Citizenship by birth
 

This should be straightforward but I'm a bit confused so would appreciate advice/suggestions

I'm Bajan by birth but have lived in the UK since the age of 6. I have British nationality (via naturalisation in 1983) but as is allowed, have Bajan citizenship also. Problem is, I cannot find anything that supports this status. I have my birth certificate showing that I was born here. Many, many years ago, I had a Bajan passport but that long expired and has been lost. I am now back here for an extended period, possibly for good, and need to get my status clarified.

Can anyone tell me how to go about getting a new Bajan passport (bear in mind that I have lost the old one and do not know the number) as well as a Citizen ID card?

Calls to the Immigration office go unanswered, as do emails. Short of the nightmare that is going to the office itself, can anyone offer advice or suggestions? Many thanks

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

http://www.immigration.gov.bb/pages/Passport.aspx

This page suggests you'll need a Barbados ID card to apply for your passport. Not sure how you would go about applying for that since you have been absent from Barbados since you were a child. Unless someone else has the answer I think perhaps going down in person and explaining your situation might be the solution if you're in Barbados now.

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

Hi there BritinParis
Thanks for your response. I should already have an ID number as I would not have been able to get a passport without one. It's just that I no longer have any of that documentation. I was hoping that I'd be able to get answers via the Immigration Dept website or an email response from them, but the latter seems too much to hope for anytime soon, so I'm going to have to set aside a few days and get myself down to Immigration. Thanks anyway!

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

As long as you have a Barbados Birth Certificate, you need to go to the new government building in Warrens (the one that sits away from the supermarket area) and on the ground floor there, take you Barbados Birth certificate and whatever form of photo ID that you have with you.. you should at that point be able to apply for a new ID card. They may (or may not) be able to advise you if your id number is still the same.. Likely it is. from there, you have to apply for a passport. The number doesn't matter.. to my knowledge it doesn't stay the same (well the US numbers don't anyway.. ).. the only issue will be if your Birth Certificate is Hand Written, you may have to go to the New Law courts office in Bridgetown and apply for a new birthcertificate.. again .. the old one and some form of photo ID should be fine.

I don't think I'm incorrect at advising you of any of that.. you have a Proper Barbados Birth Certificate.. that's what matters..

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

http://www.foreign.gov.bb/pageselect.cfm?page=110

by the way.. when you go to this building specifically (the new law courts). NO NOT wear shorts, sandals, slippers etc.. Dress appropriately... no armhole shirts etc...

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

Sunnie, ..ha! ha! thanks for the advice, but the dress code is imprinted on my mind, having unwittingly 'broken' them last year - I had to make 3 visits (during the last one myself and husband finally blew our gaskets with the security guard after she asked her male colleague if he could see my 'panties' under my dress) before I was considered appropriately dressed - and believe me when I tell you that I am not one to go around flaunting my half a century odd old body...there's a formal complaint floating around there somewhere still...!

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

Sunniebgi, what a star you are! I've just retrieved my birth certificate which I managed to get last year from the Registrar's Office after a real saga - see email below - and yes, it is typed, and yes, it has my - or at any rate, a registration number on the top left corner which I had just never noticed (in truth, I was doing some family history and was far more interested in my parents birth certificates). I notice though that the box at the very bottom asking for National Registration Number is blank however...perhaps the two numbers are one and the same..anyway, armed with this and a UK photoID card of some kind, I'll take myself off to Warrens...will let you know how it goes...thanks again!

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

ahhh.. that's a good one re the security guard.. I had an incident at the airport 20 years ago .. one evening, going to greet my sister who was flying in.. .. I worked there (AA) had my ID but had on t-shirt and shorts.. we could use our ID's to get into the departure area and out the other side (can't do that now.. ).. got stopped by a security guard who said..."Looks like it's cold outside tonight".. with a smirk on his face.. I looked at him.... all 5'9" of him and said.. Next time you say something like that to me, 1. I'll draw you up on sexual harassment charges (which at that time was unheard of in Barbados) and 2. you WILL have a conversation with my husband.. all 6'4" of him... have a nice evening...

I hope your formal complaint goes through.. but I'm guessing if it's floating around.. it's likely been "lost"....

yes, let me know how it goes.. they will still have your ID number on file under your name.. it's your birthday yymmdd-0000 (4 numbers) doesn't change.. ever.. the first digit shows that you are born here (or in my case and a female married to a citizen).. and the last 3 is the number assigned to you considering the date of birth, the status and who was born before you.. if that makes any sense..

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

Morning Sunniebgi, yes...airport security and the immigration officers..those wonderful meet and greeters, such wonderful advertisements for their country.......last time I got into a scrummage with them and had to ask them if he was going to try to deport me? He can't.I'm Bajan. I know it sounds as though i'm a troublemaker or particularly mouthy but I'm not..I just get frustrated by shoddy, arrogant, rude, service posturing as professionalism.

As for the official complaint, I didn't expect it to get anywhere and just dropped it...I know that I should have persisted but i had too many other matters to deal with, including the (then) recent death of my mother...

Anyway, that aside...can I confirm, and sorry if I'm being a bit dense here. I need to take photos in order to be issued with a photo ID? Is that right? You mention that I should bring a current photo ID but that is to verify my identity? So my UK passport would be OK? They then proceed to take a photo of me for the card...is that correct? And its definitely the new government building in Warrens?...couldn't see any mention of that on the website...I don't have my own transport here and so don't want to have to take a taxi etc all the way over there from here in Hastings only for some officious person to tell me that i need to be in Bridgetown..

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

I took my 16 year old to the Newest building in Warrens.. not the one directly in front of Super Centre (or behind, depending on which way you look at it) but the far far one, as if you are heading up to go to UWI (can be accessed by the entrance between Cheffette and the gas station, at the little round-a-bout by KFC, the driver will go right to get to the building. on the ground floor there is the new office for Barbados ID's... stop at the desk and get a "visitors badge". been open since December (trust me. went into town to the old NIS building and was closed up tight and the phone numbers on the paper didn't work.).. sorry, don't have the current phone number to confirm all of this.

Your UK ID simply serves as a photo of your identification. No need to take extra photos as when you apply for the ID, they will actually take your photo (with a little webcam)... unlike your passport when you will need photos (notarized) . took about 20 min for my daughter.. should have been more like 10 min but the guy had issues with his computer (they had just moved..and it was the same day the papers announced that 3000 gvt workers were going home (so you can imagine the conversation..).. make sure you have your Barbados Birth Certificate (obviously)..

We sound very much alike.. I do have a loud mouth, speak my own mind.. and likely should be run out of here ever since.. however.. frustration, rudeness and downright ignorance on how to effectively deal with people and the situation at hand (cause, you know, ever situation is different, but there is only 1 rule...) that drive me insane around here..

Re: Citizenship by birth
 

Thanks again, Sunniebgi...I'm actually generally a very laid back person, but I'm finding myself being put to the test here again and again and again, ad infinitum...maybe I have lived too long in the UK, as some people tell me, but then again, I happen to think that while there is a great deal that is wrong with the UK, there is much that is good that can be universally applied and good customer service is one of them...that security guard at the Registrar's Office would have been out of her job immediately had she done the same thing in the UK...I just didn't understand how she thought it was OK to ask a male colleague if he could see my underwear...I asked her if she would allow anyone to do the same with a daughter of hers or her mother...I'm most definitely not a prude but I'm also conscious of social etiquette and I would no more walk into a government building or even just to the local shops with my bits on show than I'd walk topless or wearing a bikini into a church...

Anyway, I have to avoid getting started and you should not encourage me....;-0

Thanks for clarifying - just that the information on the website has not yet been updated...this is really helpful.