Travelling with Indian passport & BC certificate

linearkieran · Post by **linearkieran** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 6:53 pm

Guys,

I have got a situation here, I had booked my travel and flying in two weeks time. My younger kid has got his british passport and I have also applied for his visa (due in 3-4 days), so no issue for him.

But for my elder one, I had applied for Naturalisation Certificate. I received one but there was a mistake which I had to send back for correction. Today I called them and found out it has been posted so it will come to us in 3-4 days seeing that it is a second class post.

I have a Fast Track appointment booked for Thursday to apply for his British passport. But if we don't get the certificate by then, what do you think I should do? Fast track applications require 7 days to issue a British passport. If I don't get it before Thursday then I will not get an appoinment until next week meaning no chances of getting the passport in time.

I am thinking about the worst case scenario here. If we travel anyway with his Indian passport and Naturalisation certificate, what could happen? Would they allow us to leave from India while coming back? How UKBA would react? Appreciate your views on this matter.

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 12:29 am

Naturalisation certificate is evidence of British citizenship, not a travel document or a visa. Does the elder one have ILR?

Also, naturalisation certificate is only issued to adults and adults cannot use Fast-Track service for issue of first British passport.

linearkieran · Post by **linearkieran** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:01 pm

Nope, he doesn't have ILR. I did not include him to save me some money, those days naturalisation certificate used to issued in 4-5 weeks. It took good 3 months for them to issue a certificate for us, that too with a mistake.

Apologies, by naturalisation certificate I meant certificate of registration as a British Citizen.

Good news is, I have received the correct certificate now and going tomorrow for Fast Tract application. It would be surprising for you to know that the date on the certificate is still as it was on the original. That would mean we get less time in terms of 3 months Grace period. I still don't have time to apply for his visa to India.

Would you be able to explain what is 3 months grace period? does it allow travel on Indian passport OR is it time given to surrender Indian passport?

Post by **geriatrix** » Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:04 pm

linearkieran wrote:It would be surprising for you to know that the date on the certificate is still as it was on the original.

It is not! A child cannot be (re)registered again as a British citizen on a new date just because the registration certificate issued earlier had a "mistake".

linearkieran wrote:Would you be able to explain what is 3 months grace period? does it allow travel on Indian passport OR is it time given to surrender Indian passport?

Renunciation / Surrender of Indian passport wrote:There is a grace period of three months after acquisition of foreign nationality (to be counted from the date of registration / Naturalisation Certificate and not from the date of foreign passport) for using Indian passport for travel.

linearkieran · Post by **linearkieran** » Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:28 pm

Not that it is going to make any difference to me but it would mean I have lost some time of my grace period.

Thanks for the info on the grace period. You are a star!

shubhoh · Post by **shubhoh** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 11:53 am

linearkieran wrote:If we travel anyway with his Indian passport and Citizenship certificate, what could happen? Would they allow us to leave from India while coming back? How UKBA would react?

@linearkieran, did you tried the solution you stated above? What was your experience with the Airline\Immigration at both ports?

linearkieran · Post by **linearkieran** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 12:10 pm

I was lucky to have my son's passport done just a day before we were flying. Couldn't sleep peacefully ever since I applied for my son's registration certificate. Only the day before got it done. No time to apply for visa though.

Anyway, while going we used his Indian passport. I was asked at the Heathrow airport about no valid visa on his Indian passport and we showed his registration certificate. The lady was happy for us to go. No problems at the Mumbai airport.

While coming back we used his British passport. The airline when you check in asked us about how did he enter into India and we showed his Indian passport. They said they did not have any problems but immigration might have so they held our baggage untill we let go by immigration. At immigration, the guy said my son can not have two passports at one time which is right. But then I tried explaining the situation to him and showed him the print out I had from HCI London website about 3 months grace period. It all went from top of his head without anything actually going in. He took us to his boss in a cabin. When he explained the case to his boss, his boss immediately said that there is a new circular whereby children can use both the passports and when they turn 16 they can decide on which country they want to be citizen of and give up the other. This is something that has recently come up. So I did not need to give any further explaination. They let us go. At Heathrow airport they did not have any problem. Hope this helps.

Moderators please check the text in bold above. This would mean I need not surrender my son's indian passport at this moment of time. (Although it might be better to do it now than later)

shubhoh · Post by **shubhoh** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 4:08 pm

Well,

Can the existing British childrens (of Indian origin) who have a british passsport apply for Indian passport to keep it till they turn 18

Post by **geriatrix** » Fri May 04, 2012 2:03 pm

shubhoh wrote:Well, Can the existing British childrens (of Indian origin) who have a british passsport apply for Indian passport to keep it till they turn 18

There's no restriction on applying! But whether an Indian passport can / will be issued depends on the laws regarding Indian citizenship for "minors of Indian origin " who have voluntarily acquired foreign citizenship (by birth or registration) - because only "Indian citizens" can apply for an Indian passport!

UKBA's interpretation in such cases is outlined here (6.3) - an interpretation, that I assume is, based on legal advice from Indian constitutional experts.

See also 9. Termination of citizenship

umittal · Post by **umittal** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:47 pm

Hi Friends

I am on ILR and going to apply for Naturalization at council office in Swindon on 28th July(4 days from now). I will need to travel to India in Sept 2014 for a week.

Looking at Naturalization waiting times I don't think I will have my Naturalization certificate by then as its taking 2-3 months.

Now my question is

A) If my certificate is not there by then am I subjected to any restriction because I have made the application?
B) If my certificate do arrive by then what is the procedure I should follow for traveling to India?
C) I have gone through the procedure discussed to travel in this forum but all concerned had BP. In case you only have NC and not BP and are within 3 months of NC what procedure should be followed?
D) Is ILR valid after NC?
E) From when Grace period is calculated? i.e When you make your NC application or the day you receive your NC after ceremony?
F) How long it takes to get BP after NC?

Regards
umittal

Immigrationboards.com: Immigration, work visa and work permit discussion board

Travelling with Indian passport & BC certificate

situation

Re: situation

Re: Travelling with Indian passport & BC certificate