Royal Post lost my passport and nat certificate

I had applied for British Passport using Post office Passport Check and Send including secure delivery.
Passport officer called me to inform that they have lost my folder which contained passport & applications. They have lost 6 other applicants documents
Now, they have requested to me apply for with passport application.
I will apply for duplicate naturalisation certificate as instrument and apply for passport again.

I have logged a complaint with Royal mail and they say finding our documents are slim as its nearly been a month.

But now the problem is, how can I get OCI passport?
I don’t have my Indian passport to surrender or can I declare that I m an Indian(affidavit in application) to get a duplicate passport.

Could you please guide me on how to proceed from here?

Thanks in advance

Waiting123 wrote:I had applied for British Passport using Post office Passport Check and Send including secure delivery.
Passport officer called me to inform that they have lost my folder which contained passport & applications. They have lost 6 other applicants documents
Now, they have requested to me apply for with passport application.
I will apply for duplicate naturalisation certificate as instrument and apply for passport again.

I have logged a complaint with Royal mail and they say finding our documents are slim as its nearly been a month.

But now the problem is, how can I get OCI passport?
I don’t have my Indian passport to surrender or can I declare that I m an Indian(affidavit in application) to get a duplicate passport.

Could you please guide me on how to proceed from here?

Thanks in advance

Aww man, that sucks big time; ultimate nightmare

You'll have to request a copy of your citizenship certificate, which will cost you 94 quid, I think; but not sure how long it will take; the process is simple, fill in the form and submit with the payment slip; you'll also have to apply for another Indian passport and when you get both; submit the application again.
Unless you have an Indian ID and they accept that, but I think they only accept EU IDs, otherwise, you gotta submit the passport; but ask just in case.

Thanks D.

For applying for duplicate Indian passport, there is a requirement "Letter from British Home Office confirming non-acquisition of British nationality are also required to be furnished " http://hcilondon.in/passport.html.

I'm naturalised, so dont think I can get the letter.

I would not think you need a duplicate passport. What's the point of it?
I'm sure there is a process to accommodate surrnder cases in which the Indian passport was lost.

I will contact Indian embassy, tomorrow. will see how it goes.

I have requested the Royal mail to give me in writing or letter mentioning what has happened.
Post office manager didnt want to give me in writing as she said "its still under investigation". However, when I complained Royal Mail, they got in touch with the Post office manager. Dont think PO manager contacted them or logged a complaint.

Jambo wrote:I would not think you need a duplicate passport. What's the point of it?
I'm sure there is a process to accommodate surrnder cases in which the Indian passport was lost.

I think in this case the point is that it's required to apply for a UK passport; or can he submit something else instead? I think he needs the nat cert. and the passport he entered the country with; if it gets lost, you can usually apply for a replacement one, but in his case, it seems he lost his previous citizenship, so it seems like a catch 22.... any ideas, what he could submit instead of the passport?

Waiting123 wrote:I will contact Indian embassy, tomorrow. will see how it goes.

I have requested the Royal mail to give me in writing or letter mentioning what has happened.
Post office manager didnt want to give me in writing as she said "its still under investigation". However, when I complained Royal Mail, they got in touch with the Post office manager. Dont think PO manager contacted them or logged a complaint.

Let us know how you get on; it sounds like a nightmare. Did you ask the passport department if you can submit something else, instead of the indian passport?

Because it was Passport check and send, Passport office is aware that I had submitted the Indian passport. Brit Passport officer asked me to fill in the application and submit with duplicate nat. certificate, which I plan to do.

Waiting123 wrote:Because it was Passport check and send, Passport office is aware that I had submitted the Indian passport. Brit Passport officer asked me to fill in the application and submit with duplicate nat. certificate, which I plan to do.

Ah, good shout; so you have to re-submit the application, but only with the nat. cert. withouth your previous passport? will they accept that? is it because they trust that the post office person checked your identity already when they checked your indian passport?

They have to accept, as its one-off. Post office clerk did check all the documents and also filled a form, which was sent to Passport office. Its clearly lost in transit.

In addition, I plan send photocopies of my passport. It was a good idea to scan all pages of passport before I posted it.

For OCI you don't need duplicate Indian passport and now you cannot apply for one as you are BC.

Nothing to worry, you will need a police certificate stating your Indian passport is lost, more over keep all documents from Royal Mail.

"Applicants who have ever held an Indian Passport but are unable to produce the same for surrender for any reason (loss/misplacement/submitted to UK Home Office long time back) are required to furnish a notarised affidavit in original (if Passport is already expired) and also a Police Report (in cases where Indian Passport was still valid).

Note :
Applicants who obtained Foreign Nationality after May, 2010 and are unable to provide surrender certificate as his/her Indian passport is lost will be required to submit Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Certificate to be obtained from the Surrender Section of the High Commission of India, London."

If you asked for secure delivery, Royal Mail has compensation scheme.

Only thing is its time consuming.

Waiting123 wrote:They have to accept, as its one-off. Post office clerk did check all the documents and also filled a form, which was sent to Passport office. Its clearly lost in transit.

In addition, I plan send photocopies of my passport. It was a good idea to scan all pages of passport before I posted it.

Good shout, I might actually do the same; just in case it gets lost, I'll scan everything.

Let us know how you get on.

neoseal wrote:For OCI you don't need duplicate Indian passport and now you cannot apply for one as you are BC.

Nothing to worry, you will need a police certificate stating your Indian passport is lost, more over keep all documents from Royal Mail.

"Applicants who have ever held an Indian Passport but are unable to produce the same for surrender for any reason (loss/misplacement/submitted to UK Home Office long time back) are required to furnish a notarised affidavit in original (if Passport is already expired) and also a Police Report (in cases where Indian Passport was still valid).

Note :
Applicants who obtained Foreign Nationality after May, 2010 and are unable to provide surrender certificate as his/her Indian passport is lost will be required to submit Renunciation of Indian Citizenship Certificate to be obtained from the Surrender Section of the High Commission of India, London."

If you asked for secure delivery, Royal Mail has compensation scheme.

Only thing is its time consuming.

So if your passport and certificate get lost; when you re-apply, you just need to submit the certificate, but not the passport? for those that don't have to renounce their nationality; what other document would they submit?

Derivaz wrote: So if your passport and certificate get lost; when you re-apply, you just need to submit the certificate, but not the passport? for those that don't have to renounce their nationality; what other document would they submit?

The Passport Office would like to see your passport as part of the ID check. If you don't have one (for whatever reason), they will not insist on you obtaining one but the process might take longer as they would need to confirm your identity by other means (contacting your reference, checking archives etc).

I applied thru check & send on the same day of ceremony, just took photos of my certificates before sending it.

In your case passport office are aware of the lost passport and post office can confirm that, hence shouldn't be much of problem.

Can you please confirm how you have posted your application, Special Delivery Envelope by Post Office? Did you request for increasing your insurance claim? FYI, by default the special delivery has 500 Pounds Insured, so please remember to collect all your expenses and claim back to Roayal mail the full insurance money.

Waiting123 wrote:I had applied for British Passport using Post office Passport Check and Send including secure delivery.
Passport officer called me to inform that they have lost my folder which contained passport & applications. They have lost 6 other applicants documents
Now, they have requested to me apply for with passport application.
I will apply for duplicate naturalisation certificate as instrument and apply for passport again.

I have logged a complaint with Royal mail and they say finding our documents are slim as its nearly been a month.

But now the problem is, how can I get OCI passport?
I don’t have my Indian passport to surrender or can I declare that I m an Indian(affidavit in application) to get a duplicate passport.

Could you please guide me on how to proceed from here?

Thanks in advance

Jambo wrote:

Derivaz wrote: So if your passport and certificate get lost; when you re-apply, you just need to submit the certificate, but not the passport? for those that don't have to renounce their nationality; what other document would they submit?

The Passport Office would like to see your passport as part of the ID check. If you don't have one (for whatever reason), they will not insist on you obtaining one but the process might take longer as they would need to confirm your identity by other means (contacting your reference, checking archives etc).

ah ok, so the passport is not compulsory; it just helps to prove his identity; I guess it's like if you apply for a replacement UK passport, because you have lost yours; they require a referee instead of the passport, right?

rajan1984 wrote:Can you please confirm how you have posted your application, Special Delivery Envelope by Post Office? Did you request for increasing your insurance claim? FYI, by default the special delivery has 500 Pounds Insured, so please remember to collect all your expenses and claim back to Roayal mail the full insurance money.

Waiting123 wrote:I had applied for British Passport using Post office Passport Check and Send including secure delivery.
Passport officer called me to inform that they have lost my folder which contained passport & applications. They have lost 6 other applicants documents
Now, they have requested to me apply for with passport application.
I will apply for duplicate naturalisation certificate as instrument and apply for passport again.

I have logged a complaint with Royal mail and they say finding our documents are slim as its nearly been a month.

But now the problem is, how can I get OCI passport?
I don’t have my Indian passport to surrender or can I declare that I m an Indian(affidavit in application) to get a duplicate passport.

Could you please guide me on how to proceed from here?

Thanks in advance

I think the check and send service use the special delivery service by default, don't they?

Thanks all,

I had been to VFS office today, the enquiry clerk told me to contact Indian High Commissioner for help ; as VFS can only give surrender certify if and only if passport is handed over/surrender to them.

Thanks neoseal , I reported to Police today. I will carry the police log with me when I go Indian High commissioner next week.

@rajan1984, my confidence in postal service was high ! I didn’t increase the insurance. Although, thanks I try and will claim £500 as it was a special delivery(by default). They did assure that i will get all the money back for the payments I have already made.

You are welcome Waiting123, hope things workout for you. Did Royal Mail or post office offer you compensation, I will be surprised if they don't.

A special delivery pack with 7-8 passport application will not be a small pack and Royal Mail loosing it is bit odd.

I had similar experience 3 years back, did a special delivery before 1 pm, pack contained our life (passports, birth certificates, educational qualifications, tax returns etc). Next day I checked royal mail delivery confirmation and system flashed "tracking number not identified", horror of my life, I rang Royal mail delivery complaints and gave my tracking number explained the importance of the pack. The lady said that they will track it down within next 2 hours, and she called me back within an hour saying that the pack has been found lying in the clearing depot with no special delivery sticker on it, saying sometimes stickers do come off . She confirmed that a new special delivery is done and gave me a tracking number, promising it will be delivered asap and it was.

I am sure the pack is lying in some corner of a depot, its just someone must make a good effort to look for it.

Waiting123 wrote:Thanks all,

I had been to VFS office today, the enquiry clerk told me to contact Indian High Commissioner for help ; as VFS can only give surrender certify if and only if passport is handed over/surrender to them.

Thanks neoseal , I reported to Police today. I will carry the police log with me when I go Indian High commissioner next week.

@rajan1984, my confidence in postal service was high ! I didn’t increase the insurance. Although, thanks I try and will claim £500 as it was a special delivery(by default). They did assure that i will get all the money back for the payments I have already made.

so what supporting documents do you have to submit now? nat cert and the police log?

neoseal wrote:You are welcome Waiting123, hope things workout for you. Did Royal Mail or post office offer you compensation, I will be surprised if they don't.

A special delivery pack with 7-8 passport application will not be a small pack and Royal Mail loosing it is bit odd.

I had similar experience 3 years back, did a special delivery before 1 pm, pack contained our life (passports, birth certificates, educational qualifications, tax returns etc). Next day I checked royal mail delivery confirmation and system flashed "tracking number not identified", horror of my life, I rang Royal mail delivery complaints and gave my tracking number explained the importance of the pack. The lady said that they will track it down within next 2 hours, and she called me back within an hour saying that the pack has been found lying in the clearing depot with no special delivery sticker on it, saying sometimes stickers do come off . She confirmed that a new special delivery is done and gave me a tracking number, promising it will be delivered asap and it was.

I am sure the pack is lying in some corner of a depot, its just someone must make a good effort to look for it.

so yours didn't get lost; that's good; i can't imagine losing educational qualifications and tax returns; the passport is a pain, but easier to renew, the other docs would be more hassle, I think.

You got any news on your passport app?

Passport office are quick, received interview letter yesterday, booked interview for Tuesday.

Getting duplicate passport is simple compared to getting duplicate qualification certificates, tax returns and other docs.

Good to know that they found your pack.

I m sure they are under pressure from all the applicants and more over, the importance of lost our sensitive information. Hope they will make an thorough check in all center. As the royal mail clerk said, since its been a month - finding our pack would be slim, well atleast not soon enough.

I will keep you posted on any development.

I have lost my passport application, passport, phots and nat.certificate .
Getting duplicate passport is simple if you’re the citizen, since India doesn’t support dual citizenship I cant as I m naturalised citizen of the UK.