UK Passport Application
 

Anyone who has used the online UK passport application.....

After entering all the details online and paying a PDF file is generated which comprises instructions, document checklist, declaration form and photo specs. For a family of 5 there are 17 pages in total. I assume that only the 5 declaration pages need to be returned to HM Passport Office and the other 12 pages are not required to be sent?

On the adult declaration page there is a signature box and date line for the applicant to sign and date. Further down the declaration page there is a row for "relationship of applicant to intended passport holder" and then "name of applicant applying on their behalf" - I assume this is usually left blank?

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I just did mine yesterday. When I've done stuff for CIC, it said to include the checklist. It doesn't say that on the UK stuff, it just seems to be for the applicant's benefit.

But I notice that on the sheet you sign it says "return this page" so it seems the declaration page only.

I think that's just where someone signs for someone else for age or learning disability reasons. Certain ages can sign themselves.

I got myself all tarted up for the photos - buzzcut, shave, nice shirt and then discovered the photo lab in Shoppers was closed today. :frown:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Just noticed this on the form.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I just sent an application in for our 19 year old daughter (born in Canada. Parents = me UK born and wife Canadian born). Daughter is intending to study from September 2016-May 2017 in Nice, France.

I sent the application on Monday morning and got a response today. They say that the birth certificate I sent is not acceptable (it is the certificate issued by the City saying daughters date and place of birth) and both parents names.

and

that the marriage certficate is not acceptable as it has not been stamped and dated by the Office of Vital Statistics...well, duh, I didn't get married in the UK so why would the Office of Vital Statistics be involved.

HM Passport Office is not a very use friendly place.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

That's interesting, we are just about to apply for my daughters and we got married in the Bahamas - wonder if we will have the same problem?
In saying that we had no problem changing my name to married name on my passport despite the marriage certificate not being a UK one.
Can you please update if you get any further feedback from them about it?

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Just spoke with them...jobsworths is a good description. Make sure you have certified copies of documents and long forms (if they exist) of documents.

I have ordered certified copies of our daughters birth certificate and our marriage certificate via Service Ontario...$57 later :(

Re: UK Passport Application
 

That sucks.
Thanks, no idea what other format the marriage cert would be in but will try and do a little research about it before we submit anything.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

The one saving grace was that I mailed the documents from Ottawa on Monday morning (january 4) and I got a reply etc today from the good folks in Durham today and they had everything.

The first person I spoke with had to repeat herself a few times with me due to her heavy scottish accent. :thumbsup::thumbsup: You may blame the quality of the overseas call.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Well the package was posted a couple of days ago. Nearly $40 with tracking and it could take up to two weeks! UK passports always seem to cause problems here - 5 years ago it was Blacks this time Sears. I suspect it just depends on who happens to be working at these places at the time.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

As per my messages above, I mailed my package on Monday morning here in Ottawa and today got email replies from Durham indicating they had my package. $27 at my end registered mail/tracking etc. I need to send them certified copies of our daughters birth certificate (born in Ontario) and our wedding certificate (married in Ontario). The versions I sent them are not certified. I'd never heard of certified copies of those documents before but they exist for a larger cost (15 working days turnaround or you get your money back here in Kathleen Wynne :thumbdown: Ontario).

Good luck

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Sorry to hijack this but I need to apply for a new passport soon, anyone know a place in the Vancouver area that has grey/cream backgrounds for photos?

I've been to a few places but they only have white.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I'm curious: I've never had any problems renewing/getting British passports from Canada. Is it photo requirements or documents that are causing problems/delays?

Re: UK Passport Application
 

So I may (probably) be getting confused here, but I thought you had to send the originals of the birth certificate anyway?
How is getting a certified copy any more useful than the original document? :unsure:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I've always got all my photos done at Digital World at Broadway and Hemlock: Digital World - Photographers - Fairview Slopes - Vancouver, BC - Reviews - Photos - Yelp

Including UK and Canadian passports, as well as for other official purposes and tests etc. Super, super fast and never any problems. Just take the instructions with you and he will ensure you get the photos you need. He lets you view the photo on a screen and you can keep retaking until you get one you're happy with.

:thumbsup:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Exactly what I said to the jobsworths in Durham. I told the people there that I had never heard of a certified copy of such a document. I sent the original of my 1964 birth certificate (they told me that there are now 'short form' versions of those documents...) but the Ontario 1996 birth certificate of my daughter is something I had never heard of in a certified version. The version we have is a credit card sized piece of paper (which I sent) and also an 8 1/2 x 11 version of a certificate issued by the City here which lists the babies name, place and date of birth, and the full names of the parents.

Here in Ontario, Service Ontario issues 'certified copies' of birth certificates and marriage certificates for a fee. For both of those it was $57 delivered within 15 business days or no charge. From there I post them back to Durham.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Ok, then that is very weird. Maybe it was a mistake on their part and they just didn't want to admit it, nothing would surprise me with that lot...

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Just the photo aspect. The actual passport applications (so far) have been fine.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Things are improving somewhat. I have actually been able to communicate, via email, with a human in Durham. Previously I was getting autobot type email replies. I should have the new passport within about 3-4 weeks depending on Canada Post and the Royal Mail.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Cheers, I'll check them out sometime this week.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Canadian passports received - only 8 days after leaving the application at the Calgary passport office. The photos of the children were definitely out of spec but it looks like that didn't matter.

When I submitted the UK passport renewal I had no Canadian passport at that time so didn't declare it or send a copy. The UK passport application may now be in process and now I do have a foreign passport. I expect countries exchange information on passports so I wonder if this will attract a red flag? Probably I will contact the UK passport office and explain and send them a copy of the Canadian passports if they wish?

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Nope that shouldn't be an issue.

For the record. Canadian provinces and territories issue 2 types of birth certificates and marriage certificates. The credit card sized ones, and the "long form" or "certified copy". This is what they are talking about. Long form/certified copy is an official copy of the exact sheet filed in the Office of the Registrar General of Ontario. The credit card sized one only works for some things. The UK authorities (and any foreign authorities) require the long form/certified copy of birth registration as they need more info than the average Canadian institution, which can likely pull up any information they need straight away, whereas foreign authorities do not have such access. I suspect this is the reasoning.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

As per posts 4,8,10 and 15 in this thread I'm going through this right now for our 19 year old daughter (born in Canada) with me (UK born) being the sponsoring parent to enable her to get a UK passport.

I had never heard or or seen a 'long form' or 'certified copy' of an Ontario birth certificate or marriage certificate. I've asked a few people I know here and they weren't aware of these types of documents. Service Ontario are processing my request now and I should have the acceptable versions soon.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Yeah I addressed that bit of my post towards you... Weird you've never heard of it. I needed it as soon as I started going to apply for my Maltese citizenship and then for my Maltese passport and it seems when I was born (1999) my parents did get a long form birth certificate as they had one for me. We also have them for both my parents born in '72 and both my siblings born in '02 and '07. We were all born in Ontario... Though I suppose most canucks don't know what they are / what they are for as most times if you just apply for Ontario DL's and Canadian passports the credit card one suffices. The only time i've needed the long form was when doing stuff with foreign authorities. Its just a thing here I suppose. They (the canucks) have short form and long form birth certificates...

Re: UK Passport Application
 

There are also short and long birth certificates in the UK as well. My wife was adopted and has both - the original when she was born and the short for the adoption papers.
Re the passport application declaration. That, plus print out of payment slip is all you need to send with the supporting docs as what you filled in online is available to HMPO. Took less than 2 weeks to renew mine from here.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I have both passports myself and up until now our daughter just had the Canadian passport. When we got her that passport (I think she was 4 weeks old at the time) all we required was the certificate issued by the City and signed by the City registrar etc that listed my full name, my wife's full name and the date and place of birth. I was the one who obtained that document as I registered the birth. Since then we've never needed anything more as the credit card sized birth certificate arrived soon after and we were good to go.

The wedding certificate is something that I don't think we've ever had to use anywhere.

At no time do I recall being told that there were long form 'certified' copies of these available and what the purpose would be of them.

The documentation from HMPO makes no mention of obtaining 'long form' 'certified' copies.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I was not aware of the short birth certificates from the UK. Mine, issued in the 1960's is hand written and lists my father's occupation (but not mother's...hmm....), and won't fit on my printer glass screen to copy.

When I spoke with HMPO last week they told me in a rather withering tone about the short birth certificates.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I mailed my renewal application to the UK last Thursday 7th.

Monday night's tracking showed shipment delivered and receipt listed on Passport website tracking on Tuesday.

Today, Friday, shows dispatched.


I folded my declaration twice before I read to only do it once. :nod:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I think the most acceptable explanation is that for Canadian documents, its more cut and dry, you're born here you're a citizen, it doesn't matter who your parents are (unless they were diplomats at the time of your birth). For someone born OUTSIDE the UK trying to claim UK citizenship/passport they need to ascertain that they are correct in their claim to British citizenship, so require the birth certificate from the official (ie provincial/national authority, not the city) institution with detailed information on parentage so they can ascertain the applicant is indeed a British citizen. The Canadian authorities are fine with credit-card size as the parentage doesn't matter in Canada as long as you were born here. When trying to claim citizenship jus sanguinis (by descent/right of blood) they need to make sure you are entitled to it.

To flip it around, if I had a child born in the UK and wanted to claim him/her a Canadian passport (since I was born in Canada) i'd need to provide the child's full long-form UK birth certificate with detailed parentage information to the Canadian authorities so they can make sure my child was indeed born abroad to a Canadian citizen parent.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Certified documents arrived yesterday from Thunder Bay (one week turnaround time..not bad for Canada Post and the Provincial Government both to be involved ;)

The documents that arrived were all signed by me back in 1993/1996. Apparently, back in 1993 I considered myself a Methodist and my wife a member of the United Church of Canada. :lol::lol:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Yay! Yes, not bad indeed.

:scarper: :p

Re: UK Passport Application
 

UK birth certificates actually vary widely depending on the country they were issued in and the date they were issued. The terminology also confuses, long, short, 'certified copy'. Here are some examples:

English "Certificate of Birth" (short birth certificate)
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/paulmello...e/images/4.jpg

English "Certified Copy of an Entry in the Register of Births" (current long birth certificate)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ertificate.jpg

English "Certified Copy of an Entry in the Register of Births" (previous long birth certificate. NB: mother's occupation not listed)
http://www.covingtonhistory.co.uk/Pi...ertificate.jpg

English "Certified Copy of an Entry in the Register of Births" (old style long birth certificate)
http://u3asites.org.uk/files/e/epping/fhg2.jpg

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Thanks...mine (1964 birth) looks like the last one you provided. My fathers signature has evolved quite a bit since then as well.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I had a short form one similar to the first and a long form certified copy one like the last one.


S

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Any chance you could post one for a male a bit closer to my age so I can apply for spare passport? You never know if it might come in handy. :lol:

Re: UK Passport Application
 

'Day of the Jackal' style you mean? You'll be surprised what people will scan and put online!

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Exactly.:lol:

Minor irritation on my passport.

Phone call this morning. Recorded voice.

My usual instinct is to put the phone down as it's usually advertising or scammer so I was immediately dismissive.

But then I heard a number being quoted. No warning just straight into this number that I hadn't been expecting.

There was no offered opportunity to hear the number again as there is with menu choices.

So now I know (assume) the passport is somewhere but I can't do anything about it.

I'm sure there will be an attempted delivery or, at least, a further contact. But how inefficient (and annoying) is that?

What's wrong with "we have a package for you. Have pen and paper ready as we will give you a tracking number which you will need." Then they tell you what to do with the number - website address etc - and then, when you're ready, give it.

I'm in the dark now and that's with me answering the call, immediately thinking "passport". Imagine if a child or someone else answers.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

Cameron's Britain, innit. Spare a thought for all the OAPs living in Spain and France.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

I'd love to blame Cameron but I'm in Canada and it's the Canadian courier doing this.

It was easier and more efficient when it was Canada Post last time.

Perhaps the UK gov should have used ordinary mail but registered as I did in sending it. It worked and I tracked it, unlike this.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

It's certainly a consequence of posting passports all over the world as the previous system of issuing passports via consulates was supposedly 'insecure', i.e. expensive.

If you called HMPO hopefully they should have a record of the tracking number if you didn't catch it.

Re: UK Passport Application
 

In yesterday's call I didn't catch the number but the call said I could use the number on line to arrange delivery.

Today's call was answered by my stepson (I warned him it might happen) and he got the number.

But it simply says the package is in Ontario with expected delivery by tomorrow and absolutely no means of doing anything else.

It's not a problem and maybe once tomorrow has passed there might then be an option if it's not been delivered.