Sending ILR BRP

[Viewpoint]

Hi All,

We cut up and send the ILR BRP to Home office after the Naturalisation, in case a British passport
is refused for some reason. What to do this situation?

[Casa]

Even if the BRP isn't returned to the HO, it is invalid as soon as you have attended your citizenship ceremony, so you wouldn't be able to use it to travel outside of the UK. A passport refusal would be extremely rare.

[ohara]

Why do you believe your passport will be refused? Once you have naturalised, you are eligible, so it should not be refused unless you totally mess up the application.

[Viewpoint]

Thank you Casa & ohara for your info.
Anyway,it is better to send the ILR BRP to Home Office straightaway. Is that right?

[Casa]

Yes, if you want to avoid a £1,000 fine.

[ohara]

Of course. It becomes immediately invalid once you become a British citizen. You should probably prepare the envelope now and post it on the day you get your certificate

[Viewpoint]

Thanks again Casa & ohara for your suggestions.

[Richard W]

We cut up and send the ILR BRP to Home office after the Naturalisation, in case a British passport is refused for some reason. What to do this situation?

A British citizen has no right to foreign travel, though except in exceptional circumstances, he may make his way to and from international waters other than via a port.

[Casa]

We cut up and send the ILR BRP to Home office after the Naturalisation, in case a British passport is refused for some reason. What to do this situation?

A British citizen has no right to foreign travel, though except in exceptional circumstances, he may make his way to and from international waters other than via a port.

Do you want to explain that more clearly? The OP isn't referring to foreign travel. They are asking about a possible refusal of a British passport application.

[Richard W]

A British passport is a privilege, not a right. Passports are granted under the Royal prerogative, and the only right is not to be refused one arbitrarily. This is despite the fact that a British passport or certificate of Right of Abode is the only evidence of right of abode that an Immigration Officer is obliged to entertain. (They are more flexible in practice.) Consequently, a single national British citizen may have no practical document for travel overseas.

The OP was concerned that if he were refused a passport - which could happen if there is a problem with him using multiple variants of his name - he would be unable to travel from the UK and return. Well, tough. That can happen to a single national British citizen. Welcome to the club.

[secret.simon]

Firstly, I presume that the question is a hypothetical question in that such a refusal does not appear to have taken place. It is at this point pertinent to ask if the question is entirely within the realm of hypothesis or whether the OP fears an actual rejection and if so, what are the grounds he fears he will be rejected on?

Secondly, a passport is primarily a travel document, not an identity one and as Richard W has pointed out, there is no absolute right to travel for British nationals.

Thirdly, the UK does not require that if you are a British citizen, you must enter the UK on a British passport, unlike the practice in either the US or Australia, to name but two. To enter the UK as a British citizen, one must convince the Immigration Officer of one's identity (a passport by another country would suffice as would a recently expired British passport) and that one is a British citizen (in a pinch, a naturalisation certificate could possibly be used). The issue that is more likely to arise in the absence of a valid British passport is that airlines will refuse to allow you to board.

Richard W has correctly pointed out that the issuance of British passports is under the Royal Prerogative. But even the exercise of the Royal Prerogative by ministers is subject to judicial review and hence ministers must have clear guidelines for grounds of refusal to issue passports. This Written Ministerial Statement from the Home Office spells out what I believe is the current policy on refusal to issue British passports.

The most common reason for refusal to issue a British passport seen on these forums is when the name of the applicant differs between the naturalisation certificate and the foreign passports that they hold (Section 3.1 of the HMPO Names policy).

As an aside, Noajthan had pointed out a while ago (about six-eight months) that Canadian law in this field is considerably more developed that British law. Given our common historical bonds, I believe that UK courts would treat Canadian developments in this field as being of persuasive authority.