First British passport for Child Born in India-Brit Parents

[ToneGen]

Hi All,

We recently had our first baby in India. Both Parents are naturalised british citizens.
I am deputed in India on work currently.

I have few queries, it would be great if someone can clarify me these before I book an appointment.

1. Can a Counter-signatory be a British passport holder who is currently residing & working in India who has known me very well? - This is to just speed up the process. Do you know how much difference it will make in terms of passport approval as against Counter-signatory being an Indian passport holder.

2. I am using the form OS/01/01 Please confirm if this is the correct form for the above said application.

3. In section 4 of the form: Do we need to enter the Child's Grand parents details? If yes, then is it of both My parents and My wife's parents details?
Note: My wife is 1985 born and I am 1981 born. I am the main applicant for my child's passport.

Thank you so much in advance

[secret.simon]

1. Can a Counter-signatory be a British passport holder who is currently residing & working in India who has known me very well?

Yes, provided they are not related to you.

2. I am using the form OS/01/01 Please confirm if this is the correct form for the above said application.

Seems to be the correct form. Here is another link with a fuller list of documents.

[ToneGen]

Thanks a lot for the reply!

ToneGen wrote:
1. Can a Counter-signatory be a British passport holder who is currently residing & working in India who has known me very well?

Yes, provided they are not related to you.

Yes, they are not related to me, he is just a colleague and a good friend. Do you have any idea of time advantage if the counter signatory is a British?

Can anyone throw some light on my query regarding grand parents details please?

[CR001]

Yes, they are not related to me, he is just a colleague and a good friend. Do you have any idea of time advantage if the counter signatory is a British?

Can anyone throw some light on my query regarding grand parents details please?

A British passport application from India can take 6 to 12 months. It makes absolutely no difference regarding referee nationality.

[secret.simon]

The Overseas Passports section on the Gov.UK website does say that overseas passports takes at least 16 weeks. Posts on these forums suggest, as CR001 has stated, the more realistic timeframe is six months to a year.

[ToneGen]

A British passport application from India can take 6 to 12 months. It makes absolutely no difference regarding referee nationality.

Thanks CR001, The only reason I thought of getting a British citizen to be counter-signatory for my baby's application was the processing time. Please see the bullet point in OS_Guidance_Notes_10.16.pdf page 11.

• hold a British, Irish or other EU, US, or
Commonwealth passport (in that order of
preference) which has not run out. We will be able
to process applications more quickly where the
countersignatory has a British or Irish passport.

But As per both you and secret.simon, if the experience says it does not make any difference then I would rather go with India passport counter-signatory.

Thank you..

[secret.simon]

But As per both you and secret.simon, if the experience says it does not make any difference then I would rather go with India passport counter-signatory.

It is relatively rare for there to be an eligible referee with a British passport in India. It may be worth trying applying with that referee and updating the forums on whether your experience differs from the others on these forums.

The strength and authority of a public forum arises from the fact that anybody with experience of a relevant fact can contribute and can contradict another, even a moderator or a Respected Guru. CR001 and I have summarised our observations of other posts on these forums, but it is entirely possible that other members may advise you differently and in greater detail.

[ToneGen]

Thanks secret.simon,

Yes I totally agree with what you said about the strength of the forum.
I will give it a shot and post in this forum about the outcome.

[srreddy]

Hi
Could you please update the timeline for approval if the counter signatory is a indian passport holder who lives in india ?
Thank you

[vinny]

Timeline.