Passport Office fuck up (1st child passport) means Christmas is cancelled...

[Umlauf]

... and DSs Christening.

He was born at the end of September. Knowing it would take 6 weeks to apply for his passport I rang the passport office before his birth to triple check what we would need. Was given a list over the phone.

Rang back after his birth to confirm again as was ready to send everything off. Was told to add his four grandparents' birth and marriage certificates to envelope. As these now had to be ordered urgently they were at a cost of 25 pounds each (Spoke to 2 different people at both gave a different list of required contents, but went with the longest list.)

Obtained birth certificates exactly 6 weeks before our flights home for Christmas. Rang a fourth time to go through everything. Everything ticked off and ok to send, hurrah!

Yesterday we get an email to say they need his Spanish birth certificate as well as the international one the previous four people said was the correct one. This needs to be officially translated first which takes 3 days. By the time its done there will be 3 weeks until our flights, not to mention the one week postage time either way..

We're not going are we. Our friends and family aren't going to meet DS, all DHs (and my!) Christmas presents are there, I'll have to cancel his Christening... The total costs of the palaver comes to over a grand now taking the flights, passport crap and car hire into account.. Plus my grandfather is pretty ill and I'm not sure he'll even get to meet his first and only great grandchild now..

How do I complain? On the phone they keep fobbing me off. I'm really upset. I know its a first world problem, but still!

I seem to remember a case being on breakfast TV where some parents had a complete nightmare even getting a birth certificate for their child born abroad and had huge problems bringing her back to the UK?

That's horrible running puts my wanting to get home for Xmas worries to shame really. At least we will all be together.

DH is now saying if we miss the flights but the passport still arrives before Xmas we can just drive through France as soon as it arrives and fly back, although I don't know when we could get the car back! The drive costs about 200quid each way so it's twice the price of two emergency travel docs, so I'd rather those.

If we can't get an emergency travel doc there must be something for the babies born on holiday for example. Do you know what happens in those scenarios running ?

One of the grandparents is matey with someone fairly high up in govts spouse and is going to chat to them, but doesn't think it'll do much good!

My youngest DD was born in Spain and I needed her passport pretty urgently. I spoke to a lovely lady called Helen (I'm sorry, I cannot for the life of me remember her surname) in the passport office at the British Embassy in Madrid, faxed her through flight bookings, my BC, and her Dad's, along with her Spanish BC, and copies of our British passports. (I never bothered with registering her at the local consular in Malaga) She got the passport turned around and sent to me within five days.

I was on the verge of jumping in the car and driving the 5 hours to Madrid to sit it out, but she was brilliant.

Aw hepsibah she sounds lovely! Really pleased they sorted it for you. Were 5 hours from Madrid the other direction, I'd happily go there!

However the embassy can't do passports anymore. They changed it fairly recently so now all passports have to be done via post to the uk. There is no quicker option. It's shit!

Oh bollocks. What an arse. Sorry, I should have read your OP properly.

Hmm, yes I would go for the emergency travel doc then, followed by an appointment at whichever passport office is best for you. Make it now for when you're here and you'll be able to have one after 7 days.

Why did they stop doing them? Seems a bit bloody stupid, no? Although the outrageous cost of DD's passport only 4 years ago was €150

Good luck, Umlauf, I hope you all manage to make it back in time.

A childs first should only take 3 weeks not 6 they say to allow 6 for a first time adults to cover the interview they need to conduct. If yiu have the granparents details and the translated bc, it should only take 3 weeks. I used to work at Newport and generally we processed all applications straight away and as soon as we received the requested documents etc it was a matter of passing it straight over for issuing the passport.

I mean it will have already been inputted and just waiting for the bc.

You can fly to the UK and get a one week turn around appointment at the passport office. They say you should apply from abroad, but they don't actually implement that. Though my DH recently got a lost passport application returned within a week to us in Europe, so you might be fine anyway.

Oh thank you so much peppapig you have given me hope! The BBC is with the translator now and dhl can do a next day courier service (for 40 quid ) so they might just be able to get it to us in time?!!

Keeping everything crossed. Luckily ds is the only child we have and he doesn't know what's going on, he won't care whether or not he gets presents!

Thanks solomon I would but all the documents I'd need are now with the passport office.

babies born on holiday I imagine wait around for their passports.
In most cases they do indeed arrive within 3 weeks. I know lots of people who've had them done in the last year. My friend was very unlucky with her parents' immigration status, so every single certificate was needed, however hers was one of the last applications which went via Paris before it closed, so they accepted a non translated birth certificate, given the French actually tend to be able to read French and locally engaged staff did the checking before the application was forwarded to the UK, but according to rules, she should have had the French birth certificate transalated for the French staff in Paris so they could read the English!!! It was novel at least to see 2012 written in French words, I had trouble reading it, every single date in words!!!!! Even French people rarely write dates in words and get the rules of "s" or no "s" wrong.

As for the non EU baby needing a life saving heart operation, well they did trace the parents, imagine being so desperate to do that. She had Downs Syndrome too. Not a baby I'll even forget. Crazy but brave of parents and I'm sure many would do the same.

Good luck

I had an issue with renewal of DS and DH's passports when the application paperwork couldn't be found after 12 weeks.

I called the Embassy in Switzerland - we had a really expensive holiday to Florida booked And only had 6 weeks left.

I was in floods of tears to the woman there - I certainly didn't have time or permission to sit in work hanging on a Premium rate helpline via Paris via UK. I was being passed from dept to dept and getting nowhere.

She investigated it on my behalf , found the relevant people and chased it up for me.

We received the renewed passports less than a week later.

I know this is a different application, but if I hadn't called the Embassy we'd have been stuffed.

Sorry, I am not sure I understand. Posting from Spain here. I am English. My DD is Spanish, born here. I went to the local pólice station and had a Passport (Spanish) within 2 hours. She was a few months old.

It is easy peasy. Costs 20 euros.

Why do you need an English Passport.
Apologies if I have missed something.

Have they given you a ref number to quote?

You CANNOT use the one day or one week turnaround service for a baby unless you leave the baby behind and apply for it with a parent going to the UK. So either you or husband needs to travel to the UK and baby cannot go. Then comes back with passport.

Maybe they need a British passport because the baby only qualifies for British nationality and not Spanish. You cannot assume because someone else has a baby in Spain and the baby is Spanish, that the OP's baby is Spanish too.

Look please everyone, the embassies might have actually had staff in them when you phoned but Cameron has reduced overseas postings for FCO by 80%, it is useless and inaccurate to post your stories unless they were last week, as so much has changed in the last few months.

somersrt is your dp Spanish? They said we couldn't do that as he doesnt count as Spanish until he's lived here a year. DH and I are both british.

Yes peppa I have a ref number...

Ok do you know exactly which passport office all the docs are at and do they have all of them? Withdraw the application, obtain docs, apply at same officer in person on one day service and Easyjet flight???? Then back to Spain with passport reunited with baby. Take photos and send it all back to Cameron or to anyone interested in showing just how bloody difficult they make it for Brits.

We're in the centre of Europe. Some nationalities can walk into their embassies and 10 minutes later get new national ID cards, others like Brits and Swedes have this farce of a service, my Swedish friends are grateful that they also have the nationality of country of residence and no longer renew their Swedish passports unless on holiday back there.

Baby can naturalise as Spanish in a year look. A bit late for Christmas.

Spanish nationality by naturalisation and residence[edit]

Spanish nationality can be acquired by naturalisation, which is given only at the discretion of the government through a Royal Decree, and under exceptional circumstances.[8] Any individual can request the Spanish nationality by naturalisation, as long as he or she is 18 years or older, or through a legal representative if he or she is younger.[9]
Under Article 22, Spanish nationality can also be acquired by residence in Spain. To apply for naturalisation by residence it is necessary for the individual to have lived in Spain for:[10]
ten years, or
five years if the individual is a refugee, or
two years if the individual is a national of a country of Iberoamerica, Andorra, Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, or
one year for those individuals:
born in Spanish territory, or

Make sure you put it on the envelope and attach a note outlining your situation. You might get someone very sympathetic.

If you are going to try and get back to the UK for a one day application the office in Newport is quite flexible for fairly last minute appointments and easy to get to from Cardiff or Bristol Airport.

My help with the Embassy was very recent, I would assume if they were busy they'd have redirected me or told me they couldn't help.

The passports in Belfast, but will ask tomorrow for a despatch date, and of not within a couple of days of receiving translated BC then will ask whether can make an appointment for the following week, and DH gets an Irish adventure!

Grr.