Claim Asylum Nationality passport after BC

[yosho81]

Hi everyone

In brief, I was a refugee for the last 9 years and newly I had my British Citizenship.

I would like to ask if there is any possibility to claim back my passport in which I've entered the UK as it has been taken from me when I claimed asylum 9 years ago.

if that's possible! what are the procedures? where to start? is there any form to fill in regards?

Thanks in advance for your reply

Regards

[London22]

Hi
Once you have obtained British nationality you are no more a refugee hence you can ask home office to send your country of origin,s passport &home office is bound by law to send you that.If they don't send it it is nothing to panic you should reacquire your country of origin,s passport if you haven't revoked your previous nationality &this has nothing to do with home office as your refugee status has been revoked by home office given you British nationality.You can also travel back to your country like most refugees do.Goodluck.

[secret.simon]

home office is bound by law to send you that

You really should stop quoting non-existent laws. There is no such law and in any case, international treaties do not automatically form a part of the laws of the UK. So no point in quoting international treaties.

However, to quote the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, which you brought to our attention in an earlier post,

(Page 10)
49. If, on the other hand, an applicant, without good reason, insists on retaining a valid passport of a country of whose protection he is allegedly unwilling to avail himself, this may cast doubt on the validity of his claim to have “well-founded fear”. Once recognized, a refugee should not normally retain his national passport.

It is worth remembering that passports are the property of the issuing government and not of the individual to whom they are issued. The only authority that can *demand* the passport back is the issuing government and/or their embassy/representatives.

Even after becoming a British citizen, that citizenship can be revoked if the Home Office comes to the conclusion that the citizenship was acquired by deception. If you make the application for claiming your old passport from the Home office, you are in effect reclaiming the protection of the country that you claimed asylum from. That would bring into question your whole asylum history and in effect your British citizenship. I would advise against it.

[Amber]

London22 you seem to be keen on plucking ideas from thin air or basing them on your own misconceptions. I advise you stop doing that as it makes it difficult for Moderators who have to keep correcting your mistakes, as secret.simon has done so in this case.

[London22]

home office is bound by law to send you that

You really should stop quoting non-existent laws. There is no such law and in any case, international treaties do not automatically form a part of the laws of the UK. So no point in quoting international treaties.

However, to quote the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, which you brought to our attention in an earlier post,

(Page 10)
49. If, on the other hand, an applicant, without good reason, insists on retaining a valid passport of a country of whose protection he is allegedly unwilling to avail himself, this may cast doubt on the validity of his claim to have “well-founded fear”. Once recognized, a refugee should not normally retain his national passport.

It is worth remembering that passports are the property of the issuing government and not of the individual to whom they are issued. The only authority that can *demand* the passport back is the issuing government and/or their embassy/representatives.

Even after becoming a British citizen, that citizenship can be revoked if the Home Office comes to the conclusion that the citizenship was acquired by deception. If you make the application for claiming your old passport from the Home office, you are in effect reclaiming the protection of the country that you claimed asylum from. That would bring into question your whole asylum history and in effect your British citizenship. I would advise against it.

Secret.Simon
You are not an immigration lawyer so don't perceive like one.Check US asylee laws where govt itself tells ex refugees they can travel to their home countries once get US citizenship.UK home office returns national passports of ex refugees once they naturalized in most cases .UN refugee handbook clearly states a refugee can go back to his country of origin in exceptional circumstances and once get nationalities of protected countries then can travel to home countries too.Most refugees travel back home after obtaining nationalities and this is normal.If conditions back home get changed /improved then this is a good reason to go back.Many Afghans ,Iraqis &Libyans &somalia are not accepted as refugees directly as the asylum countries claim them safe .So same is rule is applied on ex refugees when they return back home with British passports .This is a fact.

[secret.simon]

Secret.Simon
You are not an immigration lawyer so don't perceive like one.

Indeed, I state that I am not one. However, I am aware of policies and politics in this field and urge caution against reading too much into your excessively wide reading of the situation.

Check US asylee laws where govt itself tells ex refugees they can travel to their home countries once get US citizenship.

By definition irrelevant in the UK. US and UK laws diverge considerably in the matter of immigration and nationality and comparisons are futile.

UN refugee handbook clearly states a refugee can go back to his country of origin in exceptional circumstances and once get nationalities of protected countries then can travel to home countries too.Most refugees travel back home after obtaining nationalities and this is normal.If conditions back home get changed /improved then this is a good reason to go back.Many Afghans ,Iraqis &Libyans &somalia are not accepted as refugees directly as the asylum countries claim them safe .So same is rule is applied on ex refugees when they return back home with British passports .This is a fact.

I would be cautious about your "facts". While indeed ex-refugees can travel to their country of origin, there can be consequences to that travel. Their residence in the UK will have been based upon being unable to avail of the protection of a specific state. If that state of affairs suddenly seems to come to a end just after the acquisition of British citizenship, that would cast doubt over the entire journey.

[London22]

Secret.Simon
You are not an immigration lawyer so don't perceive like one.

Indeed, I state that I am not one. However, I am aware of policies and politics in this field and urge caution against reading too much into your excessively wide reading of the situation.

Check US asylee laws where govt itself tells ex refugees they can travel to their home countries once get US citizenship.

By definition irrelevant in the UK. US and UK laws diverge considerably in the matter of immigration and nationality and comparisons are futile.

UN refugee handbook clearly states a refugee can go back to his country of origin in exceptional circumstances and once get nationalities of protected countries then can travel to home countries too.Most refugees travel back home after obtaining nationalities and this is normal.If conditions back home get changed /improved then this is a good reason to go back.Many Afghans ,Iraqis &Libyans &somalia are not accepted as refugees directly as the asylum countries claim them safe .So same is rule is applied on ex refugees when they return back home with British passports .This is a fact.

I would be cautious about your "facts". While indeed ex-refugees can travel to their country of origin, there can be consequences to that travel. Their residence in the UK will have been based upon being unable to avail of the protection of a specific state. If that state of affairs suddenly seems to come to a end just after the acquisition of British citizenship, that would cast doubt over the entire journey.

That's fine.If you are not a lawyer &can share your knowledge here hence I'm doing the same .I'm not making up anything.UK is bound to follow UN refugee convention 1951 .Facts are facts but not mine.Refugee laws &policies are almost similar around the world as the source of guidance is convention.UK in many ways just follow US .Asylum laws are not straightforward hence the situations can bend anywhere around depending on individual cases.

[1mic]

Some of the moderators thinks they know it all. I wish Obie was still active on here.

[Amber]

Some of the moderators thinks they know it all. I wish Obie was still active on here.

You are on thin ice. And btw, obie, is still active on the forum!

[Amber]

Secret.Simon
You are not an immigration lawyer so don't perceive like one.

Indeed, I state that I am not one. However, I am aware of policies and politics in this field and urge caution against reading too much into your excessively wide reading of the situation.

Check US asylee laws where govt itself tells ex refugees they can travel to their home countries once get US citizenship.

By definition irrelevant in the UK. US and UK laws diverge considerably in the matter of immigration and nationality and comparisons are futile.

UN refugee handbook clearly states a refugee can go back to his country of origin in exceptional circumstances and once get nationalities of protected countries then can travel to home countries too.Most refugees travel back home after obtaining nationalities and this is normal.If conditions back home get changed /improved then this is a good reason to go back.Many Afghans ,Iraqis &Libyans &somalia are not accepted as refugees directly as the asylum countries claim them safe .So same is rule is applied on ex refugees when they return back home with British passports .This is a fact.

I would be cautious about your "facts". While indeed ex-refugees can travel to their country of origin, there can be consequences to that travel. Their residence in the UK will have been based upon being unable to avail of the protection of a specific state. If that state of affairs suddenly seems to come to a end just after the acquisition of British citizenship, that would cast doubt over the entire journey.

That's fine.If you are not a lawyer &can share your knowledge here hence I'm doing the same .I'm not making up anything.UK is bound to follow UN refugee convention 1951 .Facts are facts but not mine.Refugee laws &policies are almost similar around the world as the source of guidance is convention.UK in many ways just follow US .Asylum laws are not straightforward hence the situations can bend anywhere around depending on individual cases.

Also, you have breached the forum rules by having multiple usernames - Lonelondoner2008