British passport application

macaroni wrote:

djb123 wrote:
I was sat the otherside of the room whilst my wife had her interview and could hear all of the questions.

Those questions are very similar to what she was asked. I think she was also asked what email address did she put on the form, where was her citizenship ceremony was, and how did she send her application.

Really? At least you were there silently offering moral support. I will make sure my husband comes along then!


I hope to be very well prepared for my interview. It sounds crazy but there are some questions listed that I could not answer, in my case. The person I hope will sign as a referee is someone I've known for a while but I honestly don't know his age. That's the whole point if you know someone who happens to be a professional, and your purpose of association was business. You wouldn't know personal things like their age.

The same applies to some of the other issues which either I don't deal with, or simply don't pay that much attention to. I know I have x number of credit cards, for example, but I could not offhand say which one is a VISA card or which one is a MAESTRO card. Things like that.

I wasn't planning to go in, it just so happen the interviewer was in the reception of the building and invited me to come through. It was late on a Friday and there was no-one else there, might have been different if there was other interviewees there.

My wife didn't know the age of her referee and took a guess (she was a couple of years out). I suspect it would only be a problem guessing if you were really wrong, maybe thinking your referee was 65 when in fact they were 25...

macaroni wrote:djb, are all spouses allowed to accompany their partners at these interviews? I mean, did you have to ask for permission, or were they nice and friendly and offered you a seat?

The interviewer was very nice and friendly. Remember the interview isn't anything to be scared of, in fact they are only really doing it to help you by stopping someone stealing your identity.

djb123 wrote:

macaroni wrote:djb, are all spouses allowed to accompany their partners at these interviews? I mean, did you have to ask for permission, or were they nice and friendly and offered you a seat?

The interviewer was very nice and friendly. Remember the interview isn't anything to be scared of, in fact they are only really doing it to help you by stopping someone stealing your identity.

Thanks djb. Anything to do with Home Office gives me stress.

djb123 wrote:The paper form asks for your parent's details, but unlike the online form doesn't insist on you filling in your grandparent's details if your parents are not British.

I think the paper form does want your grandparents' details:

Section 4: Parents' details for all first-time applicants and all children under 16
Part B: Was the person named in section 2 (i.e. you!) born outside the UK?

(Presumably YES for naturalised citizens)

If YES: Fill in their parents' details below.

...


And then in tiny letters under the blanks, it says:

"If both parents named above were born after 31 December 1982 OR were born abroad, we will also need the full name, town, country, date of birth and date of marriage of your grandparents (or details of your parents' claim to British nationality.) Write these details in Section 8, or on a separate sheet of paper."

Like Christophe says, this is very unclear. Why would your parents need a claim to British nationality if you were naturalised as a spouse of a UK citizen? Obviously, your parents and grandparents should have no bearing on the matter. But where do they ask about your spouse? Nowhere. Again, one-form-does-not-fit-all! In any event, I included my grandparents' info on a separate sheet anyway. No use getting rejected over something silly like that.

Macaroni: glad you found the other forum useful! Don't worry too much about the interview. Like djb says, they just want to make sure that you are you...

whirly wrote:

"If both parents named above were born after 31 December 1982 OR were born abroad, we will also need the full name, town, country, date of birth and date of marriage of your grandparents (or details of your parents' claim to British nationality.) Write these details in Section 8, or on a separate sheet of paper."

Like Christophe says, this is very unclear. Why would your parents need a claim to British nationality if you were naturalised as a spouse of a UK citizen? Obviously, your parents and grandparents should have no bearing on the matter. But where do they ask about your spouse? Nowhere. Again, one-form-does-not-fit-all! In any event, I included my grandparents' info on a separate sheet anyway. No use getting rejected over something silly like that.

The reason that they ask about grandparents is that some people do have a claim to British citizenship through grandparents (not many, but some). It's irrelevant if you're a naturalised citizen, but I'd just fill in the details if they ask for (assuming, of course, that you know them: not everyone is necessarily up to speed on details about their grandparents...).

i am really worried now
i have no idea about when and where my grandparents were married i don’t know even any dates of birth simply because i havent meet them …….. they passed away before i was born
What shall i do now. What i am suppos to write in this section?

If you don't know, you don't know. Write unknown. An application should not be rejected for this reason.

JAJ wrote:If you don't know, you don't know. Write unknown. An application should not be rejected for this reason.

I'll admit we didn't fill in anything about grandparents, not even unknown on my wife's application. Didn't seem to cause her any problems, as I think it was just under 4 weeks from when she applied to when the passport turned up - that includes a delay pf a few days whilst waiting for an interview.

I've picked up a form and it's quite hard to read with it's small fonts, pale orange-brown print against a pale orange-brown background.

I only know the names of two of my grandparents. Of them I know only one full birthdate. I have no idea what the details of my other set of grandparents are, not even their full names. They have both been deceased for over 20 years.


For those who can advise, if we use the Post Office Check and Send service, do we pay the full £72 to the Post Office? Or, do we pay the Post Office £7 to check and send, and then include payment inside the application?

Also, despite the Post Office checking(what they check I am not really sure), do our passports and certificates still get sent to the IPS? Sorry if I sound so naive but the whole concept of "Check and Send" is odd, if we STILL have to send off all our original documents like the passport and naturalisation certificate as well.

macaroni wrote:I've picked up a form and it's quite hard to read with it's small fonts, pale orange-brown print against a pale orange-brown background.

I only know the names of two of my grandparents. Of them I know only one full birthdate. I have no idea what the details of my other set of grandparents are, not even their full names. They have both been deceased for over 20 years.


For those who can advise, if we use the Post Office Check and Send service, do we pay the full £72 to the Post Office? Or, do we pay the Post Office £7 to check and send, and then include payment inside the application?

Also, despite the Post Office checking(what they check I am not really sure), do our passports and certificates still get sent to the IPS? Sorry if I sound so naive but the whole concept of "Check and Send" is odd, if we STILL have to send off all our original documents like the passport and naturalisation certificate as well.

As I said in my previous post we didn't put the details of any grandparents on my wife's form and it didn't seem to cause any issues.

All the Post Office Check & Send service does is check you've filled the form in correctly, check the photographs are suitable, check you've supplied the correct documentation, and then they send it via special delivery. They also provide you with a way of tracking your application. As special delivery is £4.60 on it's own, it only works out at an extra £2.40 for the Check & Send service.

We paid the full amount direct to the Post Office using a debit card.

Even if you use the Post Office Check & Send service your passport and naturalisation certificate will still have to be sent to IPS.

djb123 wrote:

macaroni wrote:I've picked up a form and it's quite hard to read with it's small fonts, pale orange-brown print against a pale orange-brown background.

I only know the names of two of my grandparents. Of them I know only one full birthdate. I have no idea what the details of my other set of grandparents are, not even their full names. They have both been deceased for over 20 years.


For those who can advise, if we use the Post Office Check and Send service, do we pay the full £72 to the Post Office? Or, do we pay the Post Office £7 to check and send, and then include payment inside the application?

Also, despite the Post Office checking(what they check I am not really sure), do our passports and certificates still get sent to the IPS? Sorry if I sound so naive but the whole concept of "Check and Send" is odd, if we STILL have to send off all our original documents like the passport and naturalisation certificate as well.

As I said in my previous post we didn't put the details of any grandparents on my wife's form and it didn't seem to cause any issues.

All the Post Office Check & Send service does is check you've filled the form in correctly, check the photographs are suitable, check you've supplied the correct documentation, and then they send it via special delivery. They also provide you with a way of tracking your application. As special delivery is £4.60 on it's own, it only works out at an extra £2.40 for the Check & Send service.

We paid the full amount direct to the Post Office using a debit card.

Even if you use the Post Office Check & Send service your passport and naturalisation certificate will still have to be sent to IPS.

Many thanks djb. I understand better now.

Hey, macaroni!

Have you applied for your passport yet? I had my interview on Monday and just got my passport today!

The interview was sooo easy and quick. The questions were the ones we were expecting:

- State your full name and spell it.
- Address
- Date of birth
- Birth place
- Are you on the electoral roll? (She wasn't impressed when I honestly answered, 'I think so...' I had to explain that I have already submitted my voter registration but as of yet I have not heard back, so I can only assume I'm on it.)
- How did you submit your application? (Post Office Check & Send)
- What docs did you submit with your application? (USA passport, certificate of naturalisation, other docs as requested)
- Parents' names and birthdates

That was it! I had an appointment at 12:45 on a Monday so I expected big crowds, but there was only one other woman waiting to be interviewed. I was in and out in about 10 minutes. It took me longer to lock/unlock my bike!

Good luck and have a good weekend...

whirly wrote: - Are you on the electoral roll? (She wasn't impressed when I honestly answered, 'I think so...' I had to explain that I have already submitted my voter registration but as of yet I have not heard back, so I can only assume I'm on it.)

I'm glad the process was so painless and that you have received your passport so quickly!

Just by the by, you won't hear anything back about the voter registration. You can check the electoral roll (e.g. at the local library) to see if you are on it. I guess the best answer to the question would be, therefore, "I have submitted my form" or something like that, since that can't be wrong (assuming that you have)!

Christophe wrote:

whirly wrote: - Are you on the electoral roll? (She wasn't impressed when I honestly answered, 'I think so...' I had to explain that I have already submitted my voter registration but as of yet I have not heard back, so I can only assume I'm on it.)

I'm glad the process was so painless and that you have received your passport so quickly!

Just by the by, you won't hear anything back about the voter registration. You can check the electoral roll (e.g. at the local library) to see if you are on it. I guess the best answer to the question would be, therefore, "I have submitted my form" or something like that, since that can't be wrong (assuming that you have)!

Thanks, Christophe!

I'm fairly positive I'm on the electoral roll, especially now that IPS asked me about it. Good idea about the library, though. I wouldn't have thought of that.

Cheers!

whirly wrote:Hey, macaroni!

Have you applied for your passport yet? I had my interview on Monday and just got my passport today!

The interview was sooo easy and quick. The questions were the ones we were expecting:

- State your full name and spell it.
- Address
- Date of birth
- Birth place
- Are you on the electoral roll? (She wasn't impressed when I honestly answered, 'I think so...' I had to explain that I have already submitted my voter registration but as of yet I have not heard back, so I can only assume I'm on it.)
- How did you submit your application? (Post Office Check & Send)
- What docs did you submit with your application? (USA passport, certificate of naturalisation, other docs as requested)
- Parents' names and birthdates

That was it! I had an appointment at 12:45 on a Monday so I expected big crowds, but there was only one other woman waiting to be interviewed. I was in and out in about 10 minutes. It took me longer to lock/unlock my bike!

Good luck and have a good weekend...

Hi whirly,

CONGRATULATIONS! I have yet to apply as I am waiting for someone to sign as a referee and return my forms to me. It could take a while. I live out in the sticks so I only had my citizenship ceremony a few days ago.

I am NOT on the electoral roll. Do we get into trouble with IPS for not being on it? I think a very long time ago my ex landlord put my name down but I have no idea if that means I am still on it or not.

macaroni wrote:Hi whirly,

CONGRATULATIONS! I have yet to apply as I am waiting for someone to sign as a referee and return my forms to me. It could take a while. I live out in the sticks so I only had my citizenship ceremony a few days ago.

I am NOT on the electoral roll. Do we get into trouble with IPS for not being on it? I think a very long time ago my ex landlord put my name down but I have no idea if that means I am still on it or not.

w00t! Congratulations on your ceremony! How does it feel to be British now? I surge with patriotic pride drinking my tea with milk in the mornings, and I smile every time I see a postage stamp

I seriously doubt you'll get in trouble with IPS for not being on the electoral roll. (You might get in trouble with my friend who works for the Electoral Commission, but that's different! Ha ha) I think they just ask if you are/are not on it because it's one of those things that is easy for them to verify. You might want to take up Christophe's suggestion someday and check at the library if you're curious, but I don't think it's really worth worrying about.

Hope you get the form back from your referee soon...

whirly wrote:

macaroni wrote:Hi whirly,

CONGRATULATIONS! I have yet to apply as I am waiting for someone to sign as a referee and return my forms to me. It could take a while. I live out in the sticks so I only had my citizenship ceremony a few days ago.

I am NOT on the electoral roll. Do we get into trouble with IPS for not being on it? I think a very long time ago my ex landlord put my name down but I have no idea if that means I am still on it or not.

w00t! Congratulations on your ceremony! How does it feel to be British now? I surge with patriotic pride drinking my tea with milk in the mornings, and I smile every time I see a postage stamp

I seriously doubt you'll get in trouble with IPS for not being on the electoral roll. (You might get in trouble with my friend who works for the Electoral Commission, but that's different! Ha ha) I think they just ask if you are/are not on it because it's one of those things that is easy for them to verify. You might want to take up Christophe's suggestion someday and check at the library if you're curious, but I don't think it's really worth worrying about.

Hope you get the form back from your referee soon...

It feels wonderful to be a British citizen, I want to apply for planning permission to build a replica red telephone box as the facade of our house. No expense should be spared, I think.

Once it is all over, I can post in the timeline thread. Are you looking forward to waving your new passport haughtily as you pass through immigration now, whirly?

macaroni wrote:It feels wonderful to be a British citizen, I want to apply for planning permission to build a replica red telephone box as the facade of our house. No expense should be spared, I think.

Once it is all over, I can post in the timeline thread. Are you looking forward to waving your new passport haughtily as you pass through immigration now, whirly?

Absolutely looking forward to using my new passport... Am already daydreaming about my next trip. Marrakech in November sounds good, doesn't it?

Red phone box... Ha ha... You crack me up!

Looking forward to seeing your completed timeline!

macaroni wrote:It feels wonderful to be a British citizen, I want to apply for planning permission to build a replica red telephone box as the facade of our house. No expense should be spared, I think.

Once it is all over, I can post in the timeline thread. Are you looking forward to waving your new passport haughtily as you pass through immigration now, whirly?

Can't waive anymore at heathrow, ever since that bbc or c4 documentary that showed people with false eu passports easily getting in.

What happens if the countersignatory uses corrective fluid on ONE single character on the form? Will IPS reject the entire form because of that?

Why not fill that page again? Did you print from the internet?

paulp wrote:Why not fill that page again? Did you print from the internet?

No it was an actual real form. I don't live near the countersignatory.

macaroni wrote:What happens if the countersignatory uses corrective fluid on ONE single character on the form? Will IPS reject the entire form because of that?

Did you send off the form? My friend countersigned my passport application and she had done dozens before that... Nonetheless, she wrote in how many years we have known each other, but forgot to write how we knew each other. I wrote in FRIEND - if you had looked closely it would have been obvious that it wasn't her handwriting. I didn't have any problems. My guess is that, at worst, they'll call the person to verify???

whirly wrote:

macaroni wrote:What happens if the countersignatory uses corrective fluid on ONE single character on the form? Will IPS reject the entire form because of that?

Did you send off the form? My friend countersigned my passport application and she had done dozens before that... Nonetheless, she wrote in how many years we have known each other, but forgot to write how we knew each other. I wrote in FRIEND - if you had looked closely it would have been obvious that it wasn't her handwriting. I didn't have any problems. My guess is that, at worst, they'll call the person to verify???

Hi whirly. I will find out I suppose. It's very minor but I assume that the scanning technology they use will show up any "abnormalities".

Is there a way to check on the progress of the application online? I have found this- http://www.ips.gov.uk/passport/application-tracker.asp

I was told at the Post Office that I could track it but I assumed it was something that worked automatically(like the way we track our online purchases etc), rather than me having to fill in an online form and wait for an IPS staff member to process my inquiry.