Birth Certificates + Passport - Quick Turnaround

[kmini]

Hi

We are planning to travel abroad for a wedding 7 weeks after our due date. I have heard a number of stories around how long it takes to get birth certificate & passports at the moment. Does anyone have any experiences with this? How long did it take. Can you book anything before the baby is born?

Thanks!

Bear in mind you could be 2 weeks late and then you need an appointment to register baby which could take a week.
Are you due shortly? Only it's busy period for passports.
We travelled to a passport centre to have ours done and got it in the post the next day so that might be an option?

Can get passports on the same day if you go to a passport office and pay extra money. Have to book an appointment to do that though.

Not for a first passport you can't. Quickest is within a week, not same day.

My dd was two weeks late and was supposed to go on holiday as a 10 week old, in the event we only had 8 weeks.

we filled in the passport form and took and got counter-signed photos before we registered the birth (we got the earliest registering appointment possible, but i think she was a week old, perhaps a bit more). We went straight from registering the birth to the post office to check and send the application.

She was born on 28 april and the renewal date on her passport is 15 may, so it must have come back pretty quickly, but this was eight years ago, i don't know if it takes longer to get a baby's first passport now.

We had already booked our holiday, but were going by eurostar and train, so the baby didn't need a booked place, luckily.

Bear in mind you and/or your baby may not be up to going out to register a baby straight away.

Don't know about passports etc but you can book flights! My SIL booked a ticket for DN as a lap infant, it had TBC as the first name and then they rang up to change it - and that was easy jet, not always the most flexible of airlines!

Thanks for the tips. Do you both parents & baby have to be there when the baby is registered or can I just send my DH?

I believe if you are married just one person can do it, if you aren't then the father needs to be present, but I can't imagine the mother needs to be there. I don't know for sure though...

DH can go alone. For un-married couples both parents have to attend.

I have just applied for a first passport for my DD a couple of days ago and received a text message advising that the wait time is 6 weeks for a first child passport. Your DH can register the birth by himself if you are married.