Must I apply for British Passport straight after ceremony?

[hr200]

Hi everyone,

Quick question. Once I've had my ceremony do I need to apply for a passport for straight away or can it wait for a while?

Context, I may need to travel urgently for a month or so abroad after my ceremony (a legal reason during COVID). Should I wait with the passport application?

Or is it actually possible to apply for first adult british passport from abroad? It seems to be an option on the gov website, but for ceremonies for example it says that you have to do it in the UK so I'm wondering if there's an overlap with the passport application...

Thanks!

[CULLINAN]

You can only travel abroad IF you have a British Passport after ceremony. You need that to enter back in UK. You become British on your ceremony date and legally have to return your ILR BRP within 5 days of attending the ceremony as it is invalid then. So if you have to travel, you need to get a British Passport.
Do not even think about applying British Passport abroad. It will jeopardise your intention to live in UK and your British Citizenship could be questioned/investigated. Also, it will take around 1 year abroad where as in UK it will take 2 weeks.

If you want to travel consider travelling before ceremony and come back to UK to attend ceremony and apply for a British Passport.

[hr200]

Thanks for the quick and insightful response!

[Lopand]

There is no legal requirement for British citizens to enter or leave the country with a UK passport. I know many Brits who enter and leave the country with an EU passport, for instance. However, if you use a foreign passport then they would expect you to comply with visa requirements, even though you're not subject to immigration laws as a British citizen, so it depends on your other nationality and its requirement for a visa.

[hr200]

I have an EU passport. - So I assume the ILR BRP return in 5 days doesn't apply to me. from the previous answer.

Alternatively - can I wait until I return from my travels and apply for the passport then? I mean I guess there's no requirement to apply for the passport within X time of citizenship but I may be wrong...

[alterhase58]

There's no obligation for a British citizen to have a passport, many don't, but of course it's useful for travel. And no deadline to apply after naturalisation.
As you hold an EU passport and are a non-visa national you can still use it to enter the UK but you may wish to explain you are a British citizen, carrying a copy of your certificate would probably be useful.

[CULLINAN]

I assumed you were a non-EEA national. May bad.

[hr200]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your answers again, I have a follow-on question.

If I end up going abroad before I apply for my British passport is it possible to post/DHL back my original passport and ask my other half in the UK to submit my passport request while I'm out of the country? And then she posts my original passport and British one back so I can get back to the country (or alternatively I use my EU ID card...)

Thanks in advance!

[alterhase58]

Of course you could use your EU ID card - again be prepared to explain you are a British citizen, have a copy of your certificate and your passport application is pending.

[hr200]

Hi Cullinan, Alterhase & anyone else,

As I've ended up leaving the UK and due to the further extended travel restrictions I'm now seriously considering applying for my first British passport while I'm out of the country.

My question would be:
If I post my original EEA passport back to the UK where my other half submits it to support my online application can I have any trouble because I'm out of the country while I wait for the passport(s) to be posted back to my spouse and she posts it back to me? I'd do everything with DHL or similar to ensure loss of documents is minimised.

Also, I'm in a non-EEA country at the moment so I have a stamp from just recently in my passport. From my perspective apart from the inconvenience I can't see anything wrong with applying this way, but could there be something wrong from either the HO or Passport office's perspective with this way of applying?

Many thanks in advance!

[Thefrog]

Hi Cullinan, Alterhase & anyone else,

As I've ended up leaving the UK and due to the further extended travel restrictions I'm now seriously considering applying for my first British passport while I'm out of the country.

My question would be:
If I post my original EEA passport back to the UK where my other half submits it to support my online application can I have any trouble because I'm out of the country while I wait for the passport(s) to be posted back to my spouse and she posts it back to me? I'd do everything with DHL or similar to ensure loss of documents is minimised.

Also, I'm in a non-EEA country at the moment so I have a stamp from just recently in my passport. From my perspective apart from the inconvenience I can't see anything wrong with applying this way, but could there be something wrong from either the HO or Passport office's perspective with this way of applying?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi. No answers I'm afraid but interested to know how it worked out for you as I may face the same situation. Could you tell me in you manage to apply via your other half and if there were any issues?