British passport for baby born in India - Timeline

Hi Sim and harshil,

Sorry for the delay in replying. I was very busy trying to avoid reapplying for the passport. I have to say I tried everything, lots of politicians and diplomats both from India and UK were involved along with people working at British high commission and british council. But once the application is refused, there is no provision to review it under the British law. I wrote to the British high commissioner, he forwarded it to FCO and I received a reply after 2 weeks! My MP in India who is an ex-diplomat and knows him personally also wrote to him asking to reconsider the application. At first they accused me of forging the bank manager’s signature which I challenged and asked them to prove using a handwriting expert. I also had CCTV images of the bank manager signing the form and letter from him explaining why he was confused with what was asked by the passport officer. So it was a bitter pill for them to swallow.

My local MP in London wrote to the home office and also spoke to them as my husband and 3 year old son had travelled to the UK in July as we were expecting to receive the passport within a week. So I pointed out lack of care for the 3 year old and also I have to return to work in September. I received a letter from the home office through my MP to reapply and since all checks have been carried out, they agreed to ring the new counter-signatory and issue the passport as soon as possible. I reapplied in August, but they rang the counter-signatory after 2 weeks. I am expecting the passport within the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I travelled to the UK leaving my 8 month old baby with my parents as I have to return to work on 3rd September. My Indian visa is expiring and will need to apply for OCI. Baby needs exit visa once he gets his passport. Busy days ahead.

From my experience, I would suggest reapplying as soon as possible to avoid any further delay. You could write to your MP in the UK mentioning family separation. But people at the BHC in New Delhi are not sympathetic and don’t seem to care. Good luck!

pinky2012 wrote:Hi Sim and harshil,

From my experience, I would suggest reapplying as soon as possible to avoid any further delay. You could write to your MP in the UK mentioning family separation. But people at the BHC in New Delhi are not sympathetic and don’t seem to care. Good luck!

hi pinky2012, I am bit lost here, why do you think I should reapply? I made an application in first week of August only and I think it normally takes 12-16 weeks. And in my case my son has become citizen of UK by MN1 and now he just needs Passport as travel document so I expect the process to take less time and should not face any problem.

It looks like you got some different idea in mind about my situation.

........and finally my son's British passport arrived today! Reapplied on 13 th August along with letter from home office through my local MP in London and a push from Head of consular services, BDHC, Chennai.

First applied on 14 Feb - application was returned twice for incorrect fee and invalid counter-signatory, wasting 2 months
Application received at BHC on 6 April
Contacted counter-signatory on 8 July
Application refused due to unsatisfactory reply from counter-signatory and documents returned on 19 July. (Tried everything in the next 3 weeks to avoid reapplying, but there is no option to review closed application)
Reapplied on 13th August and passport received on 13th September.

I will have to warn those who are reapplying that it takes 16 weeks to issue the passport. My case was different as my 3 year old was separated from me and I had to leave baby in India to return to work. So the home office agreed to expedite the application process as the checks done in the UK were fine.

I wish good luck to everyone who apply in future.

pinky2012 wrote:........and finally my son's British passport arrived today! Reapplied on 13 th August along with letter from home office through my local MP in London and a push from Head of consular services, BDHC, Chennai.

congrats.

harshil223 wrote:

pinky2012 wrote:........and finally my son's British passport arrived today! Reapplied on 13 th August along with letter from home office through my local MP in London and a push from Head of consular services, BDHC, Chennai.

congrats.

i also have a great news to share. i got British passport for my child delivered to my India home address yesterday. it took approx 5-6 weeks for the whole process. i think now i must arrange an exit visa for my child so that he can leave India and enter UK on British Passport. any help in this process will be highly appreciated if anyone has done it.

thanks in advance

pinky2012 wrote:Hi Sim,
I will let you know if there is any progress with my application. I think once the file is closed, they won't review it as the decision is final and binding. This is the info I got from the Deputy High Commissioner at Chennai. He was sympathetic, but can't help as it is under BHC New Delhi. I was advised to reapply, but I am waiting for a reply from FCO by the end of this week.

Hi Pinky2012

any update in your case?

Hi I have a query. I an going to have a baby soon and will
be applying for british passport for the baby. My husband
holds a British passport through naturalisation and I am on
ILR. My query is do I have to submit any documents (like sakary slips, bank statement, tax records etc)
For the baby's passport other than my own original passport

I am in the same boat, going to apply for my baby's British passport.
Can I send an attested copy of the UK passport rather than the original? I can't be in India for 4 months, as I have to return back to work (father).

Or do we need to get a notarised copy?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

HI

I am having british passport and my wife is on ILR, we are going to have baby girl in October, delivery will be in India. Could some one please let me know what are the documents do we need to submit?


Thanks

Hi

did you apply passport for your baby?

Looking forward to hear from you.

Thanks

RajRajRaj wrote:I am in the same boat, going to apply for my baby's British passport.
Can I send an attested copy of the UK passport rather than the original? I can't be in India for 4 months, as I have to return back to work (father).

Or do we need to get a notarised copy?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Any update on people who have applied for British passport of their children recently? Please provide list of documents for passport application. how long its taking and what are your experiences. so far on this forum people have been through bad experiences. There are very few success stories. it will really help others to save their time and money.

Hello,

Just wondering has anyone successfully been able to apply for British passport for his/her child overseas. if yes, please share your experience and timeline. Also please advise any advice, supporting documents or anything you think is useful?

Thanks Shakil

Shakil - Please see below link for list of some documents assuming you will be applying from India. Also note that not all docs may be relevant to you but this link covers pretty much all docs. Second link is from the forum which has some good information as well.

Good luck and keep us posted with your updates.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... cation.pdf

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1111474

Hi,

I am a BC since 2014. I & My wife have ILR since 2011. We need to bring our new born baby girl to the UK from India.
Option 1: If I apply for direct british passort for the baby, the website says 16 weeks. I would like to know if anybody has been interviewed for British passport for their kid OTHER than in Delhi in India.
As I have to return to the UK in two weeks time, I cannot submit my original passport with the baby's passport application. Can I notorize my passport with an Indian lawyer, thought the gov.uk website says UK solicitor to be notorized?
The processing time mentioned is minimum 16 weeks in the gov.uk website. Has any applicant obtained the passport in 16 weeks?
The issue is my wife needs to start work after her 6 months maternity leave in August. If the maternity needs to be extended we need to inform the empoyer two months in advance. means I should know if the baby is going to get a passport by end of May. ie, in 12 weeks time.

Other option we think is o obtain an Indian passport and apply for ILR for the baby. The time mentioned for ilr only is 12 weeks. The Indian passport may obtain with in 2 weeks. Hence in total 14 weeks time, we may be able to take a decision about travel date to the UK.

Has anybody applied for childs british passport and obtained in 16 weeks? what were the documents included?
Similarly has anybody applied for ilr from India for child, which form did you use?

Can you please give some suggestions as I need to take a decision with in one week.

Thanks very much in advance

Atel