Finding it really difficult to get a passport for my child

TELZ

I'm a single parent with a 6yo child.

Father is on the birth certificate but not made contact with me or my daughter since she was 3 weeks old. Don't know his or his family's whereabouts. We were unmarried. We were both born in Scotland. And our families are all British.

I have never held a passport before.

We have a holiday abroad booked for this summer. 4 weeks ago i submitted mine and my daughter's first passport applications through the check and send service. Everything was apparently fine with the forms and off they went. I included an explanatory note as to why i could not provide my child's father's information other than his name and DOB.

I've received a letter from the passport office today regarding my daughter's application. They say that because I was born after 1982, I must provide all of my child's grandparents' details.

I called and explained that I could not provide her paternal grandparents' details for the above reasons. And that I have already provided information about her maternal grandparents: their full names, DOBs, place of birth, address, passport numbers and date of marriage.

The call handler said I should send in their original birth certificates.

Afterwards, I called my parents to request their birth certificates.

My dad said he didn't feel comfortable sending it off when he didn't think it was necessary And that he's never heard of this before. He doesn't feel comfortable sending his or my mum's original documents in the post. but he told me that if i go to the post office and ask them there to photocopy the documents and write a note verifying that they have seen the original, then he'd be happy for me to send them photocopies.

I know already that this wont be allowed by post office staff, not will photocopies be accepted by the passport office.

I called the passport enquiry line again stating that my parents were not willing to give me their birth certificates, so what else could I do?

Literally at the same time as me being on the phone with them, my own first passport arrived ( I had my interview 2 days ago). While I was on the phone, I told the call handler that my passport has just arrived, could she take my passport number to supplement my daughter's application?

The call handler stated that since our applications were done at the same time and submitted via check and send in the same envelope, that my child's application should automatically update to show my passport number.

But when she went away to check, she discovered that actually our applications weren't linked.

She has written an email to the Durham office handling my daughter's application stating that I now have a passport number to provide. The call handler wouldn't take the passport number from me herself. She said that someone from the Durham office will contact me within 48hrs to discuss what other proof I need to send them as evidence of my daughter's claim to British citizenship and to add my passport number on to her application.

We leave for our holiday in just over 10 weeks, so I'm sure there is plenty of time.

I'm just looking for advice on the following:

What else can I provide them as proof? is it possible they will just throw my daughter's application out, and tell me to reapply in future when I'm able to provide further info? the thing is, i will never be able to provide the further info/documents. My parents are adamant they will not let me send off their original birth certificates.

Do you think that now I have a passport number, this will be enough to prove my daughter is a British citizen?

I sent both our applications through check and send. Why did I pay for this service when they didn't pick up on any of this? And i've had to spend quite a fair amount in phone calls to the passport line today. The calls equalled 36 mins in total. Is there any way of me claiming the check and send fee back?

Thanks very much for any advice. I'm beginning to panic just a little bit that my daughter might not get a passport!

silvercar

I am sure it will sort itself out.

If the worst comes to the worst, you can buy a birth certificate from the government department and just tell your parents that theirs wasn't required.

Use the official site here, not some scam site that will rip you off.

lea2012

My first thoughts were the same as the above poster. If you use the link they provide you can purchase a copy of your mum and dads birth certificates, without their permission or knowledge, and send it off to the passport office. I had to buy one earlier this year as I had lost my own and it was about £9 I think. Takes a week or two to arrive and then you could send it off, and hopefully the problem will be solved.
I would wait until they call you and see what they say but I'm sure there will be some way around it all and your daughter won't end up without a passport.

benjus

Just to add to what's been said above, when they say "original" birth certificate they mean one issued by the government, not a photocopy. It doesn't have to be one that was issued at the time of their birth. All birth (and marriage, death etc) certificates are just copies of an entry in the registry books, which are held by the government.

TELZ

Thank you so much for the replies.

Since posting, someone from the Durham office has been in touch to get my passport number from me. He said he will email it to the examiner specifically dealing with my child's application, to see if this will be enough to prove she is British.

If not, they will call me back with further info.

It's good to know that I am able to buy copies of my parents' birth certificates. My mum was born in England and my dad in Scotland, so i would need to source them from different places. The English link states that it could take up to 24 days for my mum's certificate to be posted to me. There's roughly 70 days till we plan to go on holiday so I'm sure things will be okay. I hope!

Mojisola

TELZ wrote: »

Father is on the birth certificate but not made contact with me or my daughter since she was 3 weeks old. Don't know his or his family's whereabouts. We were unmarried. We were both born in Scotland. And our families are all British.

I included an explanatory note as to why i could not provide my child's father's information other than his name and DOB.

As the others have said, buy copies of your parents' birth certificates.

As you know your ex's DOB, you could also get his birth certificate and, through that, his parents' names. It wouldn't take much research to find enough info to get their BCs as well.

Make sure you only go through the official site for certificates - don't get caught by a look-alike scam one.

jonesMUFCforever

My only extra suggestion - buy all of the birth certificates NOW even though they might not be required - your stress levels will increase considerably the nearer the date of the holiday until you have the passport in your hands.