stevegar

Hi- I'm hoping someone can offer some advice/clarity. I wish to obtain a British adult passport for my 16 y.o. daughter who is travelling to the UK in Jan 2014 for her gap year (she will then be 17). She will be working in a school boarding house. She was born in Australia (as was her mother- to whom I was married prior to my daughter's birth and we are still married). I was born in Liverpool (1958) and travelled as a 9 y.o. to Oz as a 10 pound pom on my mother's passport. I have my original British birth certificate, but have never held or applied for a British passport. All four of her grandparents are British. I reckon I have now rung every possible phone number (both here in Oz and in the UK), have paid the call charges for 'information assistance' and have pored over the websites- all to no avail, as no one has been able to answer a simple question- 'Is she eligible for a British passport?...' Any help greatly appreciated.

Garbatellamike

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Britis...hip_by_Descent

Try this link to the site wiki - it should provide you the answer.

Oh and welcome to BE btw

stevegar

Thanks- I'll see if it provides any further clarification!

BritInParis

From what you've stated your daughter is a British citizen by descent through you and therefore is eligible for a British passport. All the information you'll need to apply can be found at the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passport...arents-married

stevegar

Thanks. Yes, that is correct. However, I am being told that my birth certificate is insufficient to prove my British citizenship as it does not contain my parents' details, though my parents maintain that 'in the day' (1958) that was the only version of a birth certificate that was issued (a half A4 size- red ink on cream paper, listing birth details- date and hospital, but not parents)...

BritInParis

There are two forms of British birth certificate - one is the 'short' version which only contains your name, date of birth and the registration district. This is issued free of charge at the time of the registration of the birth. There is a second 'long' version which contains a lot more information including the precise place of birth and the parents' details but for which a fee was often charged. The reason why your long version certificate is required is to ensure that your parents weren't foreign diplomats - if this was the case your birth in the UK would not have conferred British citizenship upon you and therefore you would not be able to pass it on to your children.

If you only possess the short version, you can order a certified copy of your long version birth certificate from the General Register Office.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/

stevegar

Hey- yes that clears it up and makes sense. I've now been on the website and ordered the 'long version'. Thanks so much!
Steve

scot47

One of the benefits of registering a child's birth with the British Consulate is that at a later date, you can get copies of birth cert from the said Genberal Regsiter Office. Very helpful in our case since both our daughters were born in foreign lands - and duly registered with said Consulate.

Position in Dominions like Aus may be different.

BritInParis

Sadly not available in Australia due to its former 'dominion' status.