Child depedant travel document not available

Hi All,

My 1.5 year old boy is not named in any of our passports yet as we have not had travel plans, he was born in London and has his birth certificate only. The Tier 4 online application form has a question regarding travel documents, I ticked "No" when asked if my child has a passport or travel document, and wanted to indicate the reason, but there is no such an option in the drop down list. It has "expired", "stolen", "lost" and "with UKVI". Because none of them is the correct reason for not having his travel doc, I am puzzled as to what to do. Should I select one of these options and then write a separate letter to the caseworker to explain why we do not have a travel doc for the child yet? I will post his birth certificate, that's all we have for him at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

There's no requirement for UK-born child to apply for leave to remain.

vinny wrote:There's no requirement for UK-born child to apply for leave to remain.

Thanks vinny, my child is born in the UK, but we have a birth certificate from my country and the UK and we plan to travel later early next year. I guess, to come back to the UK, he needs visa?

Yes, he does. Also a passport.

vinny wrote:Yes, he does. Also a passport.

Thanks, then my question is,

In the application form, there is a section asking for a travel document. Because my son does not have one as yet, can we just apply without a travel document? To get the BRP, my son needs a birth certificate, does not he?

We will get a passport for my son when we go back home country.

You will need to apply for a passport before you apply for the visa.

londonphd wrote:We will get a passport for my son when we go back home country.

That's fine. When he gets the passport, he can apply for a visa.

sah10406 wrote:

londonphd wrote:We will get a passport for my son when we go back home country.

That's fine. When he gets the passport, he can apply for a visa.

The child cannot travel if he does not have a passport.

CR001 wrote:

sah10406 wrote:

londonphd wrote:We will get a passport for my son when we go back home country.

That's fine. When he gets the passport, he can apply for a visa.

The child cannot travel if he does not have a passport.

I was assuming that OP has ascertained that it is not possible for their child to apply for a passport in the UK, and so there are arrangements for the child to be able to travel, for example by being temporarily added in a parent's passport.

OP, are you just choosing to apply for the passport in your home country, or can you only do it there?

I don't believe that children can be 'endorsed' on parents passports any longer for travel purposes. This practice was changed a couple of years ago and all children now need to have their own photographic travel documents.

CR001 wrote:I don't believe that children can be 'endorsed' on parents passports any longer for travel purposes. This practice was changed a couple of years ago and all children now need to have their own photographic travel documents.

Okay, I didn't know this was a worldwide standard now. In that case, OP must apply for a new passport in the UK, and then a visa for the child either in the UK or in their home country.

One of the main reasons was to reduce child trafficking and parents disappearing with children and to formally be able to identify all travelers. Even more so now that biometric electronic passports have become the standard and the older passports are being phased out completely with many countries having a deadline for switching over and updating passports.

Thanks all, i phoned the ukvi, they said i have to explain, on a short note, why we do not have a travel doc for the baby. As we did not have travel plans, there has not been a need for a travel doc. we coyld have him on my passport as my country does not give travel docs to under 18s, their travel doc parent's passport where they are named.

we will get the passport after receiving our docs back from ukvi

What's your country?

Yes, many countries, including my country (Uzbekistan) will start issuing passports to children under 18. But the visa application still has an option that can be selected if a child is named on parent's passport.

Why not simply add the child to one of its parent's passports first, before applying for the child's leave either in the UK or in Uzbekistan? You seem determined to make this complicated and risky, when it does not need to be so!