HMPO questions Naturalisation Status withdraws passport application

[victor1980]

1. I am a British Citizen. I naturalised in Sep 2015. I left the country in Oct 2015 on an Indian passport, due to a family bereavement. Then I applied for a British passport from India. My wife and daughter have a UK passport. My son who is one year old and born in India has applied for his UK passport but he hasn’t received one as his citizenship is tied to mine
2. My passport application was withdrawn in Dec 2016 (after almost a year of application), citing that I have no intent to remain. They then asked me to write to UKVI and 'reconfirm my citizenship status'. I wrote to them in Jan 2017, followed up several times. UKVI simply pass me back to HMPO
3. I came back to the UK in Oct 2017 using my ILR card (Indefinite Leave to Remain) card. They impounded my ILR but allowed me in as I am a UK citizen
4. I lost my Indian citizenship automatically the moment I became a UK citizen. However I couldn’t surrender my passport as to surrender it I require a British passport

I need some advice on how to proceed with UK Home Office. HMPO keeps passing it back to UKVI to confirm my naturalisation. UKVI keeps doing the same thing. I am not able to break the deadlock.

[baddy]

You made this complicated really. You should have applied for british passport as soon as you were naturalised when you intended to leave the country for that long. The UKVI will sense fraud in your case as you did not handover your Indian passport affter you were naturalised. I am sure you travelled from and back to the UK with your Indian Passport, which should not be the case after you have been naturalised.

You will need to show proof that you have forfeited your Indian citizenship to the HMPO before they can honour your application.

[victor1980]

Thank you for your response. I had to fly out on an emergency due to a family bereavement. I didn't want to fly back on my Indian passport as that incurs a huge fine. I was told by the HMPO call centre that there was a process to apply for the passport from India. Finally I was forced to fly back on an Indian passport, as I thought that my ILR would expire.
The issue is the HMPO's only response to my emails is to obtain a confirmation of citizenship status from UKVI. And as I said earlier, the UKVI simply points me back to HMPO.

[AdInfernos]

I understand that they want you to obtain this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... us-form-ns

However, I also understand that they should be satisfied that you are a British citizen by merely sending them your certificate of naturalisation. The UK allows dual citizenship and whether you use your other country's passport for any trip is irrelevant.

It is clear that they are rebutting your citizenship on the basis that, in their opinion, you gave a false statement on your AN form when you confirmed that you had the intention to make the UK your home. However, it is not up to them to judge this matter.

HMPO's arbitrary decisions, whether this particular one or those refusing a passport to persons with a foreign passport in a different name, is a result of the rather undemocratic powers (the royal prerogative) under which they operate. A passport is not a right, rather a privilege, like citizenship itself.

Your options: pay for the confirmation of British nationality status letter, pay for a lawyer who can handle your case, or keep arguing with them.

[victor1980]

Thank you that's a great answer, that is precisely what has happened, they think I lied about my intention to remain on the AN form. I was wondering if there is a fourth option - reapply for the passport (now that I am back in the UK). Do you think that would work?

[AdInfernos]

The fact that your first passport application was made in India may have added to the confusion. Your admission to the UK was on the basis that you are a UK citizen, so, before any further and more expensive action, I would try my luck with HMO by applying again from the UK.

[JAJ]

Although in theory the Passport Office could pass a case on to the Home Office for investigation, I have never before heard of the future intentions requirement being questioned after naturalisation. And it is something that's almost impossible to prove even if someone does emigrate shortly after naturalisation. (Which is not the case here). It is more likely that application for a first passport from outside the country may have led to questions about proof of ID.

And if the spouse is a British citizen naturalisation is normally under section 6(2) of the Act and the future intentions requirement does not apply. Is this the case? If there is correspondence available from the Passport Office or Home Office then perhaps share the text- excluding personal details.

If there is some reason to believe that the Home Office are considering deprivation of British citizenship then obviously it is something that would need advice from an experienced immigration solicitor. But if it's simply confusion caused by a first passport application from India, then in general a reapplication from within the United Kingdom would be a simpler approach.

[victor1980]

Dear fawinds thank you I have noted your recommendation, appreciate your help.

Dear JAJ
Thank you for your response.

(1) I naturalised in UK after spending close to 7 years in UK as Tier 1 then ILR. My wife’s ILR and naturalisation were linked to mine
(2) Yes the Home Office is considering deprivation of citizenship. During the course of email communication with HMPO before their decision to withdraw my application, they asked for the details of my employment and asked me for the date of my interviews
(3) I responded to it by sharing that I have recently joined an Indian company, with the intention of helping them expand globally. I further clarified that the role was based in London, although I did require to spend the first 6 months India to learn the business. (This tied in nicely with me taking care of my ailing grandmother. My grandmother died before I could move and I had rush out to India on account of her death). Home Office has misinterpreted my employment with the Indian company as proof that I have lied about intention to remain in UK

Here is an extract from the letter from HMPO -----

I thank you for your passport application and your subsequent correspondence and enquiries regarding it. While HM Passport Office appreciate the delays in processing the application this has been a necessary aspect of considering your claim of British citizenship.

British passports are issued primarily to British citizens, British Dependent citizens and British Overseas citizens. These separate citizenships are defined by the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Citizenship is thus a matter of law which can be determined conclusively only by the courts under the governance of the Royal Prerogative.

Your passport has been delayed as we have been unable to confirm that you have a claim to British Citizenship. Any claim to citizenship is derived not only from that person’s place of birth, but on the status of their parents, and whether the circumstances in which this was attained are sufficient enough to give a claim to British Citizenship.

Part of our consideration of your passport application is that your British Citizen status can be accepted as presented. Unfortunately, HM Passport Office have concerns that your claim to British Citizenship, as provided by Naturalisation under section 6(1) of The British Nationality Act 1981, may not have been correctly obtained.

Documentation and information provided by you in support of your passport application appears to indicate that you moved to India shortly after attending your naturalisation ceremony in the UK in August 2015, and that you were seeking permanent employment in India prior to attending this ceremony. As this information conflicts with that provided to substantiate your claim to UK citizenship, and that your past conduct appears to indicate that you did not intend for the UK to be your principal home after a naturalisation certificate was issued to you in accordance with the requirements that are outlined in paragraph 1(1)(d)(i) under schedule 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981, HM Passport Office is obliged to refer your claim to status back to United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for reconsideration.

There is no entitlement to a passport and no statutory right to have access to a passport. The decision to issue, withdraw, or refuse a British passport is at the discretion of the Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) under the Royal Prerogative. Passports are issued when the Home Secretary is satisfied as to:

i. the identity of an applicant; and

ii. the British nationality of applicants, in accordance with relevant nationality legislation;

and

iii. there being no other reasons for refusing a passport.

I would reiterate at this point that British Citizenship is a matter of Law and therefore not one which HM Passport Office has any discretion on.

Since these issues with your status have come to our attention, we are unable to take any further action with regards to issuing you with a UK passport as we have referred your case to our colleagues at UKVI for review. We will reconsider our decision to support any passport application once UKVI have confirmed that your claim to UK status is sound.

You may wish to contact UKVI to review the position of your claim to British Citizenship and, once you have done so, ask them to confirm the position with ourselves.

[JAJ]

This is the first I have heard of the future intentions requirement being seriously questioned. However- you made it a lot harder for yourself by applying for a first British passport from India (straight after naturalisation) and it appears that you may have given information with the Passport Office in such a way that has not helped your case. In addition- are there additional circumstances that have not been shared here?

At this point- you need an experienced immigration solicitor to review your case and all the supporting information and correspond with the Home Office on your behalf. Including whether or not you kept a home in the U.K. or not in this time. Did your spouse and child remain in the U.K.? (it appears that this may not have been the case). Property owned/rented?. Did you continue paying U.K. income tax and keep your U.K. driving licence. and so on. You may wish to inform yourself of policy guidance at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... y-guidance

The Law Society can provide you with a list of accredited immigration solicitors but that is not enough- you need one who has successfully handled nationality cases of this type. If the solicitor cannot attest to have successfully handed British nationality cases over many years, including potential deprivation issues, you'll need to find a different one. You should not try to resolve this yourself and also do not leave the United Kingdom until it is resolved.

Regarding your son- even if the Home Office were to consider deprivation of British citizenship, that would not impact the British citizenship of your son. Deprivation of British citizenship is prospective in nature, not retroactive- and does not cancel the British citizenship of any children born beforehand. A citizenship nullity is different but that does not appear to be in question here based on the Home Office guidance notes. In addition- your son's British citizenship is also presumably inherited from your wife since she is British as well. In other words- you should still go ahead with applying for a British consular birth certificate and you should expect that the Passport Office would go ahead and issue a British passport once a British consular birth certificate has been issued. Nevertheless- you should discuss the details with the immigration solicitor whose services you retain.
https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

[victor1980]

Thank you JAJ for such a thorough email.
I have provided HMPO, proof that my employer intended to employ me in UK and that I was only in India for a short stint. I have also provided proof that I had applied for and secured my daughter's admission in school before leaving UK. I have also written to UKVI a long letter detailing the circumstances and providing all the proofs.
Meanwhile, after landing in UK, I have approached the local MP for help and she has written to UKVI for confirmation of my citizenship status as the UKVI has been unresponsive to me

(1) Do you think that the MP route could yield results?
(2) Do you think reapplying for a passport in UK would help?
(3) Also could you recommend an experienced solicitor?

[AdInfernos]

It is now obvious after reading HMPO letter that replying from the UK will be of no use. You may wait to hear from the MP, but it seems that you really need an immigration solicitor.

[kirkerj]

Thank you for your response. I had to fly out on an emergency due to a family bereavement. I didn't want to fly back on my Indian passport as that incurs a huge fine. I was told by the HMPO call centre that there was a process to apply for the passport from India. Finally I was forced to fly back on an Indian passport, as I thought that my ILR would expire.
The issue is the HMPO's only response to my emails is to obtain a confirmation of citizenship status from UKVI. And as I said earlier, the UKVI simply points me back to HMPO.

At the point you apply for citizenship right up to the end of the citizenship ceremony you must have the intention to remain in the UK and make it your permanent home. HOWEVER from the second you walk out of that ceremony you are allowed (as any UK citizen is) to change your intention. So you could have decided to move to India then and there. It is of no concern to the passport office what your intention may or may not have been after you have been granted citizenship. All you need is a good immigration lawyer to lay it out in a letter for them.

[victor1980]

Thank you fawinds and kirkerj, this is very useful advice

[victor1980]

I used my local MP to pressurise the UKVI to give me a response promptly. They initially told my MP that they would take 3 weeks to decide on my nationality status. However after 3 weeks they asked me to fill up the Nationality Status (NS) form without answering any of the questions raised by HMPO. After looking at the form it appears that the NS form is used primarily by people who do not have a naturalisation certificate but strongly believe they have a claim to nationality

While perusing the form I noticed in the guide that there is a way to apply for a passport simultaneously. However I found no clear instructions on how to apply for a passport at the same time. So I called the HMPO call centre to find out how to apply for the NS form and Passport at the same time. When I explained my situation the call centre agent said with great conviction that every case is look at on its own merit. He recommended that I reapply for the passport since I was in the UK

I have two questions
(1) Would it make sense to fill up the NS form? Given that I have a naturalisation certificate and also given that it opens me up to the prospect of my nationality being deprived?
(2) Would it make sense to re-apply for a UK passport - given the HMPO call centre agent's recommendation to do so

[AdInfernos]

As per the HMPO recommendation, I understand that they outsource the call centre, so not sure how valid is it. Anyway, it seems your cheaper option, a fresh passport application from the UK.

The problem is that in your original application you supplied supporting documents that suggested you were looking for a job abroad and, then, moved abroad. They probably think you deceived the Home Office when you confirmed that you intended to make the UK your Home.

Whether you currently living in the UK will convince them of the contrary is only we will only find out by making a fresh passport application.

No idea why they want you to fill in the NS form, other than pocketing £321.

[victor1980]

Thanks AdInfernos, that is indeed their contention, that I found a job abroad which apparently proves I have no intention to live in the UK, a ludicrous assumption to begin with.

However there are two factual errors that they made -
(1) my job was actually in the UK, for an Indian company. The immediate cause of my leaving the company was that my grandmother had died (my father predeceased her). I intended to return after settling her affairs and obtaining a UK passport
(2) Also when I applied from my Naturalisation I hadn't joined the company, hadn't even decided to join the Indian company!
The argument of HMPO is rather tenuous, problem is getting an audience with the Home Office, it is so hard to be heard.

I have indeed taken legal advice from many solicitors -
(1) I am informed that the first step would be judicial review which would just ask for a deadline from UKVI. It won't even be for a decision, just a deadline
(2) Thereafter if the decision is adverse, we would need another judicial review
In other words the legal course appears to be rather protracted and expensive.

My hope in applying for the passport in UK is that the case officer would not have to contend with the question of Intent to Remain. I am in the UK while applying. I have all the necessary documents. Also if there is an interview I could make my intention to remain amply clear. Is my thinking right?

[MYA]

Dear victor,

By reading above, I came to the conclusion that you should immediately apply for your fist passport, fill application as normal, mention Your naturalisation sertificate number, get signed by two referee one must be professional and you will get your passport in 2 weeks or go for 1 week fast track.

Common sense points:

If HO wants to deprive you from British nationality they should not let you back in from airport, they should straightaway deport you from there and then.

“ they have not done this and did not raise any point in your citizen ship they just took your ILR card and let you in by accepting that you are British citizen so know issue in this”

So don’t make this issue by yourself please

“Apply for passport and let me know when you got your passport on this forum after 3 to 4 weeks”

Regards

[dilip_gem]

In my opinion the passport was delayed because in your application for the first passport you mentioned your employer in India Not sure if you were on the UK or Indian payroll. If you were on Indian payroll - then it was illegal for you to work there as you did not have work authorisation in India. The moment you received British citizenship- you lost your Indian citizenship. You could have used Indian passport within 90 days grace period for travel but not for employment. Were you recruited by Indian company as a British citizen or Indian citizen? If you were registered as British citizen- did your employer or you applied for work authorisation in India? Did you report your nationality status to Indian High commission? I think you over complicated the case by starting to work there. And continued to work there for almost 2 years? I think the HMPO looks at every passport application with care because they do not want their citizens to work in another country illegally. I think you need a good lawyer. I think first think you should do is surrender your Indian passport and face whatever fine/charges. Then in parallel try sorting out your British passport. In any case in my opinion you will have problems getting Indian Workpermit/OCI. And your British passport may have some remarks. Just my opinion.

[baddy]

Dear victor,

By reading above, I came to the conclusion that you should immediately apply for your fist passport, fill application as normal, mention Your naturalisation sertificate number, get signed by two referee one must be professional and you will get your passport in 2 weeks or go for 1 week fast track.

Common sense points:

If HO wants to deprive you from British nationality they should not let you back in from airport, they should straightaway deport you from there and then.

“ they have not done this and did not raise any point in your citizen ship they just took your ILR card and let you in by accepting that you are British citizen so know issue in this”

So don’t make this issue by yourself please

“Apply for passport and let me know when you got your passport on this forum after 3 to 4 weeks”

Regards

Truth be told, this is a very complex situation for Victor honestly. Even with ILR status, you are not allowed to be away from the UK for two years, He left in Oct 2015 and came back Oct 2017, thats two years and depending on the day he left and came back, it could be 2yrs +. The moment he walked out of that ceremony in sep 2015, he lost his Indian citizenship automatically and he was not expected to use it again. But he used it to travel out a month after he was naturalised and used it again to enter the UK 2 years after he was naturalised. Meaning, he is still Indian citizen.

I think the best favour HO will do for him is resetting the clock and reinstate his ILR. Then he will need to reapply for BC. Which then means he wont be eligible till 2022 since he was away from oct 2015 to 0ct 2017. Honestly, it is a complex one and HO is on the winning side.

[AdInfernos]

Dear victor,

By reading above, I came to the conclusion that you should immediately apply for your fist passport, fill application as normal, mention Your naturalisation sertificate number, get signed by two referee one must be professional and you will get your passport in 2 weeks or go for 1 week fast track.

Common sense points:

If HO wants to deprive you from British nationality they should not let you back in from airport, they should straightaway deport you from there and then.

“ they have not done this and did not raise any point in your citizen ship they just took your ILR card and let you in by accepting that you are British citizen so know issue in this”

So don’t make this issue by yourself please

“Apply for passport and let me know when you got your passport on this forum after 3 to 4 weeks”

Regards

Truth be told, this is a very complex situation for Victor honestly. Even with ILR status, you are not allowed to be away from the UK for two years, He left in Oct 2015 and came back Oct 2017, thats two years and depending on the day he left and came back, it could be 2yrs +. The moment he walked out of that ceremony in sep 2015, he lost his Indian citizenship automatically and he was not expected to use it again. But he used it to travel out a month after he was naturalised and used it again to enter the UK 2 years after he was naturalised. Meaning, he is still Indian citizen.

I think the best favour HO will do for him is resetting the clock and reinstate his ILR. Then he will need to reapply for BC. Which then means he wont be eligible till 2022 since he was away from oct 2015 to 0ct 2017. Honestly, it is a complex one and HO is on the winning side.

I beg to disagree. The UK allows dual citizenship so the fact that Victor has used another passport for two years means nothing. I'll be a UK citizen in 4 weeks but still can decide to travel on my EU passport. That won't make me less British. In fact UK citizens have no obligation to apply for a UK passport or use one.

The only issue with him using an Indian passport for two years after acquiring British citizenship is that, technically, he has lost Indian citizenship after becoming British. Because he had used an Indian passport which he should have surrendered, he may have committed an offence in India. But that's none of the Home Office's business, and certainly not a reason to deny him a British passport.

Again, I'd apply again from the UK with suitable evidence and only escalate the issue further if the passport is not issued.

[MYA]

Good infernos

This is what I said logically, Indian passport is the issue of Indian government and embassy, nothing to do with HO,

Don’t make a non issue an issue.

If after applying inside UK HMPO raises queries then think to resolve after it, but as I said in previous reply process is straightforward if applicant want to make it simple.
Thankx

[dilip_gem]

Yes that's correct. You should apply for your first passport from the UK and if they question you on your work situation in India - you could justify it by saying India doesn't let people surrender their citizenship till you produce a passport of the naturalised country. Ideally they should allow people to renounce the citizenship based on naturalisation certificates. But that is another issue.

So as advised by others on this forum, you should try to apply for passport again (in country). And if they refuse again then you could take a legal advise from a immigration lawyer etc.. also try to explain the situation to Indian High Commission in London and get your Indian citizenship revoked.

And during this process do not travel anywhere using Indian passport..

[shinebright]

From my point of view, future intentions is not limited to two years only, rather it's a long term thingy, you can be away for two years for 'xy' reasons and then return to your country which any country's citizen would do, so you have an argument there, although it's all complicated from the start, as advised already, try to apply again from inside the UK and see how it goes.

[victor1980]

Thank you MYA, shinebright, dilip_gem, AdInfernos, baddy, this has gone a long way in getting my thinking straight. I have now applied for my first passport, I will keep you updated.
Fewof points, although it may not be pertinent to my UK passport application as the UK has no problems with any citizen having dual nationality
(1) I have had to submit my Indian passport as part of this current application to HMPO so I won't be able to surrender it until I get it back from HMPO
(2) India expects people in my position (using a passport despite being a foreign national) to pay a fine for every time you travel using the passport and for every day I keep it after the first 3 years. However as per process I am expected to submit my UK passport in order to surrender it. As soon I get my passport back I will surrender it and pay my fine. In fact I did not want to use my Indian passport at all to travel and that is why I was stuck in India for 2 years waiting to resolve it. I also came back just before 2 years elapsed, fearing that the ILR would be invalidated
(3) To get a work visa in India I needed a UK passport. Also to get my OCI I would need a UK passport. I travelled because of a family bereavement with every intention to come back and resume work in UK. I was literally trapped in India due to this issue for 2 years because of what the HO did to me (took a year to withdraw my passport application and then did not reply to any of my clarifications). I did not even consider applying for an Indian work visa in the first place because my work was based in the UK not in India (even though I was employed by an Indian company)

[victor1980]

Folks,
I obtained my UK passport today bring to close a saga that started 2 years ago when I first applied for my passport from India, that quickly got escalated 3 months ago when I landed in UK and my ILR card was impounded.
I wanted to write back and thank all of you who commented on the thread. I also wanted to give some pointers to people in case they have an issue similar to mine in future.

I followed a step by step process - first establishing that I was indeed a citizen (and that deprivation couldn't apply) and then following due process to obtain my passport. All of this takes time so it important to escalate to the right stakeholders. It helped that I was back in the UK (and not in India), that I had very strong humanitarian grounds (as I was away from my family and my kids were suffering etc.) and that my MP was empathetic to my suffering.

(1) The main breakthrough happened when I finally received a response from UKVI in mid December stating that they have gone through the allegations of HMPO and have also looked at my rebuttal. They found no grounds to Deprive me of my nationality. This is crucial to note, as the case worker clearly followed the process for deprivation and I had provided the right sort of evidence to help the case worker make the right decision. I did not require any legal process to help me get such a response. In fact I dealt with numerous lawyers and I found lawyers as confused as I was as they hadn't come across the situation before. The main thing that helped was escalating to my MP and following up for an answer from the UKVI. It took many weeks but finally persistence paid off

(2) Meanwhile I had applied for my UK passport based on the advice given by this forum. This came in very handy especially after the UKVI response. It was then quite easy to add an additional document to my passport application and process it routinely like one would a normal passport application in UK

(3) I still needed to escalate my HMPO passport application a few times as things were not as quick as I had hoped and HMPO had figured out that I had a complicated history. The HMPO escalation process is quite clearly laid out here - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisat ... -procedure and if you follow it diligently you eventually end up with the Director General's team. When matters reach that level after many levels of escalation, they are deemed important and are dealt with swiftly by an empowered team. Again the MP is the best way for you to be heard by the DG. I have been tempted a few times to take the legal course here as well, but honestly I find that UKVI and HMPO follow clearly laid out processes with clearly laid out guidelines and if you follow due process you will get there in the end

For all those who go through an ordeal such as this in future, I'd like to say that think of the Home Office as a slight slow organisation but one that understands and follows process. So if you are in a logjam, try and first understand the process they use and then try to figure what would help the Home Office decide. Very early on, this forum was able to point out the Deprivation process and it was the start of my own research on the Home Office processes. It helped me realise that the legal process is costly and futile (at least my specific case). It also helped me understand how the Home Office would go about addressing my issue and exactly what information was needed by them and what escalation process to use. Eventually, by simply following process, I was able to get there in the end.