naturalisation certificate needs amending

[voipuk]

My friend received his certificate with his name misspelt. He sent it back and got it back correctly by 10 days.

Now, my another friend received her approval letter and already found her name was misspelt. Here ceremony is in early Dec. I will see how long it takes to get her certificate corrected.

[ppron747]

It really is so ridiculous, voipuk, that you should be deprived of your right to a passport, simply because someone in the Home Office has made a chicken-up, and they're not prepared to make special arrangements to fix it!

If you are in a hurry for your British passport, I suggest that you submit an application, together with a covering letter explaining the mistake in the certificate, and the delay in getting it corrected, and giving full details (or a photocopy, if you've got one). If you ask nicely, the UKPS might be prepared to contact the Home Office themselves to verify the tale.

I don't think there's anything to lose by doing this - unlike visas, you get a full refund of the passport fee if the passport isn't issued. And if they agree, the problem is solved.

I'm not convinced that having your MP chase up the Home Office would result in their machinery being speeded up - they get a lot of MPs' correspondence, and it would probably take several weeks for them to reply, by which time the corrected certificate will have been issued anyway. If you want to get your MP involved, my suggestion would be to get him/her to write to the Passport Office, asking them to issue the passport.

Keep us informed!

[voipuk]

[quote="ppron747"]It really is [b]so[/b] ridiculous, voipuk, that you should be deprived of your right to a passport, simply because someone in the Home Office has made a chicken-up, and they're not prepared to make special arrangements to fix it!

If you are in a hurry for your British passport, I suggest that you submit an application, together with a covering letter explaining the mistake in the certificate, and the delay in getting it corrected, and giving full details (or a photocopy, if you've got one). If you ask nicely, the UKPS might be prepared to contact the Home Office themselves to verify the tale.

I don't think there's anything to lose by doing this - unlike visas, you get a full refund of the passport fee if the passport isn't issued. And if they agree, the problem is solved.

I'm not convinced that having your MP chase up the Home Office would result in their machinery being speeded up - they get a lot of MPs' correspondence, and it would probably take several weeks for them to reply, by which time the corrected certificate will have been issued anyway. If you want to get your MP involved, my suggestion would be to get him/her to write to the Passport Office, asking them to issue the passport.

Keep us informed![/quote]

This sounds like a good idea to me. If i book an appointment and apply passport in person, i might be able to explain my situation clearly. Do you think this is a better option rather than post the application form?

[ppron747]

This sounds like a good idea to me. If i book an appointment and apply passport in person, i might be able to explain my situation clearly. Do you think this is a better option rather than post the application form?

You may well be right - the only downside is that you have to pay a premium for a personal appointment, and you might find that although the passport fee is refundable, the appointment premium might not be. But I don't think we're talking about huge sums like those charged by the Home Office PEOs, so it might be worth the investment...

Good luck!

[Joseph]

Paul
It's not so easy as you are suggesting, first voipuk has to get the certificate back from the Home Office, because there's no way UKPA will issue a passport without the original naturalisation certificate. Getting the certificate back from Liverpool will at least require writing a letter, if they agree to send it back. These things take time. For example, if you request the return of a passport for travel it takes weeks to get it returned. I may be wrong but I don't think they would send the certificate back quickly. It may be easier and quicker getting the corrected certificate back, which would solve all voipuk's problems.

How can you say using an MP doesn't work when Yorkking did just that and got it corrected in 7 days as he said earlier?

I would recommend to approach the local MP immediately and his letter to the HO would do the magic!!!!!!!!
It did for me.

In my opinion, the real benefit of this board is when people share their first-hand experience, as Yorkking did.

Besides Yorkking's example, it's true that MPs are useful for at least some things. The IND and other government bodies have special policies in dealing with MPs. Here's an excerpt from the Fawcett Society talking about how a MP can get the attention of the appropriate government officials:

Letters to ministers
If you choose to write to a minister, then you will probably only receive a reply from a junior civil servant. If your MP writes to the minister, he or she should receive an individual reply.
Write to your MP and ask them to bring the issue to the attention of the relevant minister. Your MP can forward your letter with a covering note.

There's no question that if this silly certificate error gets the attention of the appropriate senior official in the Home office, it can be corrected quickly as Yorkking can attest.

Joseph

[ppron747]

As you wish, Joseph.

It's not so easy as you are suggesting, first voipuk has to get the certificate back from the Home Office, because there's no way UKPA will issue a passport without the original naturalisation certificate.....

Unless you work for UKPS , you cannot possibly state so categorically that "there's no way" they will react in one way or another. They do have the ability to verify documents by telephone or email, if they are so minded, and they are not completely without sympathy. And voipuk's problem is an "easy" problem, in the sense that the passport will end up saying the same thing whether the certificate is corrected or not.

If they were to agree to make the necessary check with IND, the problem would be solved.

If they were to refuse, then there's nothing lost - voipuk either gets a refund, or else the application is put "on hold" until the corrected certificate turns up. (You'll note that nowhere in my original post did I suggest that voipuk abandons his efforts to get the correction done).

How can you say using an MP doesn't work when Yorkking did just that and got it corrected in 7 days as he said earlier?

That's easy - I didn't. What I said was "I'm not convinced that having your MP chase up the Home Office would result in their machinery being speeded up". Which is slightly different.

And I stand by what I said. MPs are an extremely useful resource, and frequently achieve favourable results for their constituents. But I know from first-hand experience (and not just with one case) that while "MPs' Reps" often achieve results, they don't necessarily achieve them particularly quickly. HO website seems to be rather coy about mundane things like performance objectives for replies to MPs correspondence, but I am quite sure that the target time is at least a fortnight, and that this target is not always adhered to. (It is also worth bearing in mind that a reply saying "Thanks for your letter - I'll look into it and write again" counts as objective achieved, provided it is sent within the deadline...)

I'm delighted that yorkking's MP got the job done quickly, but I don't accept that this is necessarily characteristic.

Voipuk: You may be on the horns of a dilemma, now! I'd suggest that you do exactly what Joseph says. But that doesn't mean that you couldn't follow my suggestion as well.....

Good luck!

[Joseph]

Paul

Unless you work for UKPS , you cannot possibly state so categorically that "there's no way" they will react in one way or another.

Of course I don't work for UKPS, but I am glad to make a categorical statement based on the invitation letter that new citizens receive from UKPS along with their naturalisation certificate. This invitation titled "You can now apply for a British passport" includes the quote:

Your naturalisation/registration certificate must be submitted with the application and its details should be stated on the passport application form. Photocopies of your certificate are not acceptable.

In my opinion, that is a very definitive statement from the UKPS. It is totally consistent with the instructions which accompany the application form stating on page 2 "We do not accept photocopy documents."

In light of the above, the only way to get a British passport is to produce the original certificate which means:

• 1. Retrieving the old one (yes, that does mean temporarily abandoning the efforts to correct it), or
  2. Following through with the correction process which voipuk has already started. Accelerating the process using an MP is the only suggestion I have seen so far.

On Option #1, note that I called the Liverpool call centre myself (in my wife's case) about the advisability of using a certificate with an error to get a passport and then returning it for correction afterwards. They specifically discouraged me from doing this, saying that correcting the certificate is much more complicated once a passport has been issued against it. So even if they agree to send it back to voipuk, it will create problems further down the road. That's based on first-hand information.

So Option #2 still seems to be the only practical approach, in my view.

I agree that MPs are not consistently responsive as your experience indicates, but there are ways to deal with this. For example, it would be helpful to follow up a letter with a phone call to the MP's office a few days later to make sure the case was forwarded. Or, one could visit the MP at the MP's weekly "surgery." As with everything, MPs are human and the squeaky wheel gets the attention. In any case, the downside of using an MP is minimal.

Joseph

[ppron747]

Did you ever get this sorted out, voipuk?

[Joseph]

FYI, my wife's naturalisation certificate was finally corrected after approximately 8 weeks, including the Christmas holiday.

Her maiden name was mispelt (their mistake not ours) and we sent the certificate by special delivery to the Home Office on 29 November and they returned the corrected certificate by recorded delivery on 25 January. We wote an explanatory cover letter and copies of the first page of the application form and the birth certificate. Since my wife was not traveling anytime soon, we didn't ask for help from our MP.

Her new certificate has the same certificate number as before and has the date of naturalisation typed in (instead of handwritten as on the original certificate).

Regards
Joseph