Taking important documents to uni?

[Trappins]

My 17yo son has an interview for a casual job today so I'm helping him dig out various documents he needs to take - passport, birth certificate, NI number letter, certificates for qualifications he has. I keep most of those sort of docs in a folder all together. But soon he'll be off to uni and I won't be there to help. I'm suddenly dreading the thought of him taking his passport and birth certificate with him . I know he has to manage those things eventually, but I guess it's just one more thing on my mental checklist of things to worry about, and pretty high stakes if they go missing. I know some employers and authorities accept electronic versions of the docs, attached to some sort of online ID. If you have DC at uni already do they manage to get by with those or do they take the precious original documents with them?

You can order him a copy of his birth certificate, that's straightforward enough.

TBH, mine didn't take theirs with them. DS2 only has his passport with him now because he needs to renew it (and he has lost his driving license so is using it as ID 🙄).

They only need them initially to register on the course. Dc take passport, recent bank statement, p45 or similar and keep driving licence as id.

Ds took a spare birth certificate ( I got a spare when we registered him as a baby) and his NI / NHS number. He left his passport and certificates at home. He loses everything.

Dd is going on Sept and will take most things except for exam certificates as I can’t see her needing them. She’s recently got a provisional driving licence for herself ( no intention to learn to drive just yet) just as another (cheap) form of ID / proof of age. She’s also made scans of important docs so she can access info on her phone.

Both can be replaced surely if lost not sure what the big deal is - doubt he’d need his birth certificate for casual job ?

Our kept key documents at home. Our son (not at university) has lost several passports, because he’s dozy sometimes. They have a file each with access whenever they want, but we keep them safe.
In the life of frequent moves, student housing, parents sorting much administration it was always easier if we knew exactly where things were.

Even now the eldest is married, we have originals or duplicates. You never know when you might need a spare. They’ve all dual nationality, so have two passports. They all have duplicate birth certificates and foreign birth registration certificates. It means if there was a flood, fire, break-in or anything they would still have them.

We have spares and photocopies kept in a secure filing cabinet in a separate building for similar reasons, although we have a safe, so they should be OK anyway.

@Fupoffyagrasshole

Both can be replaced surely if lost not sure what the big deal is - doubt he’d need his birth certificate for casual job ?

The employer on this occasion is our Local Authority, so yes he does need the birth certificate. All responsible employers will need proof of the right to work, though I guess it does seem like overkill to ask for both the passport and birth certificate.

I think Dds didn’t take the original documents but I do think students are old enough to keep documents in a safe place. I think Dds scanned them.

Regarding work, there are checks for overseas applicants but a passport seems ott to me. They seem to be following government advice for overseas applicants.

I can’t speak for a LA job but employers generally only need proof of right to work in the UK so his passport is fine. Like others have said, if he loses it he loses it, you can get a new one. If he’s going to uni he’ll soon figure out how to adult 😊 (mostly anyway 😂).

Both of ours who have gone to university so far have taken their passports with them - if nothing else, the nearest international airport was only a short train journey away and we'd be quite happy for them e.g. to take advantage of a (preferably cheap!) weekend away if the chance came up. DS2's passport needs renewing, which, hopefully, there will soon be some point in him doing, but I would assume that he would take it with him. Certified copies of birth certificates, though not cost-free, are easy to obtain if necessary.

I didn’t take my birth certificate to uni. I’ve always had my own passport... it was probably with me then, but I didn’t have a home to go back to, I was out of foster care.

I took my provisional driving license for ID, but I think that was about it.

Never needed my birth certificate at uni. For most things actually, I only needed to show or send in a picture of the documents. So I'd really recommend taking pictures of everything (like the passport photo page) so they can easily access their passport number without needing it in their hand.

If they go missing he will learn a good lesson in being careful with important things and how to sort out any loss.

I'm not sure why you think they would go missing or why it's such a big deal for him to have his own documents tbh.

I can't remember when mine had their own documents from but I did have to ask for them to apply for their provisionals when they were 15. Probably 11ish when they got their current accounts, that would have been the start of 'find somewhere safe to keep this'

There is no document too 'precious' that it can't be replaced though.

Apart from needing them for registration I’ve always made sure mine had their passports with them - we have had a few trips to visit family abroad where they have flown directly from their uni city & met us there. And with aged relatives it’s good to be prepared if we needed to get to them quickly (obviously not everyone has this situation)

DD1 definitely has her passport with her. I'm less sure about her driving licence as she isn't allowed to drive in Cambridge without written permission, but I expect she has it because it's smaller to carry round for ID purposes. DD2 has both.

To those people whose DC can't be trusted, why not? In normal times I take school kids on a choir tour. They are in years 9 - 13 (age 13 - 18). They are perfectly able to look after their passports and EHICs so I find it surprising that adult DC capable of getting into university cannot do the same.

My DD has only taken her driving licence with her. She hasn't needed any other documents

Most people don't take birth cert. I had to send passports by special delivery in term 1 as they had to agree tenancies in term 1 for year 2 !!! with private landlords and estate agents need passports for that. Mine did take their full driving licences with them for ID at nightclubs etc. Birth certs have stayed at home.

Year 1 students lose all sorts and often get very drunk so the less they take the better. Obviously not all mumsnetters have children like that (and I was teetotal at university so I know there is that better path.......)

The documents are the individual’s property and in my opinion should be held by them

I bought DS one of those document folders for all his important documents - he hasn't managed to lose any of them yet. I emphasised the need to file things straight back into the folder once he's finished with them and not leave in a pile of crap on his desk He had to take his Passport when he first went away as he was flying to his Uni city. I photocopied his passport and kept a copy here - as I do with ours if we go away.

If they want them they can. Many students have hardly any space in their university rooms and live half the year at home so my older children who own their own properties have their own documents and the student two do not yet other than passports and driving licences which they always do keep with them (for ID, bars etc). I agree they are the child's property at some stage. You can own certain property at certain ages and at 18 for others. When a parent kindly agrees to pay to renew a passport of an 18 year old they are making a gift of the money and the state issues adult passports to the adult child. In fact modern slavery laws etc have made it even clearer you should not withhold passports from adults.

Mind you wise parents keeping valuable documents a feckless drunken student child might lose is probably more called love and wisdom rather than modern slavery.