to provide extra documents for his renewal

Jonny1265 · 04/04/2022 08:11

I've never had to do that and wouldn't be able to as they are all dead anyway. I'd check with them if they definitely need this.