HELP - PASSPORT PROBLEMS

[nathan_sherlock]

Hello everyone.

I am a new member and thought that I would write here in search for a problem that is being faced by a good friend. I will outline his problem below, and if anyone has any advice or suggestions then I would be most grateful for your comments....

In 1989, at the age of four, my friend Kawsar immigrated from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, entering the country on his mother’s Bangladeshi passport. Prior to arrival, his father applied for a certificate of naturalisation and gave proof that he had sufficient funds to sustain the family, and so on. This was granted and consequently upon entry his mother’s passport was stamped granting indefinite leave to remain for herself, Kawsar, and his brother. Kawsar and his family have remained in the United Kingdom continuously, but Kawsar has never had his own British passport.

Some six years ago, however, his mother’s passport was misplaced when his family solicitor, who was in possession of his documents, passed away. As a results, he has been unable to obtain a UK passport, since one of the application requirements is ‘the original passport on which you entered the United Kingdom’. Since this has been misplaced, there does not appear to be any way for him to get a British passport. He has tried repeatedly to work around this, but to no avail. He would have expected that the Home Office have a record of our entry into the UK and the copy of the documents concerning our grant of indefinite leave to remain, but the HO has been somewhat unforthcoming. With the help of both the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and his solicitor, he has complied lengthy records from the past 18 years, including records of education, healthcare, taxation, and so on, but the Home Office has twice rejected this without giving reasons or guidance as to what will be necessary to establish citizenship. As a result, he has suffered ongoing problems with day-to-day life, and he been unable to prove his identity, get a student loan, get a driving license, or visit his relatives abroad.

On a slightly more pressing matter, Kawsar will need to travel abroad for a week on the 12th of March. Unfortunately due to the absence of his mother’s passport (upon which he entered the United Kingdom) it appears that he would be unable to use the express one-week passport service since there are no documents from the Home Office regarding the stamp of indefinite leave that was granted in 1989. Does anyone know of any other means by which he could be granted some form of temporary leave to re-enter the country. He has a Bangladeshi passport (obtained some six years ago) so I imagine that leaving the country would not be problematic, but I anticipate that on return he would have problems with re-entering the UK. I understand that without proof of his indefinite leave to remain, he would only be entitled to a 6 month visitor visa. While it should be possible to prove nationalisation during the 6 month period, I am also concerned that he may not even be granted a visitor visa if immigration officers are aware that he intends to continue residing in the UK (rather than simply visiting).


If anyone has any comments or suggestions, I would be extremely grateful for your help,

Warm regards,

Nathan.

[stedman]

He would have expected that the Home Office have a record of our entry into the UK and the copy of the documents concerning our grant of indefinite leave to remain, but the HO has been somewhat unforthcoming.

I'm a bit confused - who's "our"?

This person has no automatic right to British nationality as he (via his mother) was never granted it in the first place. His mother was given ILR so he has to apply for citizenship like everyone else and it's up to the home office to grant it (or not). So why hasn't he/you explored getting ILR in his own right stamped on the Bangladeshi passport based on long residence i.e. 14 years and over since, as you said, all the relevant documents are available?

And I don't think the trip on the 12th of March is advisable until all this is sorted out - how essential is said trip? As you well know, 6 month visitors visas are for people able to prove they are only visiting the UK and have ties with their country of origin - having lived in the UK practically all his life, I'm afraid even getting this approved by an Entry Clearance officer in Bangladesh may be a problem for the person in question - that's assuming it's Bangladesh he's going to.

[JAJ]

In 1989, at the age of four, my friend Kawsar immigrated from Bangladesh to the United Kingdom, entering the country on his mother’s Bangladeshi passport. Prior to arrival, his father applied for a certificate of naturalisation and gave proof that he had sufficient funds to sustain the family, and so on. This was granted and consequently upon entry his mother’s passport was stamped granting indefinite leave to remain for herself, Kawsar, and his brother. Kawsar and his family have remained in the United Kingdom continuously, but Kawsar has never had his own British passport.

Some six years ago, however, his mother’s passport was misplaced when his family solicitor, who was in possession of his documents, passed away. As a results, he has been unable to obtain a UK passport, since one of the application requirements is ‘the original passport on which you entered the United Kingdom’. Since this has been misplaced, there does not appear to be any way for him to get a British passport. He has tried repeatedly to work around this, but to no avail. He would have expected that the Home Office have a record of our entry into the UK and the copy of the documents concerning our grant of indefinite leave to remain, but the HO has been somewhat unforthcoming. With the help of both the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and his solicitor, he has complied lengthy records from the past 18 years, including records of education, healthcare, taxation, and so on, but the Home Office has twice rejected this without giving reasons or guidance as to what will be necessary to establish citizenship. As a result, he has suffered ongoing problems with day-to-day life, and he been unable to prove his identity, get a student loan, get a driving license, or visit his relatives abroad.

Firstly, forget the idea that he is a British citizen. If he never applied for naturalisation, he's not British and cannot be granted a British passport until he does complete the naturalisation procedure.

Once he has his Certificate of Naturalisation, getting a British passport would not be a problem (the fact the old passport has been lost should be irrelevant).

Of course the Home Office should have a record of his original sponsorship for migration and resident status. This should be demanded through a Data Protection request, and if the Home Office do not respond then he should contact his Member of Parliament. If the Home Office cannot find his records then they should be willing to grant ILR now but they may need some persuading.

He can leave the UK without problems but I have to say that this is extremely inadvisable until his ILR can be re-stamped in his Bangladesh passport. Basically, if he leaves without this, there is no way any airline will let him back on board a UK-bound flight so he could be stuck overseas for a long time.

Once he has proof of his ILR, he can then look at becoming naturalised British if this is what he wants.