Permanent residence card and new passport

[mia777]

Hello. This question has been asked a lot but I've seen different answers.

I am a permanent resident with a biometric residence permit (BRP) and settled status. I need to apply for a new passport because I'm running low on blank pages.

I think the answer is "No" to all of the below but I want to confirm before I travel:

- Do I need a new BRP?
- Do I need to contact the Home Office or any other authority and inform them of my new passport?
- Do I need to carry the old passport with me when I travel?

Thanks.

[CR001]

No, no and no.

[kamoe]

I am a permanent resident with a biometric residence permit (BRP) and settled status.

From your recent posts, one can see that you actually have a BRC (not the same as BRP), as the spouse of a EU citizen.

- Do I need a new BRP?

No, please note it is a BRC (issued under EU law) not a BRP (issued under UK law).

- Do I need to contact the Home Office or any other authority and inform them of my new passport?

No, since your Settled Status it's tied to your BRC not your passport, as that was the document you used in your application to identify yourself. That being said, if you were to get a new BRC (e.g. because you lost it) you would need to contact the HO and notify of your new main identity document change.

- Do I need to carry the old passport with me when I travel?

YES. YES. YES.

I was made aware of this at Birmingham airport, and I can remember at least another post where this is discussed (will try and find the link later).

They almost did not get me in at Birmingham because my BRC did not "belong" to my then new passport, and I did not have the old passport that I had used to issue the BRC in the first place. I am sure I had traveled before with this combination of documentation (BRP issued with old passport + new passport, sans old passport) and they never had a problem at Heathrow, but at Birmingham... it's just a different story, they seem to seek every excuse to retain you. The immigration officer told me she was letting me in only because she had found a recent annotation (from a recent Heathorw entry) on my new passport containing the same BRC number I was presenting.

Better safe than sorry.

[kamoe]

This is the thread where we clarified that indeed you need to carry your old passport: eea-route-applications/pre-settled-stat ... l#p1784506

[mia777]

Glad I checked this thread again. It’s really annoying to have to carry all these documents with you when you travel.

I’ll likely apply for British citizenship to avoid this and the hassle if I lost the card.

[Surinder]

This is the thread where we clarified that indeed you need to carry your old passport: eea-route-applications/pre-settled-stat ... l#p1784506

Why you dont read it properly!!
It said if your passport contains your residence card, which means the card is like a visa sticker in the passport,
If you have a new RC which is separate from your passport, is different story

[kamoe]

This is the thread where we clarified that indeed you need to carry your old passport: eea-route-applications/pre-settled-stat ... l#p1784506

Why you dont read it properly!!
It said if your passport contains your residence card, which means the card is like a visa sticker in the passport,
If you have a new RC which is separate from your passport, is different story

Thanks for pointing this out. It could indeed be interpreted that way. Now, this is not the only source of the information I'm sharing. I invite you to also read properly the first hand experience I had at Birmingham, where the immigration official told me this applied to biomtreic cards.

[Zerubbabel]

They are really strange at Birmingham airport. I know many people traveling in / out the country with new passport and a BRC (plastic card, not sticker) issued before passport renewal.

Many countries won't let their citizen keep their old passport. They require it for any passport application and typically it's not returned.

[Surinder]

So in this case we don’t go Birmingham
However I always carry my old passport to anywhere,

[kamoe]

They are really strange at Birmingham airport. I know many people traveling in / out the country with new passport and a BRC (plastic card, not sticker) issued before passport renewal.

Yes, as i said, I have done the same and never had a problem at Heathrow.

From this and yet another experience I had at Birmingham, my theory is that Heathrow seems to be more concerned with the bigger picture, and red flags of international crime at terrorism; while at Birmingham they are so bored they need to enforce everything to the letter and keep people for the tiniest mistake (technically speaking, if your nationality mandates that you have to register with the police, then you have to carry your police certifficate with you when you enter the UK, and this was my case. They have never ever asked for it at Heathrow, so I stopped carrying it; then I once I went to Birmingham without it and was reprimanded for 10 minutes for not having it. Still let me in, though, but made it tough).

The above makes me think that a similar thing happens with old passports with which bio cards have been issued. In Heathrow they know not everyone would have their old passport, so they don't bother people this, for the sake of efficiency. Looks to me like a a rule, to be enforced at the discretion of the immigration official.

[kamoe]

So in this case we don’t go Birmingham

Avoid like the plage, mate!

However I always carry my old passport to anywhere,

Good call.