Mummy in the foothills

I sent a photocopy of my sons existing US passport photo page when I applied for his first solo UK passport, he'd been on mine since birth and we waited for that to expire before getting him a UK one of his own. I hadn't sent anything originally, but got a phone call asking that I fax it in so I did. Maybe the photocopy route will work for you too.

jon_nyc

THanks for the info. If anyone can confirm this is standard procedure, that would be great!

SwindonLad

When I applied for my daughter's UK passport I sent in her US passport as well. All returned without a hitch.

As closure to my earleir post in this thread about recording my daughter's birth, I ended up providing both birth certificates with the application and just writing in our occupations at the time my daughter was born without any other documentation to support this information. Got the certificate without any problem.

jon_nyc

Thanks. I'm sure in at least 99/100 cases there is no problem but it would be a pain if you're the 1/100 especially if it means you can't travel.

I would really like to hear from someone official, or closely familiar with the legal side of it, why the UK government needs to see my daughter's US passport at all. I can't see how it helps in proving her eligibility for a UK passport, and I also don't see how it is any of their business to be honest. It doesn't bother me to the point where I would not send it, but it doesn't feel quite right to me.

JAJ

They don't need to see it. They just like to see a copy as proof of ID.

jon_nyc

First off, mainly I registered here for info about documents needed for applying for a UK passport for my daughter and thanks to everyone for responding

If the other side of it is inappropriate for this forum then I will gladly shut up, but once I'd posted my inner libertarian (think Tony Benn not Ron Paul ) started questioning the foreign passport requirement as something which isn't really a proof of ID, since she wouldn't be less eligible if she didn't have one, but seemingly more as a way for the UK government to keep track of people. And they will have the US passport number whether it's the real thing or a copy.

JAJ

Clearly says photocopy is ok:
http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...port-documents

JAJ

My understanding of the process is as follows, and you can choose whether to believe it or not.

When someone applies for a British passport - either in the UK or overseas, but especially overseas - Consular staff need to be satisfied not just that there is a claim to British citizenship, but that the applicant is the same person as referred to on the relevant birth/naturalisation documents. Bear in mind that anyone can obtain a UK birth certificate, for example.

One of the ways they do this is by looking for local proof of ID - passport, driving licence, residence card, etc. The reason for this is that if you are in Country X, is is usually harder to create a false identity with the Country X authorities. So if someone from the USA claims to be the same person born on a particular date in Britain in 1962, it helps a lot if they have a USA passport and driving licence in the same name and showing consistent information on date and place of birth.

In some cases, especially with people who show up as adults applying for a first British passport, proof of local current ID isn't enough (more so in countries with lax standards). In these cases, consular staff may also look for past evidence that someone used a particular name as a child, for example, original school reports.

There is no right of appeal if refused a British passport because proof of ID isn't good enough. However, there is an alternative approach, which is to apply for a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode, and if this is refused, you can appeal to a tribunal or failing that, the courts.

jon_nyc

Great, thanks! I was looking at the C2 instructions .pdf which aren't so explicit.

Thanks for your long reply also. I do get the ID proof thing despite acting obtuse, but still as a parent and 100% sure that my daughter qualifies, a part of me is disturbed that the extra burden of proof is on me - the UK govt. is elected and is responsible to us rather than vice versa (IMO) and so also (IMO) I think a UK passport is a right not a privilege provided you qualify.

MsElui

i think that Deans point is worth re-iterating. IF you intend to shell out every 5-10 years to keep a valid british passport for the baby/kid/teen/adult - then the consular report is not necessary.

IF however - you decide to ever let a few years slide without renewing a british passport - to save some bucks - because after all the person has a valid US passport - then the consular cert could be very useful to start a fresh passport application at some point in the future.

JAJ

A consular birth certificate can also help get a new passport more quickly if passport is ever lost or stolen. Do you really trust the British government to keep good passport records? We know that birth records have to be kept, I am not so sure about passport records. And even if a record of the passport is kept somewhere, it could take weeks to retrieve.

But I guess some people prefer complexity in life over simplicity ...

The_English_Bride

What about if you were born in the USA to a British mother, but she never registered your birth or got you a British passport and your now in your twenties? Can you still apply for a British passport/birth certificate?

hobbes79

I got the consular cert just this week from Washington.

It's funny to see the contrast. Our son was born in the UK so we had to take him to the US Embassy to get his US citizenship straightened out. He got this great looking document with "Consular Report of Birth Abroad" emblazened across it.

Now our daughter was born in the US so we needed to get the Brit equivalent.

We got a British Birth certificate with "Born in the British Districts" crudely crossed out and "Registered in Washington" written off to the side.

A few hundred dollars for that? Absolute bargain

Dan725

Alright, a few posts on this thread might have persuaded me to stop my procrastinating (nearly 4 years!) and get on and register my daughter. I see the way to go is via this page:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-...tering-a-birth

I see there is one 100 pound charge for the registration and then another 65 for the certificate. I take it everyone who has done this splashed out of the certificate as well?

hobbes79

Yeah. What you get is the rather comedic bit of paper I described above, but a clearly useful document.

I like the idea that when our daughter is 20 or whatever and feels the need to spend a Summer in Italy or a year in Spain, she just can. That's why I eventually did it, though I think the costs involved are a little ridiculous.

The US prices are at the link below:

http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...-registration/