Passport refused - uncancelled passport in maiden name

[Mashec]

Hi everyone,
I have been a silent reader of this topic for a while, hoping I won't have the same problem. Well, I do now!

I became a citizen in my original Bulgarian name. Send my passport application with a name change to become XXXX-YYYY where XXXX is the name of my husband followed by my birth surname YYYY.

The HMPO said I need to have my naturalization certificate changed, as well as surrender/start a procedure for surrendering my Bulgarian passport. The Bulgarian authorities responded that there is no such thing and you cannot surrender a valid passport. Another complication - since Bulgaria doesn't recognise same-sex marriages, there is no legal basis for me to change my name on my Bulgarian passport, hence the whole thing of having a British passport!!!

I don't know what to do know, should I change my Certificate with the Home Office, then plead with the HMPO that I can't surrender my Bulgaria passport?

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

If you have same name on the certificate of naturalisation and in your Bulgarian passport and you also use the same name on all your official documents, will it not be easier for you to withdrawal your passport application and re-apply with your YYYY name? They can hold your case max up to 6 months, so if you fix your problems during this time then you don't need to pay another fee.

Also, I've been told by one of the advisers from the passport hotline if you have your birth name on the certificate of naturalisation and your birth name in your foreign passport, you can put your husbands name or double name in observation, so they can issue you British passport with the name Mr C YYYY with a note "also known as MR C XXXX". But you better call to the hotline by yourself and ask this question or write to your case worker.

[euapplicant15]

Hi everyone,
I have been a silent reader of this topic for a while, hoping I won't have the same problem. Well, I do now!

I became a citizen in my original Bulgarian name. Send my passport application with a name change to become XXXX-YYYY where XXXX is the name of my husband followed by my birth surname YYYY.

The HMPO said I need to have my naturalization certificate changed, as well as surrender/start a procedure for surrendering my Bulgarian passport. The Bulgarian authorities responded that there is no such thing and you cannot surrender a valid passport. Another complication - since Bulgaria doesn't recognise same-sex marriages, there is no legal basis for me to change my name on my Bulgarian passport, hence the whole thing of having a British passport!!!

I don't know what to do know, should I change my Certificate with the Home Office, then plead with the HMPO that I can't surrender my Bulgaria passport?

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

If you have same name on the certificate of naturalisation and in your Bulgarian passport and you also use the same name on all your official documents, will it not be easier for you to withdrawal your passport application and re-apply with your YYYY name? They can hold your case max up to 6 months, so if you fix your problems during this time then you don't need to pay another fee.

Also, I've been told by one of the advisers from the passport hotline if you have your birth name on the certificate of naturalisation and your birth name in your foreign passport, you can put your husbands name or double name in observation, so they can issue you British passport with the name Mr C YYYY with a note "also known as MR C XXXX". But you better call to the hotline by yourself and ask this question or write to your case worker.

Thank you for the reply Mashec. I just called the helpline with more questions and this time they told me I have to surrender my Bulgarian citizenship, not just passport!!! OMG, the people working there have no idea what they are talking about I have requested for the examiner to give me a call so I can discuss next steps (one of which is having my BG name in the British passport with the observation 'also known as XXX-YYY').

[Mashec]

Thank you for the reply Mashec. I just called the helpline with more questions and this time they told me I have to surrender my Bulgarian citizenship, not just passport!!! OMG, the people working there have no idea what they are talking about I have requested for the examiner to give me a call so I can discuss next steps (one of which is having my BG name in the British passport with the observation 'also known as XXX-YYY').[/quote]

They offered me to give up my citizenship as well I don't know where it is all coming from but I'm going to write big complain to both, Home Office & Passport Office, when this nightmare will be finished.

You might write to your examiner a letter. I asked an adviser from the hotline to ask my case worker to call me and I didn't receive any call back. But I've already withdrawled my application, so maybe that's why my examiner doesn't want to contact me.

If you have your birth name on both documents, certificate of naturalization and your Bulgarian passport, you shouldn't have any problems to get your British passport.

If it is very important for you to have double name then you will need to do deed poll. Ask you examiner if it will be enough to keep double name in your British passport. I've been told on this forum that it should be enough, however, passport office told me that deed poll is not enough and even if I do it I still need to change my name on the certificate of naturalization and in all official documents. I believe that there is no one solution here, so you definitely speak to your examiner first to reach some sort of agreement on your next steps.

I've also been told by my examiner that Home Office will not change my name on the certificate of naturalization which is not true. I spoke to Home Office and they said if you do deed poll and provide all evidences that you use your new name only they will be able to change your name on the certificate. it will take up to 10 weeks and costs 162£.

But you need to keep in your mind, even if you do all this, you probably will need to change your name in your Bulgarian passport. If you can't do it due to your marriage you probably can do it as your own wish.

If I were you, I would get British passport on your birth name now and then think about changing the name. Looks like this sort of problems appear only with first British passport.

[noajthan]

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

...

Cancelling a foreign passport (whether it is actually possible or not) is one of the suggestions HMPO will make.
That's what they suggested to my wife at the same time as refusing to add an observation to her new passport;
- all as documented at start of this thread.

In the end she did cancel her passport and the British passport was finally issued after approx 4 months of hassle, stress, cost and delay.
How we laugh about all those trials and tribulations now.

[euapplicant15]

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

...

Cancelling a foreign passport (whether it is actually possible or not) is one of the suggestions HMPO will make.
That's what they suggested to my wife at the same time as refusing to add an observation to her new passport;
- all as documented at start of this thread.

In the end she did cancel her passport and the British passport was finally issued after approx 4 months of hassle, stress, cost and delay.
How we laugh about all those trials and tribulations now.

I am willing to renounce my Bulgarian citizenship however what do I do between the time I have to hand in my passport and receiving the British one?! I work for an airline and fly a lot for business, often at a short notice. Oh well, I will have to endure the looks I will get at the BG embassy of the betrayal I am about to do lol

[Mashec]

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

...

Cancelling a foreign passport (whether it is actually possible or not) is one of the suggestions HMPO will make.
That's what they suggested to my wife at the same time as refusing to add an observation to her new passport;
- all as documented at start of this thread.

In the end she did cancel her passport and the British passport was finally issued after approx 4 months of hassle, stress, cost and delay.
How we laugh about all those trials and tribulations now.

They offered me it as well, but I have my married name on the certificate of naturalization and my maiden name in my foreign passport. They said if I can't change my name in my foreign passport I can cancel it. But the person here has birth name in the certificate of naturalization and same name in the foreign passport, so I don't understand why they just can't issue British passport on birth name and put in observation "also known as "...." ".

I would say it's easier, in this case, to change name in the passport application, then to be involved in the nightmare of changing all the documents.

[Mashec]

Hello, euapplicant15,

I don't understand why they ask you to surrender your Bulgarian passport to be honest. They usually ask to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation OR to change your name on foreign passport, not to change your name on the certificate of naturalisation AND to cancel your foreign passport.

...

Cancelling a foreign passport (whether it is actually possible or not) is one of the suggestions HMPO will make.
That's what they suggested to my wife at the same time as refusing to add an observation to her new passport;
- all as documented at start of this thread.

In the end she did cancel her passport and the British passport was finally issued after approx 4 months of hassle, stress, cost and delay.
How we laugh about all those trials and tribulations now.

I am willing to renounce my Bulgarian citizenship however what do I do between the time I have to hand in my passport and receiving the British one?! I work for an airline and fly a lot for business, often at a short notice. Oh well, I will have to endure the looks I will get at the BG embassy of the betrayal I am about to do lol

If you are willing to renounce your Bulgarian citizenship then do it, make a deed poll where you say you use your double name now, change all your docs and certificate of naturalization and get British passport with double name.

I don't know how long it will take you to renounce your citizenship but to make deed poll and change all the docs maybe around 3-4 months (including up to 10 weeks of waiting for new certificate of naturalization and up to 3 weeks to wait for your driving licence).

[Richard W]

Another complication - since Bulgaria doesn't recognise same-sex marriages, there is no legal basis for me to change my name on my Bulgarian passport, hence the whole thing of having a British passport!!!

Do you need a legal basis to change the name you use in Bulgaria? The ideal solution is to change your name in Bulgaria to the name you want, get a Bulgarian passport in that name, and then get a British passport in that name. In the UK it is not unknown for an unmarried partner to adopt their partner's surname by deed poll (or indeed just to switch to it).

[euapplicant15]

Another complication - since Bulgaria doesn't recognise same-sex marriages, there is no legal basis for me to change my name on my Bulgarian passport, hence the whole thing of having a British passport!!!

Do you need a legal basis to change the name you use in Bulgaria? The ideal solution is to change your name in Bulgaria to the name you want, get a Bulgarian passport in that name, and then get a British passport in that name. In the UK it is not unknown for an unmarried partner to adopt their partner's surname by deed poll (or indeed just to switch to it).

Because Bulgaria doesn't recognise same-sex marriages (i.e. I am not a woman to take her husband's name), changing a name is not an easy thing to do, you need to hire a solicitor and it needs to go through the courts. It's also up to the judge to decide whether a name change can be granted. With me not living in Bulgaria it's going to be very difficult/expensive to go through the whole process. Bulgarian court system is notoriously slow/corrupt and I don't want to deal with it to be honest.

My case has been referred to the Policy team who are going to decide what to do. Not holding my breath though...

[Mashec]

Hi guys - my deed of name change has been accepted by HMPO. I called in today and was told that interview letter is on the way. There was no need to get certificate amended with Home Office. Hope it works out for you too.

That's just another example of what a mess the whole situation is! I asked this question passport hotline and they told me no, you need to change your name on the certificate as well

But anyway... Congradulations! You are almost there!!!

Mashec - don't place too much importance on what people on the advice line tell you. They are just trying to answer your questions based on a script. What you need to do is to write to your HMPO case worker (send letter via post) and explain everything. Print out section of gov.uk website which says deed poll with certificate is sufficient. Make sure you state you want to keep same name as the one in foreign passport. I am sure that will work. I think trying to amend name on certificate will take very long and Home Office seem to be more incompetent/inefficient than HMPO in my experience. Find solution via HMPO. All the best.

#

Hello JohnnyZee,

I've eventually received the answer from Passport Office. I followed your advice and sent a letter to my case worker and printed out the section of gov.uk website which says deed poll with certificate is sufficient.

They told me no and provided the following explanation:
"Regarding the guidance you outline on our website, this refers to applicants who have change their name from the name shown on their birth, naturalization or registration certificate and would like the new name on their passport. Unfortunately, this information does not account for applicants with foreign passports".

So, the easy way won't work for me

[sanu84]

I would like to share my experience about having married name in the BP with an uncancelled foreign passport in maiden name.
I didn't have to cancel my foreign passport nor surrender my foreign citizenship.
I just explained that it is not allowed by my country's law to change my name in my foreign passport unless I change my name in my birth certificate.
So, they asked me for 3 documents issued under my married name to show that I'm using my married name for all purposes. Here are the list of what they accept (documents which must dated within last year or in case of ID cards, visas and residency permits, must be within their validity date):
- Tax record e.g letter from a tax authority
- Educational record e.g school report
- Employment record e.g official letter from your employer
- Letter sent to you from a Central, Regional or Local Government Department
- National identity card or equivalent (or colour photocopy)
- Visa or residence permit (or colour photocopy)
- Tenancy agreement
- Mortgage statement
If you can't provide these they might consider bank statement, utility bills or their equivalents.

I sent electricity bill, council tax, letter regarding my registration on the electoral roll, credit card statement.
My passport has been issued under my married name with my maiden name in the observations page.

Good luck to everyone!

[sanu84]

Just wanted to add that my foreign passport has my married name in the observations.

[bopc30]

hello everyone, I'm having a similar situation. My foreign passport is in my maiden name and I have applied for my BP under my married name. My citizenship certificate is under my maiden name and I have a deed poll showing my change of name after receiving my citizenship (this was also sent to HMPO). They want me to change the name in my foreign passport to my married name but this is not possible (not allowed by law) and I cannot give up my foreign citizenship either.

Sanu84 - it gives me a bit of hope to read your success story. Which HMPO handled your application? I am wondering if HMPO examiners in some locations have more experience than others regarding name issues and therefore are more flexible in their interpretation of the 'policy' and are inclined to use the official observations page to record the maiden name? thanks!

[sanu84]

Hi bopc30, I sent my application to Peterborough. My citizenship certificate is under my married name btw.

[bopc30]

Thanks sanu84! That's the same office that was handling my application. I applied for my citizenship under married name but they issued the certificate under maiden name as my foreign passport was under maiden name (sigh! ).

I have now withdrawn my application and will liaise with my Embassy to get an official letter explaining that change of name is not allowed and that giving up citizenship isn't allowed either. I saw a few posts where some applicants were successful with this type of letter so I'm hoping it will work out. Considering your recent experience, I will also send copies of official documents under my married name to support the application.

I will re-apply in 2-3 weeks time. Fingers crossed!

And thanks to everyone who has been sharing their experiences, it's been shocking to see how cumbersome this has all become and I'm happy for those of you who succeeded in the end!

[Marii]

bopc30
Why not just apply for passport on your maiden name?

[bopc30]

Hi Marii, for personal reasons I rather use my husband's name but I did ask and HMPO told me they can't issue the passport under my maiden name either because I changed my name by deed poll to my married name. The reason I did the deed poll is because I was adviced by NCS that this is what I needed to do to get the passport issued under my married name. Sadly, it didn't' work.

[Sylwianotts]

Hi

Sorry for jumping on the thread, but this one has a little more traffic than mine

My situation in short is that I applied for my daughter to have British Passport (dad is British, I am Polish), but as she has a temporary, expired and cancelled Polish passport in different name (we recently changed her name to dad's on the Birth Certificate) they are refusing this and have since asked for i.e surrendering her Polish citizenship, confirming the passport is really cancelled, surrendering the passport to the Embassy etc, and the latest request is that it doesn't matter that the passport is cancelled, I need to get a Polish passport for her in her current name before getting a British passport.

They are refusing to present any policies they are apparently following.

Anyone been in/heard about this situation? I have read quite a few about having to cancel the passport and no further problems, but mine is already cancelled and they're still requesting for me to get a new foreign passport in new name, which I don't wish to have.

Thank you!

[Sylwianotts]

Anyone?

[noajthan]

Anyone?

If you have read back a few posts you will see some people who were not able to make changes in their country (for whatever local legal, cultural or other reasons) were able to make enough of a fuss/campaign, (sometimes involving a proactive MP). And HMPO was then persuaded or felt able to make concessions or at least meet them halfway.

That's all you can hope for but there's still not a clear, foolproof and guaranteed path to achieve that.

[yoshi_jp]

Sylwia,

We've "almost" got into a situation like that. Our son has Polish and Japanese passports and the latter has no middle name at all while the former has his Polish middle name. So, I wrote a ridiculously lengthy (and utterly absurd) letter like this:

"(Quote)
Date:#######
To: Caseworker, HMPO
Subject: Missing Middle Name in the Japanese Passport
I understand that the current Home Office guideline [1] requires British and foreign passports to carry identical names of the holder, and some applicants have been requested to add their middle name(s) to their foreign passports.

“10. Holders of non-British passports and national identity cards must also provide evidence they have amended the details in other passport(s) and any national identity cards they hold.(...) The names used in these documents take precedent to names used in other supporting documents, such as marriage certificates and deed polls.”

Middle names do not exist in Japan for any official or legal purposes including birth registration, and it is evidenced by the obvious fact that the attached Japanese passport says “Given name” in singular, which logically means that the Japanese passport has been designed to show only one given name and, as such, the “Given name” on a Japanese passport and the “Given names” on a British passport are mutually neither comparable nor compatible. It is wholly meaningless to be alarmed by a minute difference between two items that are, quite apparently, defined differently in the first place. Should the Japanese passport read “Given names: ######”, it would be perfectly reasonable to have it amended or cancelled.
As I understand it, the policy has been made to stop criminals from creating new identities [2]. As our son already has two valid passports and one of them shows his middle name, additional passport with the same middle name will neither create nor eliminate any identity. Besides, his Polish EU/EEA passport is as usable as his British passport for any purposes in the UK from opening a bank account to proving his right to reside and work with the only one exception of proving his British citizenship otherwise than by descent.
If it is procedurally unavoidable to record in his British passport the absence of his middle name within the territory of Japan, the observation page of his British passport should perhaps be amended (e.g. “THE HOLDER IS ALSO KNOWN AS (First)(Given) ON PASSPORT ZZ1234567 ISSUED BY JAPAN”) so that even the most imaginative soul will be prevented from seeing any duplicate identity out of the two names of extreme similarity.
Please note that the guidance booklet for overseas applications [3] currently states:

“You should check the requirements for the country you are in for when and how a name can be changed as this may not meet UK requirements. If you live in such a country, HM Passport Office will issue your passport in the new name with an observation to say that the holder is also known by their original name.”

I believe the same consideration should be given to in-country applications.
Yours faithfully
(First)(Given)

Reference
1. Change of name guidance – version 1.0, valid from 17 February 2015
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crac ... -detection
3. Applying for a passport from outside the UK; Helping you fill in the application form, page 4
(End of quote)"

And, we received his passport with no further evidence. I must admit that it was the most ridiculous piece of bureaucratic monstrosity that I've ever created.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably throw a towel in and get a letter confirming British nationality status using Form NS instead, because I also know a bit about the unwieldy bureaucracy on the Polish side and wouldn't even dream of getting anything out of them.

--

Yoshi

[Sylwianotts]

Anyone?

If you have read back a few posts you will see some people who were not able to make changes in their country (for whatever local legal, cultural or other reasons) were able to make enough of a fuss/campaign, (sometimes involving a proactive MP). And HMPO was then persuaded or felt able to make concessions or at least meet them halfway.

That's all you can hope for but there's still not a clear, foolproof and guaranteed path to achieve that.

Hi

My case is slightly different though, because Poland does accept name changes and technically I could apply for a new Polish passport in her current surname.

Their concern seems to he that "I could still apply for a Polish passport using her cancelled passport in old surname" and therefore are requesting that I get her a Polish passport first, to prove that I can't. I sent the manager a link to the Embassy website stating that for each new Polish passport we need to show a birth certificate so cant just renew her cancelled passport in old name, but they want letter from Embassy, who are currently taking their tike to reply. The HMPO refuses to ring them as "they don't have the resources".

After them requesting surrendering the citizenship, the passport, wanting proof that the passport is cancelled etc and constantly changing their mind, I doubt their is any policy at all, they're just playing it by heart.

I mentioned that I've heard of cases where an applicant simply had to cancel her/his foreign passport in different name to receive a British one, was told that these cases are only where a foreign country doesn't allow name changes or dual nationality.

MP is calling them every day, apparently they will call back this week.
I mentioned that their own form states that only uncancelled passports are to support the application, was told "Well you may see these forms changing soon"

If they do, fair enough, but they haven't yet, so why are they acting against own guidance...

[Sylwianotts]

Sylwia,

We've "almost" got into a situation like that. Our son has Polish and Japanese passports and the latter has no middle name at all while the former has his Polish middle name. So, I wrote a ridiculously lengthy (and utterly absurd) letter like this:

"(Quote)
Date:#######
To: Caseworker, HMPO
Subject: Missing Middle Name in the Japanese Passport
I understand that the current Home Office guideline [1] requires British and foreign passports to carry identical names of the holder, and some applicants have been requested to add their middle name(s) to their foreign passports.

“10. Holders of non-British passports and national identity cards must also provide evidence they have amended the details in other passport(s) and any national identity cards they hold.(...) The names used in these documents take precedent to names used in other supporting documents, such as marriage certificates and deed polls.”

Middle names do not exist in Japan for any official or legal purposes including birth registration, and it is evidenced by the obvious fact that the attached Japanese passport says “Given name” in singular, which logically means that the Japanese passport has been designed to show only one given name and, as such, the “Given name” on a Japanese passport and the “Given names” on a British passport are mutually neither comparable nor compatible. It is wholly meaningless to be alarmed by a minute difference between two items that are, quite apparently, defined differently in the first place. Should the Japanese passport read “Given names: ######”, it would be perfectly reasonable to have it amended or cancelled.
As I understand it, the policy has been made to stop criminals from creating new identities [2]. As our son already has two valid passports and one of them shows his middle name, additional passport with the same middle name will neither create nor eliminate any identity. Besides, his Polish EU/EEA passport is as usable as his British passport for any purposes in the UK from opening a bank account to proving his right to reside and work with the only one exception of proving his British citizenship otherwise than by descent.
If it is procedurally unavoidable to record in his British passport the absence of his middle name within the territory of Japan, the observation page of his British passport should perhaps be amended (e.g. “THE HOLDER IS ALSO KNOWN AS (First)(Given) ON PASSPORT ZZ1234567 ISSUED BY JAPAN”) so that even the most imaginative soul will be prevented from seeing any duplicate identity out of the two names of extreme similarity.
Please note that the guidance booklet for overseas applications [3] currently states:

“You should check the requirements for the country you are in for when and how a name can be changed as this may not meet UK requirements. If you live in such a country, HM Passport Office will issue your passport in the new name with an observation to say that the holder is also known by their original name.”

I believe the same consideration should be given to in-country applications.
Yours faithfully
(First)(Given)

Reference
1. Change of name guidance – version 1.0, valid from 17 February 2015
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crac ... -detection
3. Applying for a passport from outside the UK; Helping you fill in the application form, page 4
(End of quote)"

And, we received his passport with no further evidence. I must admit that it was the most ridiculous piece of bureaucratic monstrosity that I've ever created.

If I were in your situation, I'd probably throw a towel in and get a letter confirming British nationality status using Form NS instead, because I also know a bit about the unwieldy bureaucracy on the Polish side and wouldn't even dream of getting anything out of them.

--

Yoshi

Thanks Yoshi!

I have written a couple of letters like this, and many emails, they aren't budging, just repeating themselves and sometimes mixing it up by adding something else, equally ridiculous...

I dont even dare to apply for a Polish passport for her... I'd have to register the birth first, involving a visit in the embassy with both parents and our birth certificates, and paying foe that, as well as paying and getting her and dads BC translated, then applying for her pesel nr (like a reg nr), then the passport, again both parents in the embassy etc... Months of waiting, a few visits and a small fortune... But that may he the only option left

[yoshi_jp]

Sylwia,

Yes. We've been through that, too. We've got both of our kids registered in Poland. My mother-in-law went to the town hall and got them registered. I think my wife had written some kinda statement beforehand to nominate her mother as her representative (but I may be wrong). Once they were registered, we applied for their passports at the Consulate General in Manchester. We've also got their ID cards recently when we visited Poland for a short break.

We had a real nightmare to get our first son's British passport, and it was only resolved when I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Passport Office, telling him how his pencil-pushers royally messed it up for us.

[Sylwianotts]

Sylwia,

Yes. We've been through that, too. We've got both of our kids registered in Poland. My mother-in-law went to the town hall and got them registered. I think my wife had written some kinda statement beforehand to nominate her mother as her representative (but I may be wrong). Once they were registered, we applied for their passports at the Consulate General in Manchester. We've also got their ID cards recently when we visited Poland for a short break.

We had a real nightmare to get our first son's British passport, and it was only resolved when I wrote to the Chief Executive of the Passport Office, telling him how his pencil-pushers royally messed it up for us.

Hi,

I've read on the hmpo page that you have to go through the stages of complaining before you can complain higher up? Or can I just write them a letter to the chief anyway?

It is a nightmare, I keep telling them it is a cancelled passport and that they don't even ask for it themselves on the form and nothing, they jeep changing requests and I try and jump through hoops.

Yeah I know you can register the BC through family, unfortunately I don't have any that I could ask. So a few visits to the consulate and a small fortune will be necessary, unfortunately. Chances are, I will have to pay a few hundreds for the fact that her cancelled passport is new cut up (they only do it when renewing, but I did it myself to prove to hmpo that it was cancelled- polish passports are cancelled automatically on expiration date without cutting them up. So now they may say it counts as destroyed and I will have to pay for that, too. Great...