Passport refused - uncancelled passport in maiden name

Antsmall wrote: Those who have only British citizenship could use this argument, but if the only reason for refusal of a British passport were the presence of a foreign passport with a different name on it, belonging to their former country, then presumably this could be solved by means of some document from the relevant authorities declaring that the person is no longer a citizen and therefore their non-British passport is not valid.

That's simply not a logical deduction. Denying someone the human right to leave their country on the wild and baseless presumption that some other country might have some bureaucracy established to formally recognize that someone is not a citizen? There is no international agreement or any kind of unwritten understanding that any nation provide such verification. Even if there were, the UK, or any country, cannot assume that such documentation is actually available without restrictions (such as time limits to apply). Heck the country(ies) in question might not even exist anymore, or could be in the midst of all sorts of social upheaval. This is a groundless argument for defending the denial of a human right as expressed in a treaty that the UK is signatory to.

Anyway, good luck with the Philippines and thanks for keeping us updated. I'm impressed and amazed that they are going along with this (I wouldn't if I were them), and I think you are very lucky. I could find no such equivalent procedure for the U.S. to get such verification. As far as I'm aware, nothing like that exists. I suspect the same is true for most countries in the world. Once you're gone, you're gone. Anything else that requires passports and such things is strictly business between you and your new country.

ouflak1 wrote:Anyway, good luck with the Philippines and thanks for keeping us updated. I'm impressed and amazed that they are going along with this (I wouldn't if I were them), and I think you are very lucky. I could find no such equivalent procedure for the U.S. to get such verification. As far as I'm aware, nothing like that exists. I suspect the same is true for most countries in the world. Once you're gone, you're gone. Anything else that requires passports and such things is strictly business between you and your new country.

ouflak1, many thanks for your continuing support.

Well, I haven't seen yet what we've been sent.
And HM PO will still have to agree to accept it. That's not a given.

Even at the embassy, only 1 official seemed to have any idea what we were talking about and asking for.
And she had disappeared (off duty) by the time we returned with photocopies; the other 3 or 4 officials we then spoke to weren't so clued up.
The subsequent phone calls seem to confirm this.
It's clearly not a standard or well-established procedure they're executing for us.

And I agree it only shows a status at a single point of time;
any piece of paper from another country doesn't really stop people using other names in this jurisdiction as per British tradition (& English common law).
How could it

In the meantime, keeping fingers crossed and feeling about 60% confident so far.

noajthan wrote:Well, I haven't seen yet what we've been sent.
And HM PO will still have to agree to accept it. That's not a given.

The long-awaited 'Certificate of Cancellation' and my wife's newly-cancelled passport have been received from the embassy.

The certificate confirms the passport is not valid and that, since the date of UK naturalisation, my wife is no longer entitled to hold a Philippine passport.
It is written in the form of a legal document on embossed and ornate official embassy paper; it has been duly signed and stamped by the consul, rather like an affidavit.

As all seems in order, and it complies with what the HM PO official asked for, the documents have now been repackaged and sent on to HM PO.

Ouflak1, no ad hominem attacks please. There are gentler ways to investigate the ramifications of an issue than to accuse a well-intentioned and polite person of being illogical and making "wild and baseless presumptions". I really hope not to be drawn into an endless argument about something which is getting increasingly theoretical just to defend myself against aspersions on my intelligence. I'm having enough problems with the passport people without having the urgent need for yet more problems.

The issue initially under discussion (in this particular subset of the thread, of which a major theme appears to be 'how to challenge the passport people's new habit of denying people passports on the basis of name discrepancy') was whether denial of a British passport interferes with a person's right, under international law (assuming for the sake of argument that there is one, which is a different matter), to enter or leave their own country. This presupposes that the person is a British citizen of course. If the person is going to be allowed to enter or leave their own country (Britain) without a British passport, then the passport issue is rendered moot because a passport is not necessary to enter or leave the country. If instead, for whatever reason, the person cannot enter or leave Britain without a British passport, then refusal of a passport does indeed interfere with the right to leave or enter one's own country, and this can perhaps be used as an argument for contesting refusal of a passport. So far so logical, I hope. The whole thing is really an extended tautology.

One subspecies of 'being able to enter and leave Britain without a British passport' is 'possession of another citizenship and its passport which one can use to travel instead of a British passport'. If a British citizen can enter or leave Britain on a foreign passport, then denial of a British passport again doesn't preclude the right to leave or enter Britain, and hence can't be contested on those grounds (which of course doesn't exclude a challenge on other grounds).

And if denial of a British passport is based entirely on possession of another citizenship in which one has another identity than that requested on the British passport, then it follows - quite logically I daresay - that if one *does not* in fact possess the foreign citizenship to which the passport authorities are (rightly or wrongly - which again is a completely different issue) objecting, then the passport people's grounds for refusal of the passport are in fact invalid. What is missing is a method of *demonstrating* that one does not possess that citizenship and its attendant 'other identity'. Yes, it does not automatically follow from the proposition 'one does not have the citizenship of country X' that 'country X will issue a statement proving that one does not have its nationality'. I am only pointing out that, again, if possession of that citizenship, and its other identity, is what the British passport people find (logically or not) objectionable, then *some* demonstration of non-possession of that citizenship, which could (but need not necessarily) come under the form of the aforementioned statement kindly issued by the relevant authorities of the foreign country, should be enough to convince the British passport people that their objection has been undermined - if they behave in a coherent and rational manner, that is, which is not necessarily the case and is another matter.

Yes, it is arguably unreasonable of the British passport people to demand such declarations from foreign authorities in response to their own recently concocted regulations, as it is arguably daft of them to assume that foreign authorities have a mechanism in place to declare the non-citizenship of a person. It is, in a similar manner, highly obtuse of them to assume that foreign authorities will easily change a person's name, and to take the consequent step of denying British citizens the well-established common-law right to choose their own name just because they are dual nationals of a country with inferior name-choosing rights. This can be construed as Britain bowing down to the substandard rights provided by other countries and withdrawing the normal rights of citizens from some of its own citizens, ultimately because of their dual nationality. I think that even if we assume (again, for the sake of argument) that the new 'no discrepancy with foreign identity' rule has a security-based or other justification, any security threats caused by a person being called X in Britain and Y on their foreign passport issued by country Z can be circumvented with staggering ease by means of a note on the British passport stating "holder is also known as Y on their passport from country Z". Rendering the issue of a British passport in 'another identity' contingent on such a note being placed in that passport would be a more reasonable way of solving the alleged security problem than denying the passport altogether, it can be argued.

And yes, I do regard it as quite grotesque to make it a privilege, and not a right, to hold a British passport. It verges on the totalitarian: these unaccountable bureaucrats have the extra-legal right to deny what is one of the main documents that a person requires and have ultimate sole discretion over the matter. That is undemocratic, I submit.

The fact that I explore various aspects and intersections of unreasonable regulations doesn't mean that I endorse these unreasonable regulations. It so happens that I find them highly objectionable. However, I am trying to figure out how they work, and in so doing I'm trying to see how they interact with other laws and regulations to see if a solution can be found.

Now, please let's be nice and peaceful and friendly to each other, because the world (including its various bureaucratic manifestations dreamt up by a certain subset of humans) already creates enough unpleasantness for us without our having the pressing necessity to manufacture even more unpleasantness for ourselves. Let's be gentle to each other, ok? Why wouldn't we?

noajthan wrote:

noajthan wrote:Well, I haven't seen yet what we've been sent.
And HM PO will still have to agree to accept it. That's not a given.

.... and it complies with what the HM PO official asked for...

I still find this part very strange. It's not the Phillipines responsibility to make sure that UK citizens can leave their own country in conformance with basic human rights. It's the UK's responsibility to make sure its citizens can leave the country in conformance with human rights. I hope you've made a copy of all your correspondance. I think you have genuine civil rights complaint against the UK government. You might be able to get a nice settlement.

Antsmall wrote:Ouflak1, no ad hominem attacks please. There are gentler ways to investigate the ramifications of an issue than to accuse a well-intentioned and polite person of being illogical and making "wild and baseless presumptions". I really hope not to be drawn into an endless argument about something which is getting increasingly theoretical just to defend myself against aspersions on my intelligence. I'm having enough problems with the passport people without having the urgent need for yet more problems.

That wasn't aimed at you. That was aimed at the UK government. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, they've changed the edit time limits and I couldn't make that clear. We used to have a full 24 hours to correct/update posts. They seemed to have changed that to 5 minutes.

If the UK thinks that it is logical or reasonable that foreign nations should ensure that UK citizens can travel outside of the United Kingdom on the assumption of the existance some beauracracy that likely doesn't exist for 90% of the countries of the world, then they need to be taken to task for that line of thinking. Especially since the UK has often been the most critical of countries that wouldn't allow their own citizens to leave their country. But it really is more than just gross hypocracy. You and others are being denied a fundamental human right. This cannot be allowed to continue.

Ok. I understand.

The British authorities (or at least the ones that are behaving like this) are indeed being unreasonable and arrogant. I think it's also unreasonable of them to assume that other countries allow the ease of name-changing that Britain does (to those who aren't dual nationals) and punish people whose other nationalities have inferior name-choosing rights.

Page 6 (paras 21-23) of this
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... -_v1_0.pdf
concerns transgender people and basically says that they must either get their non-British country to accept their new identity and place it on their foreign passports, or 'seek to revoke' their other citizenship(s). I mean, that is grotesque. Someone whose country doesn't understand their new gender identity may yet continue to love that country and consider it a part of their identity; they may reasonably want to be able to visit their relatives there without having to jump through complicated and expensive hoops (visas etc). This holds especially true since many of the countries which absolutely reject any gender change, gay rights etc are also the ones that make travel difficult for foreigners. How cruel to make someone choose between the country they love (even if it has a silly government) - with the ability to visit their own relatives there - and the identity with which they feel most comfortable.

Yes, they are being unreasonable, inflexible, unimaginative and unnecessarily obtuse on many counts. Rather provincial as well.

I anticipate that I will have the same problem when applying for my first British passport.

My birth country's passport ( which is blank but valid, it's a replacement of a lost/stolen ) is issued in my maiden name and my naturalisation certificate is in my married name ( although there's an error on the certificate, an error from the HO's side which I will send to be amended next week but that's another boring story ).

Reading through this thread, it looks like if I send my valid passport which is under my maiden name, the British passport application will be refused.

Adding to the complication, my current surname is still my dad's name double barrelled with my husband's surname.
I didn't want to give up my father's name altogether.

A while back, I contacted my embassy in London, to enquire if I could have my name changed in my passport to reflect my married name and I was advised that I would have to go back to my country and reapply for it in person giving notice to the attorney general and it would take several months as they have to give notices in various newspapers. I checked this information with the change of name guidance of my country's laws and it appears to be true. More worryingly, the embassy doesn't issue any letter to this effect as it's outside the scope of their work.

I do, however, have a deed poll from many years ago, whereby I changed my maiden name to reflect my married name; I don't know if this will help?.

Alternatively, I am thinking to cancel my current passport, hence, I won't have this issue?. I will still retain my birth country's citizenship but only cancel the passport. I suppose I could also "lose" it "again" somehow
But, I am concerned that my embassy won't cancel it. I will have to book an appointment for next week and check with them. My country does allow dual citizenship.

I would have hoped that a deed poll would be sufficient document to show the change of name, along with a marriage certificate, but reading through this thread, it appears that the passport office doesn't issue a British passport if another passport is in a different name regardless of a deed poll or marriage certificate.

If I knew all these issues were going to happen, I would have applied for BC in my maiden name but that also would have been an issue as I didn't have all my documents in my maiden name. All my documents were in my married name. The only document in my maiden name was my passport.

And apparently, I can't correct my name on the naturalisation certificate now as it has to reflect what I had written down on my application form.

Therefore, it's a catch 22, which is frankly quite worrying. And there I was thinking it's all over. Hardly.


Good luck to everyone in this thread.

Antsmall wrote:... unreasonable, inflexible, unimaginative and unnecessarily obtuse on many counts. Rather provincial as well.

No need to stop there! But it doesn't matter if they are being <*deep breath*> reasonable, flexible, creative, exceptionally conducive and very worldly. Either way, the instant they deny one of their citizens the right to travel outside of the country, then they either need to demonstrate due process (that citizen is a hooligan or possibly trying to flee for some legal reason) or they need to be the ones who are making all of the efforts to resolve the human rights violation. They should have been the ones chasing verification through the state department and the Phillipines counterpart, or they should quickly pass through rules that deal with married women who have name changes, or something, anything to ensure that their citizens have the right to leave the country in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which they signatories. If the government of the United Kingdom is unwilling or unable to fulfill this duty, then they should recuse themselves from the UDHR treaty and never ever again criticise any of the many countries that notoriously behave in the same manner, especially with women.

hellonewhere wrote:I anticipate that I will have the same problem when applying for my first British passport.

My birth country's passport ( which is blank but valid, it's a replacement of a lost/stolen ) is issued in my maiden name and my naturalisation certificate is in my married name ( although there's an error on the certificate, an error from the HO's side which I will send to be amended next week but that's another boring story ).

Reading through this thread, it looks like if I send my valid passport which is under my maiden name, the British passport application will be refused.

...

Alternatively, I am thinking to cancel my current passport, hence, I won't have this issue?. I will still retain my birth country's citizenship but only cancel the passport. I suppose I could also "lose" it "again" somehow
But, I am concerned that my embassy won't cancel it. I will have to book an appointment for next week and check with them. My country does allow dual citizenship.

...

Therefore, it's a catch 22, which is frankly quite worrying. And there I was thinking it's all over. Hardly.

Good luck to everyone in this thread.

Hello,
it's likely you will find yourself in this catch-22 if you are treated in the same way as my wife and other contributors to this thread.

Note: you may not be refused a passport outright - you are likely to be delayed, with any related travel plans having to be put on hold, whilst you negotiate with HM PO to find a way ahead.

It is due to this poorly publicised policy or guidance which was brought in in February:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crac ... -detection

If I knew all these issues were going to happen, I would have applied for BC in my maiden name but that also would have been an issue as I didn't have all my documents in my maiden name. All my documents were in my married name. The only document in my maiden name was my passport.

Part of the problem is the impact of this is made not clear in the passport application guidance notes;
NCS seems unaware of it too.
The HM PO officials we have been dealing with do not seem fully aware of or trained on this.
Certainly they have not been able to explain it clearly to us.
Each person we have dealt with at HM PO has handled it differently, with varying degrees of clarity.
Some deny there is a new policy or else state it's confidential and refuse to discuss it.

But forewarned is forearmed, you may have a few options before you apply for your passport.
Note: some of the options depend on your second country & what the embassy will or won't do for you.

1) Cancel existing passport

Then no need to submit such a passport with the application for British passport.
If dual nationality is still held then no need to declare it.

We are trying this route to remove the 'offending' (to UK HM PO) second identity.
In progress with HM PO at the moment. No outcome to report yet.

2) Lose passport

- I couldn't possibly comment.

(Note: Details of any/all lost passports still to be submitted).

3) Change name on original passport - if permitted by original country

May involve 2 steps: change name to married name; change or renew passport.
Time consuming, may involve home visits if UK embassy cannot/will not do this.

4) Revoke original citizenship (if not automatically revoked by naturalising in UK)

But if even there's an option why should anyone have to do this (unless planned anyway)
May involve loss of rights in that country; eg land rights etc.

In fact, my wife automatically lost her Philippine citizenship on the day she ws naturalised in the UK.
The problem is HM PO wouldn't accept us simply saying so.
We had to discover that the old, uncancelled but by now invalid passport had to be officially cancelled to satisfy UK officials.
Then discover how to do this.

5) Apply in married name but make case to have an official observation recording use of maiden name

See new guidance PDF.
Not aware anyone has used this route successfully (yet).

6) Apply for passport in maiden name

HM PO offered that as an option to my wife. But we are trying route #1 first.
Anyway, it should be a woman's choice by which name she wants to be known, not a bureaucratic choice made due to regulations.

I would have hoped that a deed poll would be sufficient document to show the change of name, along with a marriage certificate, but reading through this thread, it appears that the passport office doesn't issue a British passport if another passport is in a different name regardless of a deed poll or marriage certificate.

The new guidance seems to say that documents such as passports take higher precedence.
So the name used on a passport may be considered first, unless a deed poll was issued later than the passport ( )

And yes, any uncancelled passport in an old name seems to be a problem for HM PO (even if Naturalisation process can handle it).

And apparently, I can't correct my name on the naturalisation certificate now as it has to reflect what I had written down on my application form.

The new guidance is clear, a Naturalisation certificate records a point in time (similar to a birth certificate).
But this is why suggestion #6 (above) may be a valid option.

What else to be done?

There is the formal complaints process (as per passport guidance notes).

It's a 4-step process, all the way up to MPs, (MEPs) and Ombudsman.
I'm not aware anyone has travelled that far.

&/or
Enlist help of women's groups, human rights groups, equal opportunities organisations, migrants organisations, citizen's advice bureau.

I'm not aware anyone has attempted this so far.
(One contributor has consulted a law firm, as posted earlier in this thread).

Judicial review of this extension to the Royal Prerogative that governs passports in this country

Expensive. Would probably need someone (some group or MP) to take up the cause.

@noajthan - thank you so much for the very informative post and suggestions.
I appreciate the time you took to write it; certainly helps me to assess my options available.

Point 1 you mentioned - I was thinking to go along this option, however, I am unsure whether my embassy will cancel my existing passport. It's a very small embassy, I will make an appointment to see whether I will be able to do this.

However, failing that, could I ask you regarding the point 6 you mentioned.
I was under the impression that as my naturalisation certificate is under my married name, I wouldn't be able to apply for a British passport under my maiden name?. I would be happy to be corrected if this isn't the case.
If this is possible, then I could apply for the British passport under my maiden name and upon receipt send it back to be changed to my married name along with my marriage certificate. I think the issue is just the first passport.

Option 5 is certainly something I can look into, however, I will adopt it as a last option, as you mentioned there's not much success yet!

It's a bit of a nightmare. It just seems that the new guidance hasn't made much of an allowance for women who have got married after issuing of their birth country's passport. It certainly makes things complicated and time consuming.

I hope your wife's case get sorted soon. It just seem such a lengthy exercise!

hellonewhere wrote:@noajthan - thank you so much for the very informative post and suggestions.
I appreciate the time you took to write it; certainly helps me to assess my options available.

Point 1 you mentioned - I was thinking to go along this option, however, I am unsure whether my embassy will cancel my existing passport. It's a very small embassy, I will make an appointment to see whether I will be able to do this.

However, failing that, could I ask you regarding the point 6 you mentioned.
I was under the impression that as my naturalisation certificate is under my married name, I wouldn't be able to apply for a British passport under my maiden name?. I would be happy to be corrected if this isn't the case.
If this is possible, then I could apply for the British passport under my maiden name and upon receipt send it back to be changed to my married name along with my marriage certificate. I think the issue is just the first passport.

Option 5 is certainly something I can look into, however, I will adopt it as a last option, as you mentioned there's not much success yet!

It's a bit of a nightmare. It just seems that the new guidance hasn't made much of an allowance for women who have got married after issuing of their birth country's passport. It certainly makes things complicated and time consuming.

I hope your wife's case get sorted soon. It just seem such a lengthy exercise!

Option 1 is our best bet and if it works out it will confirm the name my wife now chooses to use.
Thanks for your good wishes.

Note: the Philippine embassy didn't have a ready-made process available for us to have the passport cancelled.
There was no ready-made form to fill in; we spent a stressful day at the embassy last month trying to explain & organise it.
In the end we got a kind of legal document.

So keep calm, be patient and be peruasive with your embassy - don't take no for an answer.
All you need is something in writing on official paper - plus some holes punched in the passport!

Option 5 is actually mentioned in the new guidance but HM PO wasn't encouraging when I tried to ask about it. So we went for #1.
For #5, I think they require evidence you're an established professional or performer;
(perhaps lawyer, scientist, actress - or some sort of lord of the realm, as per their example )

Regarding #6, aiming for a British passport in maiden name (even with recent naturalisation granted in married name - as applies to my wife and also you)...

This is what HM PO wrote to us:

If the authorities are unable to amend your name so that it is the same as on your Naturalization certificate, or if the ... authorities state that you are no longer entitled to hold a <foreign> passport, we will require written confirmation of this from the <foreign> authorities.

Alternatively you may choose to have your name on your British passport as <maiden name>. To do this we will require a new application form in the name of <maiden name>, evidence of the change of name to <maiden name>, and documents to confirm you are now using the name <maiden name> for all purposes, such as a current letter from your employer or government department.

So as we'd already applied in married name they have told us we could opt to give up on that application & reapply in maiden name (with certain conditions).
In your case you could apply directly in maiden name. Probably worth including an explanation in the Additional Information section of the form (or on a separate sheet).
Suggest calling the help line first to discuss it with someone.

It makes sense for each person to take the path of least resistance for them, even if a short-term compromise is required.
(In our case, my wife may yet reclaim her previous nationality in due course).

All in all, agreed it's a nightmare; totally undeserved.
The policy announced by Minister James Brokenshire is 'broken'.
It is said to be targeting criminals & terroists; instead it is catching out married ladies who have just had to prove they are respectable & law-abiding in order to become naturalised

Even the mandatory first-time passport interviews have been reported in the media as catching very few fraudsters.
And when contacted for advice (by other contributors to this thread) even the Naturalisation department of HO seems as confused by the Passport unit's actions as we all are.

Not much sign of joined up thinking from this government department at all.
The guidance notes for both naturalisation & passports need synchronising so they are aligned.
At the moment by the time people realise the catch-22 trap they have more than likely been naturalised in the 'wrong' name.

It needs to be challenged though the complaints process &/or due legal process in the end.

Good luck.

Noajthan once again many thanks for the very insightful post; excellent advice as well.

On a positive note, at least your wife's case seem to be moving in the correct direction.
I am afraid my own embassy wouldn't have a ready-made process for cancelling an existing passport similar to your wife's embassy.
The last time I asked my embassy to provide me with an official document although unrelated to this issue - the answer was a firm "it is outside the scope of our work". I can only hope that if I go in person someone might be able to help me.

As you have expanded on option 5, it seems that it wouldn't be applicable to me. I believe it's for people who might have an official name, however, go by another name. For a lack of example, I can only think of Eminem, whereby his real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III. Sadly, I am neither a high profile artist nor a Lady of a manor ( although this is quite possibly questionable by my husband ).

I had a slight hope that I might be able to apply in my maiden name but even this route isn't straight forward. According to what the HM PO wrote to you, I will have to revert back to my maiden name via possibly a deed poll AND provide documents to confirm that I will actively be using that name. It just seems a pointless, expensive and time consuming activity to me. I have been using my married name for almost 14 years now and I don't see why I should be changing all my documents again to reflect my maiden name; only to have to change it again. It just seems unnecessary.

And of course you rightly said, it makes sense to take the least resistance path and I think for me, it will be the same as your wife i.e. cancelling my existing passport.

I had to laugh at your comment that Minister James Brokenshire's policy is "broken" - brilliant!

I knew getting married was trouble!

Once again, I must appreciate your great suggestions, thank you.

Hellonewhere: please note that now the passport people require all dual (or plural) nationals to submit colour photocopies (why is this trying to change my British spelling to American automatically by the way?) of any "uncancelled passports" even when renewing passports. I initially thought I could (unwillingly) apply for everything in my maiden name and then renew my British passport in my married name using the less intrusive passport renewal process, but no: it's not less intrusive. They still insist on seeing evidence of uncancelled passports (oh god, still trying to change my spelling to American every time I use my native language - or one of them), they specify that failure to show such evidence constitutes a crime and may evoke a Nasty Response, and they reserve the right to make even people who are merely renewing a British passport send original foreign passports if somehow the orgy of time and paper wastage constituted by the submission of colour (no, not color, you hegemonic machine that is driving me bonkers: respect diversity, you nefarious little robot) isn't enough to satisfy their lust for intrusive irritation. (This reminds me of the South Park episode where Chef points out "He feeds on the sweet milk of your tears").

My point is that the route of applying for everything in your maiden name (after going through a time-consuming and elaborate process whereby you abjure the identity you've chosen for yourself and have been using for the past 14 years, mind you) *and then* renewing the passport in your married name isn't going to work unless you can anyway either cancel your foreign passport (which as we've seen depends on one or more consular/ambassadorial bureaucrats being exceptionally reasonable and helpful rather than simply playing the stereotypical Vogonic role of Robots Who Say No) or have your married name reflected in your foreign passport.

So I'd say: give the passport cancellation thing a go and see if you do encounter that rare thing, the reasonable bureaucrat who genuinely wishes to reduce the discomfort of other sentient beings. (I do have a government job - not British, alas - and I do go out of my way to solve people's problems even when they don't Fall Within the Ordinary Scope of Our Work beep beep robot sounds, which is why I always have thank-you cards on my desk and my colleagues don't; there is the occasional person like that and I've met a couple of others). If that doesn't work, it may be preferable for you to go back to your other country and endure the gruelling name-changing process. Yes, it's deeply annoying and it consumes considerable amounts of time, but at least it's a known procedure with a clear outcome rather than one or more equally annoying, equally time-consuming procedures whose outcome is uncertain.

If it's any consolation, I'm currently undergoing a lengthy name-change process in my country of residence (which is neither Britain nor my other homeland - the one that isn't Britain that is) on the off-chance that the authorities of my non-British homeland will accept a foreign court order declaring a change of name and will proceed to grant me my married name despite their usually extremely constipated name-change rules. This was suggested to me by a helpful person in my non-British consulate who has memories of it working in the past. See: a helpful consular official. I initiated the procedure almost a month ago and will have to attend a court hearing in July, then (if all goes well) get an apostille (no, not apostle, bossy autocorrect robot with a tiny vocabulary) on the resulting decree, then go to my non-British consulate and initiate a name change petition on the strength of this document, and then probably wait several more months while everything is sent to that country and is considered by yet another bureaucrat who may or may not be reasonable. I don't even know if it will work. It may well be doomed because I'm not a citizen of my country of residence and any number of additional reasons. But my point is that even this horrifyingly convoluted process appears less blood-curdling to me than trying to reason with the British passport office. If you have access to a similar process *except that it will actually guarantee a name change rather than being probably doomed like mine*, then I'd say bite the bullet and go for it. It's not as if the alternatives will be less annoying, but they certainly will have a less clear outcome and therefore be more stressful.

By the way, I heartily agree with noajthan when he (I'm assuming it's a he) says that a) people should be free to choose their own name rather than having it imposed by a bureaucrat (even though my non-British homeland appears never to have received that particular memo and is particularly stubborn concerning name changes) and b) this ill-conceived new 'policy' is causing the passport people to go ape over people who *have already been turned inside out like a sock to check for any traces of crime*. It is therefore wasting time - their own and that of the applicants - on cases where *crime is demonstrably absent*. It's like pinpointed inefficiency. "Let's try to aim resources where they are specifically not needed" could be their unwieldy motto. A wieldy one wouldn't really fit with their whole cumbersome vibe. Can you tell I'm cheesed off just a touch?

Good luck to all. I hope that the slew of delayed passport applications that will soon deluge the passport people will eventually make even their slow-moving "minds" realise that some accommodation has to be made or things will really get out of hand. I wonder how much awkwardness and inconvenience is necessary to overcome the massive inertia of this comatose leviathan.

Antsmall wrote:Hellonewhere: please note that now the passport people require all dual (or plural) nationals to submit colour photocopies (why is this trying to change my British spelling to American automatically by the way?) of any "uncancelled passports" even when renewing passports. I initially thought I could (unwillingly) apply for everything in my maiden name and then renew my British passport in my married name using the less intrusive passport renewal process, but no: it's not less intrusive. They still insist on seeing evidence of uncancelled passports (oh god, still trying to change my spelling to American every time I use my native language - or one of them), they specify that failure to show such evidence constitutes a crime and may evoke a Nasty Response, and they reserve the right to make even people who are merely renewing a British passport send original foreign passports if somehow the orgy of time and paper wastage constituted by the submission of colour (no, not color, you hegemonic machine that is driving me bonkers: respect diversity, you nefarious little robot) isn't enough to satisfy their lust for intrusive irritation. (This reminds me of the South Park episode where Chef points out "He feeds on the sweet milk of your tears").

My point is that the route of applying for everything in your maiden name (after going through a time-consuming and elaborate process whereby you abjure the identity you've chosen for yourself and have been using for the past 14 years, mind you) *and then* renewing the passport in your married name isn't going to work unless you can anyway either cancel your foreign passport (which as we've seen depends on one or more consular/ambassadorial bureaucrats being exceptionally reasonable and helpful rather than simply playing the stereotypical Vogonic role of Robots Who Say No) or have your married name reflected in your foreign passport.

So I'd say: give the passport cancellation thing a go and see if you do encounter that rare thing, the reasonable bureaucrat who genuinely wishes to reduce the discomfort of other sentient beings. (I do have a government job - not British, alas - and I do go out of my way to solve people's problems even when they don't Fall Within the Ordinary Scope of Our Work beep beep robot sounds, which is why I always have thank-you cards on my desk and my colleagues don't; there is the occasional person like that and I've met a couple of others). If that doesn't work, it may be preferable for you to go back to your other country and endure the gruelling name-changing process. Yes, it's deeply annoying and it consumes considerable amounts of time, but at least it's a known procedure with a clear outcome rather than one or more equally annoying, equally time-consuming procedures whose outcome is uncertain.

If it's any consolation, I'm currently undergoing a lengthy name-change process in my country of residence (which is neither Britain nor my other homeland - the one that isn't Britain that is) on the off-chance that the authorities of my non-British homeland will accept a foreign court order declaring a change of name and will proceed to grant me my married name despite their usually extremely constipated name-change rules. This was suggested to me by a helpful person in my non-British consulate who has memories of it working in the past. See: a helpful consular official. I initiated the procedure almost a month ago and will have to attend a court hearing in July, then (if all goes well) get an apostille (no, not apostle, bossy autocorrect robot with a tiny vocabulary) on the resulting decree, then go to my non-British consulate and initiate a name change petition on the strength of this document, and then probably wait several more months while everything is sent to that country and is considered by yet another bureaucrat who may or may not be reasonable. I don't even know if it will work. It may well be doomed because I'm not a citizen of my country of residence and any number of additional reasons. But my point is that even this horrifyingly convoluted process appears less blood-curdling to me than trying to reason with the British passport office. If you have access to a similar process *except that it will actually guarantee a name change rather than being probably doomed like mine*, then I'd say bite the bullet and go for it. It's not as if the alternatives will be less annoying, but they certainly will have a less clear outcome and therefore be more stressful.

By the way, I heartily agree with noajthan when he (I'm assuming it's a he) says that a) people should be free to choose their own name rather than having it imposed by a bureaucrat (even though my non-British homeland appears never to have received that particular memo and is particularly stubborn concerning name changes) and b) this ill-conceived new 'policy' is causing the passport people to go ape over people who *have already been turned inside out like a sock to check for any traces of crime*. It is therefore wasting time - their own and that of the applicants - on cases where *crime is demonstrably absent*. It's like pinpointed inefficiency. "Let's try to aim resources where they are specifically not needed" could be their unwieldy motto. A wieldy one wouldn't really fit with their whole cumbersome vibe. Can you tell I'm cheesed off just a touch?

Good luck to all. I hope that the slew of delayed passport applications that will soon deluge the passport people will eventually make even their slow-moving "minds" realise that some accommodation has to be made or things will really get out of hand. I wonder how much awkwardness and inconvenience is necessary to overcome the massive inertia of this comatose leviathan.

Thank you for elaborating on the "maiden name" route, it certainly isn't as straight forward as I initially thought.
The name change process in my country is similar to what you are going through.
As a first step, I will attempt to have my existing passport to be cancelled. I hope to meet a kindred soul as yourself who can help me.

On a separate note, you have a refreshingly great sense of humour; hilarious.

Good luck to you as well, hope it gets sorted out.

Thanks for the kind words. Watch out or I'll send you my short stories. (Not to worry, that was probably an empty threat. Probably. *ominous music*).

This is almost certainly a cliche', but when dealing with obstructionism of this magnitude, humour (no, not humor, you malignant mechanical elf) may be the only means for the disempowered civilian to preserve mental sanity. One wonders how this evolved. "Oh well, I got gored by yet another mammoth, ha ha".

Let's all keep each other updated about the progress of these distasteful procedures. (I would perpetrate some sort of gynaecological metaphor at this juncture but I'm far too ladylike, and besides I might get censored or Worse). I wonder if we can somehow Join Together in a Mighty Coalition of the Reasonable and press for mind-bogglingly harmless minor changes.

Good luck to all.

ouflak1 wrote:

noajthan wrote:

noajthan wrote:Well, I haven't seen yet what we've been sent.
And HM PO will still have to agree to accept it. That's not a given.

.... and it complies with what the HM PO official asked for...

I still find this part very strange. It's not the Phillipines responsibility to make sure that UK citizens can leave their own country in conformance with basic human rights. It's the UK's responsibility to make sure its citizens can leave the country in conformance with human rights. I hope you've made a copy of all your correspondance. I think you have genuine civil rights complaint against the UK government. You might be able to get a nice settlement.

Update: we have just received a standard letter inviting my wife to arrange the mandatory first-time applicant's passport interview.
So, without acknowledging it, HM PO have evidently now accepted the cancelled passport and Certificate of Cancellation we provided.

We can only assume HM PO finally accepts that:
1) my wife is not currently a dual national, she is now 'only' British (as we have asserted all through this passport application process);
2) her UK naturalisation did (in her case, for the Philippines) automatically cancel her previous citizenship and render her foreign passport invalid;
3) she does not hold any second, different identity that is preventing HM PO from issuing a UK identity document, (a British passport), according to their rules

- the legal situation may ofcourse be different for each different country (and in each individual case)

Fingers now crossed for the interview.

Next hurdle, seems yet more delay for no real purpose except to stress & inconvenience honest applicants

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -none.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... sters.html

About HM PO requirement to have all uncancelled pasports submitted with passport application:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... foreign_pa

Two points to note in the answers from HMPO (see PDF on above link):

The requirement to submit an uncancelled passports relates to any uncancelled passport, British or otherwise. The document is required to support identity and nationality checks. It is also required to ensure that any British passport issued is compatible with the biographical and photographic details contained in an existing passport.

Should it subsequently come to HMPO’s notice that a person had failed to disclose at the point of application for a British passport that they hold a passport in another nationality, it would be a criminal offence on the basis that they would have made a false statement on the application form.

This may render them liable to criminal proceedings and it would be open to the Secretary of State to consider the exercise of the Royal Prerogative to withdraw or refuse the issue of a British passport. That would be considered on the individual circumstances of the case and the seriousness of the consequences of the attempted deception.

Link to the full response from HM PO to the above FOI request:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... y.pdf.html

Hello everyone

I have a similar problem too,

My naturalisation certificate has been issued on 10th feb 2015 with my previous name as i changed my name after receiving my naturalisation certificate with deed poll.
I applied on 15th may 2015 for my British passport i received a letter on 28th may which was dated 26th may saying :

That i need to provide HMPO with 3 documents confirming that i have changed my name with authorities such as education, Driving License, bank and etc ,also stating that i will be using my current name for all purposes in future in The UK and overseas.
Many authorities refused to change my name in their system as i couldnt provide them with an ID or passport.
Changing name or surname is very difficult and sometimes impossible in my country

i sent back on 29th may confirmation letter that i intend to use my current name for all proposes and i will change my name in my other passport as soon i receive my British passport issued with my current name. also included my council tax bill and letter from HO as i only have those with my new name.

Finger cross

mimimari26 wrote:Hello everyone

I have a similar problem too,

My naturalisation certificate has been issued on 10th feb 2015 with my previous name as i changed my name after receiving my naturalisation certificate with deed poll.
I applied on 15th may 2015 for my British passport i received a letter on 28th may which was dated 26th may saying :

That i need to provide HMPO with 3 documents confirming that i have changed my name with authorities such as education, Driving License, bank and etc ,also stating that i will be using my current name for all purposes in future in The UK and overseas.
Many authorities refused to change my name in their system as i couldnt provide them with an ID or passport.
Changing name or surname is very difficult and sometimes impossible in my country

i sent back on 29th may confirmation letter that i intend to use my current name for all proposes and i will change my name in my other passport as soon i receive my British passport issued with my current name. also included my council tax bill and letter from HO as i only have those with my new name.

Finger cross

mimimari26,
The outcome of your case (with name change after UK naturalisation & passport applied for in new name) may be of interest to many people here.

Best of luck.

noajthan wrote:Update: we have just received a standard letter inviting my wife to arrange the mandatory first-time applicant's passport interview.
So, without acknowledging it, HM PO have evidently now accepted the cancelled passport and Certificate of Cancellation we provided.

...

Fingers now crossed for the interview.

Yesterday, my wife attended Crawley passport office for the mandatory passport interview.

There were the usual type of questions about:

• journey to the passport office
  passport application & documents submitted
  countersignatory details, including age (!)
  address & phone details
  banking details
  voting register question
  immediate family details
  how she met spouse
  house & garden details (including type of plants grown!)
  lifestyle questions (various)
  questions about hometown, including directions to various places
  questions about daughter's college, the headteacher, her uniform & subjects studied
  wider family questions (number of siblings, parents & grandparents names - including spellings, dates of birth)

& etc.

The interviewing official was pleasant, calm and reassuring.
It all seemed to go quite smoothly apart from one or two mixups on dates due to shyness and some nervousness (on my wife's part, not the interviewer's).

HM PO texted today to say passport is being printed & it should arrive in a few working days.
Will celebrate once it's in our hands.

noajthan wrote:...
HM PO texted today to say passport is being printed & it should arrive in a few working days.
Will celebrate once it's in our hands.

Cancellation route has worked (cancel foreign passport plus obtain Certificate of Cancellation from embassy as supporting evidence).

Passport arrived today.

All good.

For those caught in a similar catch-22 situation, namely:

Recently naturalised in married name (or other new name);
AND documents including foreign passport held in maiden name (or other previous name);
AND HM PO refusing or delaying first British passport (citing as their reason, "to avoid the creation of a second identity")

Summary of Options

1) You are:
Non-dual national - UK citizen (only)

You hold an uncancelled foreign passport in different name
(eg passport is in maiden name but you have been recently naturalised in UK & now applying for British passport in married name)

a) Cancel/surrender or revoke the foreign passport
PLUS obtain letter or certificate of cancellation (if possible)

b) Change name on foreign passport (to match name used in UK)

Note: this is often suggested by HM PO but can't easily be done if holder is no longer a citizen of the foreign country;
(eg typically due to losing foreign citizenship due to granting of UK naturalisation)

c) Apply in married name plus request an official observation in British passport to record use of maiden name
(possible option for professionals, members of nobility & similar cases - proof required)

d) Revert to using maiden name (or previous name) in UK & (re-)apply for British passport in the maiden/previous name;
(proof of reverting to full use of the maiden/previous name in UK will be required by HM PO)

e) Reapply/reacquire your original nationality (and reobtain a foreign passport); then obtain UK 'Right of Abode';
(as per option in group 2 below)

2) You are:
Dual national - with UK citizenship plus 1 or more other citizenships held

You hold an uncancelled foreign passport in a different name
(eg maiden name & you have been recently naturalised in UK, now applying for British passport in married name)

a) Revoke foreign citizenship; (see options in group 1, above)

b) Cancel/surrender or revoke foreign passport
PLUS obtain letter or certificate of cancellation (if possible)

c) Change name on foreign passport to match name used in UK

May involve trip back to country if the local embassy (in UK) cannot do this.
Minor name differences (eg just forename) may be accepted by HM PO;

d) Apply in married name plus request an official observation in British passport to record your use of maiden name
(possible option for professionals, members of nobility & similar cases - proof required)

e) Revert to using maiden name (or previous name) in UK & (re-)apply for British passport in maiden (/previous) name;
(proof of reverting to fully use the maiden/previous name in UK will be required by HM PO)

f) Give up on applying for/receiving British passport; apply for Right of Abode (a sticker in your foreign passport)

Note: RoA only granted if no British passport is held

Pros: proves your right of abode in UK;
Cons: costly; no additional travel benefits; expires with foreign passport (so need to renew & pay again);
Unclear if RoA adequately proves right to access UK NHS

Notes per country:

India - catch-22:
dual nationality not recognised;
it's hard to cancel/surrender or update India passport without first obtaining a British passport
&
British passport may be withheld until India passport is changed (!)

Note: Some posters have reported HM PO have accepted a letter committing to change name in the IN passport asap;
British passport has then been issued on that basis

Iran - catch-22: reported that wives (only?) cannot change to or use a foreign name

Philippines - 'cancel passport' option successfully done via UK embassy;
AND obtained Certificate of Cancellation for small fee (£18--) to use as supporting evidence

ie confirmation from embassy that holder lost citizenship from date of UK naturalisation
AND so is ineligible to hold PH passport
AND PH passport was invalidated by UK naturalisation

Russia - dual nationality seems to becoming a sensitive topic;
recent Russian laws appear to require foreign citizenship to be reported to the authorities (at least for residents in Russia);
- may be harder to approach embassy for supporting documents

Notes: some posters have reported they are currently in progress with filing name changes in their country (or via a UK embassy);
news on outcomes awaited

1 poster is currently in progress with applying for 1st British passport in a previous name to that used for their naturalisation.
news on outcome awaited

Other options...
Complaints to HM PO
[some made; outcomes unclear]

Legal/other challenges to new policy
eg via campaign group, migrants group (or similar) or via MP
[unaware of any being made at present]

Hope this summary helps someone - good luck to all.

Update
I have received a letter on 4th june to call back HMPO, They told me that i need to change the Naturalisation certificate changed to my current name, also i asked them on of the caseworker to call me back.

I have informed the Home office after my Naturalisation certificate on 1st april about my name change i sent them my deed poll , also correct the date of birth,which was incorrect.
Home office acknowledged my name change by sending me a letter stating my and that they will change the correct certificate shortly. Home office only Corrected my date of birth and did not change the name.

When the case worker called me back the same day she said the case worker who is handling my application will be back next Tuesday, And she add that this case has to go to our professional team name changing section. Also i have realised every caseworker they have difference suggestion, one says change the certificate one says this application has to go to different department.
But i just want to add this:

HMPO dose not make any sense what so ever, i can easy apply For my passport with old name and once i get my pass then again apply to change my name. once you have a British passport they must change it for you.

It just so annoying.