Incorrect Details on Child's Registration Approval

[imranb]

The citizenship approval letter from the HO for my UK born 3 year old child has a mistake in the Place of birth. It says – ‘Place of Birth: - Cheltenham, India’, instead of ‘Cheltenham, UK’. This inspite of the fact that they had the child’s birth certificate that clearly says that the child was born in Cheltenham, UK and current Indian passport that very clearly indicated that the child’s place of birth is Cheltenham, UK.

Anyways, I was wondering if I should get my child’s passport done and then send the certificate back for correction. If I send the certificate now for correction, it might go into a black hole and I have read instances of people requesting correction on their certificates and not hearing back from the HO for weeks. This will unnecessarily delay my child’s passport, and we are planning to travel in the near future.

Someone told me that this particular mistake on the certificate will not get replicated in the passport as the passport uses the birth certificate to establish a person’s place of birth, not the nationality certificate. Is that right? Is it a good idea to go for the passport first, and then request the correction on the certificate later?

[John]

The title of this topic refers to Naturalisation, but that is clearly not correct, as children are Registered as British Citizens, not Naturalised.

What have you actually received? The Certificate of Registration? Or merely a letter saying that the application has been successful?

[imranb]

The title of this topic refers to Naturalisation, but that is clearly not correct, as children are Registered as British Citizens, not Naturalised.

What have you actually received? The Certificate of Registration? Or merely a letter saying that the application has been successful?

Hi John,
Sorry my mistake. It is actually registration, not naturalization. I will change the title. Also, yes, I have only received the approval letter, but won't the registration certificate carry the same details as it appears on the approval letter?

[John]

It will have the same details ..... unless you tell them of their error. I recommend that you do that without delay, so hopefully the Certificate of Registration will be right first time.

[imranb]

It will have the same details ..... unless you tell them of their error. I recommend that you do that without delay, so hopefully the Certificate of Registration will be right first time.

Many thanks John. That's a fair point. I too am hoping that the certificate does not carry the same error.

But if the error persists in the certificate and if want to apply for the passport before I send the certificate back for correction, what are the chances of the same error replicating in the passport? Will they refer to the child's birth certificate or the registration certificate for mentioning the place of birth in the passport. The only reason why I want to apply for a passport before i send the certificate back for correction is so that my travel plans don't get jeopardized.

Many thanks for reading my post.

[John]

In the British passport the country of birth is not mentioned, whatever that country is. So passport would just show "Cheltenham", whatever the Certificate of Registration says.

The application was under section 1(3), so by definition the birth must have been in the UK! So how on earth did someone think the birth was in India?

[imranb]

In the British passport the country of birth is not mentioned, whatever that country is. So passport would just show "Cheltenham", whatever the Certificate of Registration says.

The application was under section 1(3), so by definition the birth must have been in the UK! So how on earth did someone think the birth was in India?

Thanks for confirming that the passport would only mention the name of the city of birth, not the country. I cross-checked that with another friend holding British passport and that was confirmed. So now I would just go ahead with the passport application as soon as I have the registration certificate in hand, and then send the certificate to the HO for correction. Many many thanks for your help and time on this John. Really appreciate it.

[John]

But have you contacted them, pointing out the error on the approval letter?

[rabigul]

HI Imran,

Do I know if your child's passport application had been approved with incorrect place of country on Certificate of registration?

What process did you follow? First applied for Passport and then send Registration letter for correction?

Appreciate your prompt response.

Many thanks.

[unsure]

Im in a similar situation.

Except my certificate of registration was issued to me back in 1995.

It has a very slight spelling error on it and im requesting to get it corrected now. I been waiting 3 weeks since I sent the request. I got nothing back yet.

My passport was issued to me in the same name as the incorrect registration certificate, it is slightly different than on my birth certificate....but when I renewed my passport some years after I put the correct spelling of my name in the passport application form and I gave the Passport office proof of that...though I cant rember what it was. I think I did the counter signature thing.

[rabigul]

HI Unsure,

Please correct me if i understood wrong, you mean it doesn't matter if the details on registration letter are slightly different than Birth certificate? the Passport office will issue you a passport with details as on Registration Letter or Birth Certificate?
My case is similar to Imran's.
Cheers

[unsure]

To be honest im not sure Rabigul...however, I think, The passport office will issue with whatever is on is on Certificate of Registration. You can try to call them and ask?

If there is any mistake on the Registration certificate then I imagine it would be best to get it corrected.

In my case, I didnt even know I had a certificate of Registration for all these years. Thats why only now im requesting it to get corrected, I was advised by a solicitor I didnt need to and i put myself in a needless hassle. When I renewed my passport back in 2004 I corrected the name on the application form and I think I sent them some sort of proof of that. But I cant remember how I did it exactly.

[rabigul]

Thanks unsure, definitely i'll get it corrected and ring them aswell.

Imran can you please share your exp with HMPO? And advice. Thanks

[rabigul]

In the British passport the country of birth is not mentioned, whatever that country is. So passport would just show "Cheltenham", whatever the Certificate of Registration says.

The application was under section 1(3), so by definition the birth must have been in the UK! So how on earth did someone think the birth was in India?

Thanks for confirming that the passport would only mention the name of the city of birth, not the country. I cross-checked that with another friend holding British passport and that was confirmed. So now I would just go ahead with the passport application as soon as I have the registration certificate in hand, and then send the certificate to the HO for correction. Many many thanks for your help and time on this John. Really appreciate it.

[rabigul]

HI, Just for someone else knowledge.

I have had applied for my child's first British Passport with incorrect country of birth on Certificate of Registration. And guess what we received his passport in less than two weeks. Thanks to HMPO. In addition, passport only displays City of Birth instead of country.

Now I'll send the certificate back to UKBA for correction.

Good Luck

Cheers

[rabigul]

Here are timelines for cert. correction;

Posted incorrect cert. with cover letter on 25 Feb 2014

Received correct cert. on 11 Mar 2014.

It took UKBA two weeks to send back correct cert.