Child passport application -asked for more information

[Olga1984]

Hello to everybody.
Need help asap!

Just applied for British Passport for my baby.
I am living and working in UK continiously for 10 years.
Together with application sended to Passport Offcie all WRC+ P60 for last 10 years.
Got a letter from them that I need to send :
- mothers/fathers birth certificates(or her/his Registration or Naturalisation certificate if this is how she/he became a B.citizen)
I understood that to get a British Passport for my child one of the parents should live and work in UK for at least 5 years.
So, why they re asking these certificates then?

kind regards.

[vinny]

There are many different routes that a child may be automatically British.

What are the parents' nationalities?

[noajthan]

To avoid jumbling and confusion this question moved to its own thread (this one).

[noajthan]

Hello to everybody.
Need help asap!

Just applied for British Passport for my baby.
I am living and working in UK continiously for 10 years.
Together with application sended to Passport Offcie all WRC+ P60 for last 10 years.
Got a letter from them that I need to send :
- mothers/fathers birth certificates(or her/his Registration or Naturalisation certificate if this is how she/he became a B.citizen)
I understood that to get a British Passport for my child one of the parents should live and work in UK for at least 5 years.
So, why they re asking these certificates then?

kind regards.

Was child born in UK?

Timing of various events is critical here...
When was child born?
When did at least one parent acquire PR (assuming parent/s are EEA nationals)?
Has either parent since naturalised?

Have you followed this guidance on these cases:
http://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio ... plications

[Olga1984]

Child born 13.10.2015
parents
father polish
mother latvian
aplication been made from fathers name.
at UK from 2005.got all wrc and p60.

[noajthan]

Child born 13.10.2015
parents
father polish
mother latvian
aplication been made from fathers name.
at UK from 2005.got all wrc and p60.

As shown in Table A in the document I linked (above) you just need:

Evidence of parents’ nationality and evidence that a parent has been resident in the UK exercising Treaty Rights for a minimum continuous period of 5 years prior to the birth of the applicant

You just need to show that (as an EEA national) you acquired PR before October 2015, that is at some time between 2005 and 2015.

You don't need your birth certificate to prove this so its unclear why that was asked for.
It may be that a confused HMPO caseworker wants to see if you are British via your parents (which is obviously not the case here).

Suggest write back quoting the requirements from the HMPO document above.

[Olga1984]

omg, thank you so much! ll do definately.

[Richard W]

It's probably worth the mother's (I.e. Olga's) while to apply for a permanent residence card to simplify reproof that the baby is British lest its passports not be accepted as evidence of Britishness for its children. It may also simplify British passport applications for future children. Formally, unless the baby is older than I think, the baby's birth certificate is not enough to prove that it is the father's child, so a marriage certificate would be required to derive British citizenship from the fact of the father's permanent residence.

In the unlikely event that Olga were actually still married to someone other than the father, British citizenship could not be derived from the biological father other than via registration of the child as British.

[noajthan]

It's probably worth the mother's (I.e. Olga's) while to apply for a permanent residence card to simplify reproof that the baby is British lest its passports not be accepted as evidence of Britishness for its children. It may also simplify British passport applications for future children. Formally, unless the baby is older than I think, the baby's birth certificate is not enough to prove that it is the father's child, so a marriage certificate would be required to derive British citizenship from the fact of the father's permanent residence.

In the unlikely event that Olga were actually still married to someone other than the father, British citizenship could not be derived from the biological father other than via registration of the child as British.

A parent's birth certificate does not speak about the paternity of a child!
And that is what is said to have been asked for - evidently by an untrained &/or inexperienced (and no doubt overworked/underpaid) caseworker.

A section 1(3) BNA registration may be satisfied by either parent, eg by a father.
Child's birth certificate and marriage certificate are all that are required in terms of proving relationships.
No DNA, no evidence of conception - nothing like that!

[Richard W]

A parent's birth certificate does not speak about the paternity of a child!
And that is what is said to have been asked for - evidently by an untrained &/or inexperienced (and no doubt overworked/underpaid) caseworker.
<snip>
Child's birth certificate and marriage certificate are all that are required in terms of proving relationships.

What Olga says is ambiguous. I read it as asking for documents about the baby's parents, not about hers/theirs.

Actually, for those born to unmarried mothers after some date in 2015, a prompt birth certificate is no longer guaranteed to suffice for paternity. I hope policy remains to accept prompt British certificates.

[noajthan]

Its not clear if parents are married but OP seems o say their bcs (for parents of child) were requested.
Those documents will not answer any question about paternity of the child.

The fact that father has applied (and mother appears to concur) means father has acknowledged paternity. That is usually acceptable to HO as per current MN1 guidance.

Ref https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... r_2015.pdf
- page 11+

[Richard W]

Its not clear if parents are married but OP seems o say their bcs (for parents of child) were requested.
Those documents will not answer any question about paternity of the child.

The parents' birth certificates may be wanted to support the statements as to who the child's grandparents are. Beyond later identity checks, they don't seem to be much use.

The fact that father has applied (and mother appears to concur) means father has acknowledged paternity. That is usually acceptable to HO as per current MN1 guidance.

Paternity there, however, largely relates to naturalisation at discretion, whereas the relevant issue is automatic acquisition of British citizenship at Birth.

Unless it comes after paying the fees, there doesn't seem to be any guide in the application suggesting to the Passport Office why the child is British. Indeed, is there any guide in the application process to the applicant as to what evidence to submit with an application based on permanent residence? The guide you referenced above does not seem to be linked to from the application process, at least, not before the payment stage.

As you've already suggested, the only means of clarification seems to be to explain to the Passport Office what they should be looking for.