europlatus

Hi everyone, hopefully this post is useful for anyone wanting to register their children as UK citizens from overseas, specifically Canada, but it may help from other countries too.

I'm happy to say it was relatively painless and really quick. Once the passport office received the application, it was processed and dispatched within a week, which is pretty great really. I was applying from Canada for my two children who are both Canadian, but also British through me, their father.
Here were some of my experiences:

• Countersignatures: reading that British countersignatories would speed up the process, I sent my documents over to Britain because I didn't have a suitable British person here in Canada. Choosing a Canadian countersignatory would have been fine as Canada is a Commonwealth country, but speed was of the essence so I decided to send the documents to the UK. Just remember to choose someone belonging to a profession on their approved list.
• Birth certificate: they need an original of the child's and parent's certificates. This wasn't a problem for my kids but I didn't have my own so I had to order one from here: https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/c...es/default.asp. This service is incredibly useful and quick. It also helps if you find the GRO Index Reference Number for your birth registration. Amazingly, you can actually find this for free by looking up scans of your original birth entry on the free service at FreeBMD Home Page. This was one of those experiences that made me love the Internet and age we live in. I imagine getting this kind of information would have taken weeks in previous decades. Instead, I could actually look at the original entry of my birth from the 1970s from over here in Canada in just a few clicks of the mouse.
• Other passports: I only had to send photocopies of my children's Canadian passports, but you do have to photocopy every page, which is a bit of a pain (most of them are blank because they are under 5). For my own passports, I sent them my original British one and my original Canadian one. This was advised by the Passport helpline in England, but it is not totally clear in the supporting documents checklist. I was reluctant to send both of these valuable documents, but they were safely returned to me. Just remember to use an insured, recorded postal or courier service and always insist on a signature!
• Marriage certificate: this is not needed depending on the year your children were born. In my case I didn't need to send it, although I did send a photocopy of it for good measure.

This checklist was very valuable: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload..._Gp1_09.15.PDF
but make sure you get the right checklist by following the questions on https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

This is not an exhaustive list of requirements, but it covers the most tricky ones I think.
Hope it helps, cheers!

haydock67

Thank you so much for this very helpful checklist. I am trying to apply for a passport for my daughter who is currently in Sierra Leone and was thinking that I didn't know any British countersignatories over there, but I have several in the UK that I can use. However, would it be a problem if the countersignatory is signing photo of child they haven't met? or is it ok just to confirm that they've known me for over 2 years?
Also, I am currently here in the UK on business and it would be so much easier surely if I applied for the passport here in the UK, but apparently I cant as my child isn't currently in the UK.
What about documents like photos of your children with the family, did you send any?
How does a child prove his/her address? they are asking for things like school reports, hospital records, did you send any of that?
Much appreciated

Regards

scot47

Sierra Leone is one of the jurisdictions considered to be HIGH RISK for fraud by those applying for passports. Expect many hoops that you will have to jump through.

haydock67

Thanks for the warning scot47, I will just have to prepare myself to jump through them. � ����