NS form Certificate for British passport application

[sam_7]

Hi all, I'm hoping I could get some advice regarding my current situation.

I'm 25, born in 1987 in the UK to parents born outside of the UK.
I applied for my first British passport this year but was unable to prove my claim to British Citizenship via my parents, therefore my application expired.

My mother has lived in this country since 1973 and granted ILR on her Jamaican passport, although I’m unsure of the date it was granted. Some years later she handed over her passport to the Jamaican Embassy, who in turn lost it. She has never attempted to apply for a replacement Jamaican passport, never held a British passport and at present holds no real evidence of her status in this country.

My father, who I’m in limited contact with holds a British passport and a Certificate of Registration as a British Citizen dated 1989, as both being documents are dated after my birth, the passport agency would not accept them. From what I’ve been told, he holds no further document relating to his citizenship and status.

So my problem in short is, given my parent status when I was born, am British by birth, but have no documentation to prove it in order to get my passport.

Looking into this matter, I’m aware of the NS form on the UKBA website, whereby a certificate is granted which states you are a British Citizen which can then be submitted along with a passport application proving my claim to British Citizenship.

So my first question, has anyone had any experience with applying for a NS certification? What level of information should be provided in the application? How long does it usually take to process? (I’m guessing 6 months, hopefully not) And how reliable is it really in assisting in a passport application.

Lastly, if anyone aware of a viable avenue for one of my parents to obtaining documentation detailing their status prior 1987, please do suggest.

Thanks!

[JAJ]

Your mother really does need to get evidence of her ILR status from the Home Office. She is really vulnerable without it. I'd recommend getting advice from a good immigration solicitor before she approaches the Home Office. Perhaps one option is for her to make a Subject Access request to get a copy of the immigration data held on file.

As for you, the form NS is your best option. Make the application with as much documentation as you have. If you don't have the rest of the documents, explain the details. The Home Office can look things up on their system provided that they have not lost the records. Which can happen.

The fact that your father was registered British after your birth strongly suggests that he at least held ILR when you were born and that there is a Home Office file for him. Was he married to your mother?

If all else fails you could apply for British citizenship using Form T, if you lived in the United Kingdom until age 10. But it would be better normally to evidence that you are already a British citizen.

[sam_7]

I was under the same belief that my father once held ILR hence the registration as a British citizen in 1989, I will try to inquire further with him on this matter.

I have my birth certificate, parents marriage certificate (date before my birth) and should be able to obtain my father’s registration certificate to submit with my NS form. I can't think of any additional documents to include which would benefit my application.

You mentioned the Form T JAJ, I'm hoping not to have to go down that routine until I exhausted all my other options first (Form NS being £88 verse the £550 Form T).

[sam_7]

Just thought I'd update the thread with my progress…

I'm happy to say I received my letter confirming my status as a British Citizen!!! It looks like they traced it back via my father’s detail using his registration certificate, confirming that he had settled in the country before I was born and my parents’ Marriage Certificate dated before I was born.

I submitted the NS form around mid-August and received the letter on the 13th of November, so about a four month wait. I can now apply for a British passport no problem!

A big thanks to this forum for all the information I learnt and was able to us in getting this far.