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British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:18 pm
by sandydec26
Hi All,
My husband just received his British passport, however, there is a note in the second page:
“The holder has a Chinese passport, number xxxxxxxx issued on xx/xx/xxxx...”
He is not a Chinese and the information is obviously wrong as China does not recognize dual nationality. Do you know how to correct it?
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:55 pm
by CR001
Contact HMPO by phone.
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:04 pm
by secret.simon
Does your husband hold a Taiwanese passport (going by the flag on your profile)? Did he submit that passport at the time of his passport application?
That may have thrown the HMPO official who may not be aware that "Republic of China" means Taiwan.
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 3:53 pm
by shadowfax
Do British passports always list the other citizenships that someone possesses? Or is this something specific to Chinese Citizens (of which the OP is not).
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 4:47 pm
by secret.simon
shadowfax wrote: ↑Tue Jul 27, 2021 3:53 pm
Do British passports always list the other citizenships that someone possesses? Or is this something specific to Chinese Citizens (of which the OP is not).
Not always.
From the Gov.UK guidance document on names in passports, it seems that the formulation used in the OP's husband's passport suggests that the name used in the British passport does not match the name in the current (i.e. uncancelled) non-British (in this case, possibly Taiwanese or Chinese) passport and hence the note has been placed in the Observations page, to, in effect, link the two documents together.
Annex A: use of names in passports wrote:(Page7)
6.6 Subject to the applicant being able to satisfy the following requirements, a passport may be issued in the name requested even where it differs from the name on the passport issued by another country.
The following categories may be given exceptional consideration:
i.
The law in the applicant’s country of origin restricts or prevents a change of name. Where there is such a restriction, the applicant will be required to provide evidence from their country of origin that a change of name is not permissible;
ii. The country of origin does not permit dual nationality meaning alignment of documentation will not be possible, the applicant will be required to provide confirmation from the country of origin that their citizenship has been cancelled;
iii.
Where there is a requirement for the person to travel to their country of origin in order to change their name, and due to exceptional circumstances in their country of origin, they would be placed at a high level of risk;
iv. The applicant has changed their name as a result of a change of gender and the law in the applicant’s country of origin does not recognise or permit a change of gender;
6.7
In the case of points (i) and (iii) above, a (British) passport may be issued and an observation placed in the passport saying:
“The holder has a [country] passport, number [ ] issued on [date] in the name of [ ]. This passport is due to expire on [date].”
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 1:44 pm
by sandydec26
secret.simon wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:04 pm
Does your husband hold a Taiwanese passport (going by the flag on your profile)? Did he submit that passport at the time of his passport application?
That may have thrown the HMPO official who may not be aware that "Republic of China" means Taiwan.
Sorry secret.simon I didn't see your reply until now.
Yes my husband holds a Taiwanese passport and he submitted that passport when he applied his British passport.
And yes that's the case. My husband called HMPO and waited for 2 hours and finally he reached the management team. It turned out the caseworker didn't know "Republic of China" means Taiwan, but the manager (or senior caseworker) promised she would deal with this case. In the end, 9 days after my husband made the phone call, he received a new passport with the correct information in it. That was pretty quick.
Re: British Passport with Wrong Nationality
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 2:02 pm
by sandydec26
Thank you both CR001 and secret.simon!!