Problem with naturalisation certificate

[Marco 72]

Today I received my naturalisation approval letter and invitation to the citizenship ceremony. One small problem: my name is spelt wrong on the letter, and the council have confirmed they have the same spelling on the certificate. It's not a big deal: my surname starts with a "de" followed by a space, and they have put a hyphen instead of the space. Still, I would prefer it to be correct since I don't want to have a different name in different passports.

According to the letter, if my details are wrong I should still attend the ceremony and then send the naturalisation certificate to the Home Office together with a copy of my passport or birth certificate. I have a few questions.

1) Could it be that the hyphen is mandatory in this country for surnames consisting of more than one word? In that case I would just let the matter rest.

2) Would it be possible for me to get a passport in my correct name before sending the naturalisation certificate to the Home Office? I could produce a copy of my Italian passport or my original Italian birth certificate.

3) What would be the best way of sending the certificate to the Home Office? What kind of delivery option should I choose to minimise the danger of it being lost? I'm afraid of losing it because at that point it's going to be my only evidence of British citizenship.

4) Could it be a better idea to keep the 'wrong' naturalisation certificate and just have my name changed by deed poll?

Thanks.

Marco

[RobinLondon]

I have no idea about your other questions, but I think I can answer the first. See this link to see someone's certificate. He has a compound last name:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy ... sation.jpg

[Rogerio]

1) Could it be that the hyphen is mandatory in this country for surnames consisting of more than one word? In that case I would just let the matter rest.

Marco, my surname also has a "de" in small letters, but I don't use it as a last name, but only as part of my middle name, which is what we do in Portuguese, followed by a space and then my last name.

Last name: LAST
First Name(s): Rogerio MIDDLE de

The Home Office issued it exactly as I had written on my AN form, without any hyphen.

2) Would it be possible for me to get a passport in my correct name before sending the naturalisation certificate to the Home Office? I could produce a copy of my Italian passport or my original Italian birth certificate.

You will only get the passport issued correctly if your Naturalisation Certificate is correct. I'm 99.9% sure but will let others chip in.

3) What would be the best way of sending the certificate to the Home Office? What kind of delivery option should I choose to minimise the danger of it being lost? I'm afraid of losing it because at that point it's going to be my only evidence of British citizenship.

Special delivery, or Fedex, although I dont know if you can Fedex documents within the UK

4) Could it be a better idea to keep the 'wrong' naturalisation certificate and just have my name changed by deed poll?
Marco

Guess that's an option, but personally I would not do that, unless you could then change your Italian name by deed poll too... otherwise you end up with one name in one passport, and another one on the other. Also take into consideration travelling issues related to two different documents, etc....

[Christophe]

If it were I who was in your position, I'd try to get the certificate changed. As you say, having passports in two different names (even slightly) is a potential problem because of aeroplane tickets and the like, and why should you change your name because the Home Office made a mistake? There is no requirement for names begining with 'de', 'da', 'de los', 'von', 'van', etc, etc, to be hyphenated in this country.

(As an aside, I have often noticed that people in the US with such names often write them as one word with a capital letter in the middle, at the beginning of the main part of the name - e.g. 'delRio' or 'DelRio' instead of the more usual 'del Rio' - I wonder why this is so.)

[Marco 72]

Thanks for all your replies. In the end I decided the best way was to send the certificate back. Just a few hours after the ceremony I made a photocopy of it and sent it back to the Home Office by special delivery together with an original birth certificate and a copy of the identity page of my passport. I wonder how many weeks it'll take them to issue a new certificate!

[Rogerio]

Good luck Marco, I hope this gets corrected soon.

Best,

Rogerio

[Marco 72]

Today I received the corrected naturalisation certificate. No apology for the mistake, and no birth certificate (I had enclosed an original birth certificate with my letter, asking them to return it). The whole process took 29 days.

[Christophe]

Are you going to contact them about the birth certificate, or after all of that can you not be bothered? (A birth certificate is, after all, reasonably easy to replace.)

[Marco 72]

I don't think I'll bother: I'd already given it up for dead the moment I sent it . I'll probably ask my family if they can get a new one and mail it to me, or I'll get one myself the next time I visit them.

[tdpff3]

My current name and name at is the same. The approval letter mentions what details will be written on the certificate. Full name, date of birth and place of birth are correct, however the name at birth is blank. Should I be concerned?

[Marco 72]

My current name and name at is the same. The approval letter mentions what details will be written on the certificate. Full name, date of birth and place of birth are correct, however the name at birth is blank. Should I be concerned?

On the certificate that's the "name at birth (if different)", so unless you changed your name you should be ok.

By the way, a new instalment in my saga: looks like the Home Office has been trying to send the birth certificate back by Secure Mail, but it wasn't delivered since I was at work at the time. So they sent the naturalisation certificate by ordinary post and the (worthless) birth certificate by Secure Mail.

[tdpff3]

Marco 72, thanks for your reply

[kirana]

Hi,

I’ve also similar problem.

My name at birth is left blank, though I’ve provided the correct details while submitting the application.

Can I know which department I need to send the certificate for correction with evidence?

Thanks,
Kirana

[kirana]

Hi,


Can someone please advise on further queries


1.Do I need to send the original document as evidence for the correction in the naturalization certificate?
2.I have 3 different address, which is the right one to send the documents?

1. As provided in the UKBA site
Nationality
Department 17
4th Floor
The Capital Building
Liverpool
L3 9PP


2.As provided from ADC_UKBANATENQ@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk when I sent a query


UK Border Agency
ECT1
Department 17
PO Box 306
LIVERPOOL
L2 0QN

3. As provided in council office , on the day I took the naturalization certificate

UK Border Agency
Department 56
PO Box 306
LIVERPOOL
L39QJ


Thanks,
Kirana

[wiggsy]

id use the one supplied by the council... but include a letter stating that if there was confusion could they forward it to the correct dept.

it its delivered by registered mail, its their responsibility.

[kirana]

Thank you.

May be a silly question, but after going through some discussion in the forum I found its painful to get the certificate corrected. waiting for next 2 to 4 months. So was thinking its just my name at birth is left blank(My name at birth is same as current name but doesn't have surname init).

I've a proof of change of name when I've added the surname to old name and old passport to show my old name is different from the current one.

Was thinking to go ahead with applying for passport without correcting the certificate. Any advise? I may have any problem in future for not correcting the certificate?

Thanks,
Kirana

[rockstar2k4]

id use the one supplied by the council... but include a letter stating that if there was confusion could they forward it to the correct dept.

it its delivered by registered mail, its their responsibility.

Look at back side of your citizenship invitation letter what address are they mentioned?

in my letter

UKBA NW Region,Nationality, PO BOX 306,
The Plaza, OLD hall street,
Liverpool L3 9QJ

phone 0845010 5200


But just check in your letter as I reside in north of eng...


Also can any one advise if we can apply for British passport first and then can go for amendment of naturalisation certificate?

pls advise

[kirana]

I’ve returned the original naturalization certificate for amendment for name @birth, however I’ve sent only a copy of evidence document not the original. it’s been 20 days but no response yet.

At the beginning before I made decision to go for amendment I’ve sent a query to ‘FurtherNationalityEn@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk’ they now replied after 20 days and it says ‘We advise that you submit the original of the document you are supplying for evidence as a copy may not be accepted’.

Can anybody please advise
1. does it require an original evidence document?
2. If I need to send the original(evidence is my original passport) where that need to be send or how to reference this with the original post I’ve sent?
3. Is there any contact number that I can speak to the adviser by phone or will there be possible to take In-person appointment to complete this process?

Many Thanks in advance

[la.ray]

Hi Kirana,

Can you please tell me if you have received the corrected certificate? I am in a similar situation as is another member. Any update that you can provide will be highly appreciated.

Thanks,
La

[kirana]

yes, I did receive my corrected certificate and also got Passport and OCI now.

Sorry for the delay I missed it.

Hope you got your certificate as well by now.

[forbc123]

yes, I did receive my corrected certificate and also got Passport and OCI now.

Sorry for the delay I missed it.

Hope you got your certificate as well by now.

I'm in same situation asa you kirana - which address I need to send, do I need to send original as evidence?