Need to renew British passport but lost foreign one

[subtleasabrick]

Hi all

New here and would massively appreciate any help.

I came to the UK as a baby and have been a British citizen since I was a child (currently in my 30s). I had two passports, a UK one and a foreign one, both of which expired just prior to lockdown. I've had major unexpected building work in my house over the last couple of months and have been living in a building site with lots of people coming and going.

I finally sat down to renew both of them the other day but could not find my foreign passport. After spending days looking everywhere, I gave up and reported it lost to the police and the embassy in question. I tried to apply for a new one but the problem was that in order to do so through the embassy, I need to show that I have a right to be in the UK - the only documentation I have that shows this is my UK passport, however it needs to be valid and not expired.

No problem, I thought. I'll just renew my UK one online first. My last renewal was in 2010 and it seems that since then new policy has been introduced that requires you to send any foreign passports to HMPO when renewing.

I am now stuck in what feels like a catch-22; I cannot renew my UK passport without having my foreign one and I cannot apply for a new foreign one without renewing my UK one. I am becoming increasingly panicked that there is no way out of this, and I am particulerly worried as the rest of my family moved back to the country of my birth nearly 20 years ago. Given the current situation I am terrified they may fall ill and I will be unable to get to them.

Does anyone have any information regarding what steps I could possibly take? The online enquiry form has so far gone unanswered and I am unable to sleep or function from worry that this cannot be resolved.

[CULLINAN]

Are you British by birth? Or you were registered as British later on?

I came to the UK as a baby and have been a British citizen since I was a child (currently in my 30s).

Seems like you were registered as British when you were a child. Do you have your certificate of registration as British??

As long you have that, I think you will be okay.

Also see Vinny’s comment as follows:

british-citizenship/applying-for-first- ... 04738.html

[subtleasabrick]

Thanks for your reply!

I don’t unfortunately - I came into the country on my mum’s passport when I was a few months old, was naturalised when I was about 8 and have been here pretty much on my own living in schools or with relatives since I was 12 as the rest of my family moved back (although they are all technically British citizens also).

I always had a UK passport - first child passports and then an adult one when I turned 16 (I think). That one was in my bag when it was stolen in 2010, so I applied for a new one and have had it ever since. I know for certain that I didn’t have to show my foreign passport when I got the last one.

My parents may have something, but I don’t trust the post from where they live so not sure I could get my hands on the original.

This all feels so surreal! I’ve lived here all my life, I never thought I would be in a position where I couldn’t prove that I should be allowed to renew my passport.

[CULLINAN]

Wait for @Vinny’s comment.

[subtleasabrick]

Just checked Vinny’s comment, thank you for the link.

There’s no issue with the names, just the fact that I technically ‘have’ a non-cancelled foreign passport in that I’m entitled to one (the country doesn’t allow renunciation of citizenship) but I can’t produce it as I cannot for the life of me find the one I had, and I can’t get a new one without a valid UK one as the embassy’s won’t accept a naturalisation certificate, only a visa in one of their passports or a UK one.

[CULLINAN]

As long as you have an expired UK passport and its not damaged or stolen, expired foreign passport does not matter, you should be able to renew your British passport.
I think all you need is:

1) old passport.
2) any current or expired passports from other countries that haven’t been cancelled.

I dont think you need the certificate of registration to renew an adult passport.

But wait for other opinions.

[subtleasabrick]

Thanks cullinan, I don’t think I’ve explained myself very well.

The problem isn’t that the foreign passport is expired, it’s that it’s gotten lost at some point during all the building works.

So as it currently stands:

1. To renew my UK passport, HMPO want to see a copy of my foreign passport(s). I can’t provide this as I’ve lost it. The country in question doesn’t let you keep old passports - when you renew they take away the old one & give you a new one. So I don’t have any older passports either.

2. To get a new foreign passport, I need to provide a valid, non-expired UK passport. I can’t get one due to point (1) above.

It would seem that I can’t get either passport as they’re both reliant on me having the other one?

[vinny]

I gave up and reported it lost to the police and the embassy in question.

If you reported your foreign passport as lost to the police and your Embassy, then the latter presumably would have cancelled it, similar to a British passport being cancelled when it’s reported as lost or stolen.

The requirement to submit any/all uncancelled foreign passports is satisfied when you have no uncancelled foreign passports to submit. If asked, then truthfully say you have no existing foreign passports to submit but you have the limited ability to obtain one, i.e. subject to having a valid British passport, and see if they require something more.

Annex A: use of names in passports

8 Failure to disclose a foreign passport

8.1 The United Kingdom places no restrictions on the ability of a British citizen to hold dual nationality. The passport application gathers information about other passports held for security purposes alone and it does not provide dual citizenship information to the country of origin. Therefore, disclosure of an existing passport or ability to apply for a passport issued by another country is necessary and relevant to the UK passport application and issuing process.

8.2 Being in possession of an existing passport or the ability to obtain a passport from another country is part of the decision making process in considering an application for a British passport. It is an important element of the identity confirmation process.

8.3 Failure to disclose this information during the application process is a criminal offence and may render the applicant subject to criminal prosecution. HMPO will consider whether the matter should be referred for criminal investigation and whether the existing passport should be withdrawn. A withdrawal of the passport would be on the grounds of:

“Passport number [ ] issued to you on [ ] has been withdrawn as you indicated on the passport application form that you have not been included in any sort of passport before. It has come to our attention that you were issued with a passport by [country] on [date].

It is open to you to make a new application for a British passport and this will be considered in the light of all the information available at the time of the application. Any application will need to be accompanied by the appropriate passport fee.”

[vinny]

I don’t unfortunately - I came into the country on my mum’s passport when I was a few months old, was naturalised when I was about 8 and have been here pretty much on my own living in schools or with relatives since I was 12 as the rest of my family moved back (although they are all technically British citizens also).

You should try to find your Certificate or get a replacement.

[subtleasabrick]

Thank you vinny, that is good advice. I will send in a letter citing the lost item reference number with my expired UK passport and see what they say. I will also keep looking for the foreign one (I am tempted to rip up the newly-laid floorboards) in case it turns up and I can add it to my file.

Great shout on replacing the naturalisation certificate. I'd never really had to think about any of this stuff before. Really naive I know .