Immigration Corner | Documents needed when applying for first UK passport

Dear Mr Bassie,

I am applying for my first British passport and I would like to know what documents I will need to send in with my application.

JJ

Dear JJ,

Persons should be aware that they must send original documents when applying for a passport, as photocopies are not accepted.

If they do not have original certificates, for example, their birth certificate, they will need to get an official copy. Also, if the documents are not in English or Welsh, they will need to send a certified translation. Please note that persons can send laminated documents if that is the only format in which they are issued.

PERSONS BORN OR ADOPTED IN THE UK

What documents are needed will depend on when they were born. If persons are born before January 1, 1983, they will need their full birth certificate or adoption certificate.

If persons are born on or after January 1, 1983, those persons will need their full birth certificate or adoption certificate and either:

• Their mother’s or father’s full UK birth certificate, or the Home Office certificate of registration or naturalisation, or a British passport belonging to one of their parents that was valid when they were born, or a British passport number for either parent; or

• Evidence of one of their parents’ immigration statuses in the UK at the time of their birth, for example, a foreign passport belonging to one of the parents that was valid when they were born.

Please note that if persons are sending documents relating to their father, they must also send their parents’ marriage certificate.

PERSONS WHO WERE BORN OUTSIDE THE UK

The documents needed for these persons will depend on their circumstances. For persons with a certificate of naturalisation or registration, they will need both:

• Their naturalisation or registration certificate; and

• The passport they used to go into the UK or the foreign passport that they were included on.

CITIZEN OF A BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORY AND BORN BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1983

Those persons will need all of the following:

• Their birth certificate;

• Their current passport;

• The passport they used on arrival in the UK or the foreign passport they are included on.

BORN BEFORE JANUARY 1, 1983 AND THEIR FATHER WAS BORN IN THE UK

Those persons will need all of the following:

• Their full birth certificate showing your parents’ details;

• Their father’s birth certificate;

• Their parents’ marriage certificate;

• The passport they used to go into the UK or foreign passport they were included on.

BORN ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 1983

Those persons will need all of the following:

• Their full birth certificate showing their parents’ details;

• The passport used to go into the UK or any foreign passport that they were included on;

• Evidence of one parent’s British nationality, for example, their UK birth or adoption, naturalisations or registration certificate.

If these documents relate to their father, they must include the marriage certificate showing when he married the applicant’s mother.

IF CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIFFERENT

If circumstances are different and guidance is needed, please read online ‘the guidance booklet’ to find out what documents will be needed. Also, please note that if applying online, persons will be told what documents they need as part of their application.

HOW YOUR DOCUMENTS WILL BE SENT BACK

The supporting documents will be returned separately from the passport. How you get them depends on the delivery option chosen by the applicant when completing the application.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, deputy global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com