New policy regarding passport names for dual nationals.

[maximb74]

Hi Maximb, are you still having problems? I'm in discussions with HMPO for something very similar - maiden vs married name, 5 months waiting ...

We have an update on our situation: HMPO has agreed to issue my wife a passport with limited validity (1 year) and with observations about her Belarussian passport. This is not ideal, but at least it will allow her to travel to Belarus now (which we wanted to do around Christmas time anyway), renew her Belarussian passport on the same name and return back to UK without having to apply for a certificate of the right to abode (which they wanted her to do previously). Then, hopefully, she should be able to renew her British passport properly... We believe this became possible after our MP had had a meeting with UK visa and immigration where he asked them many questions and passed on our strongly worded letter (which otherwise would have been ignored at the HMPO lower level, just as our many previous letters had been). So MP route does work, but it depends on the MP, I guess...

[Saulsaul]

Hi all.
My application for naturalisation has approved and received approval letter, there spelling mistakes in my middle name and my sir name, for example my Sir name everywhere is spelled as a "Saleh" but on the approval letter is "Salih"? I have booked my ceremony as it says back of approval letter if your name incorrect you have to still do the ceremony so booked for 19/12 . Anyone have any idea how to sort this out ? What can I do so I receive a good spelling name on the passport which is applied same date as citizenship application. Thank you

[vinny]

You have to make sure that your naturalisation certificate has the correct spelling of your name.

[maximb74]

This is now in national press:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... issue.html

[phill74]

I am glad you got this far as the current naming policy for dual nationals is causing distress to so many innocent people.

From my understanding you only need to send a colour photocopy (all pages) of all uncancelled passports to HMPO. However the maiden name policy is the most disruptive of all as it impacts so many people.

Perhaps it is now time that we are all issued with an international identification number?

[cerberus]

For the past year, I have also been unfortunate enough to fall on the wrong side of the ill-conceived 'one-name policy', with no end in sight for the matter.

It is true, that hundreds (maybe thousands) of innocent dual citizens are being treated with suspicion and as criminals purely by virtue of their dual nationality. Sometimes, I have to rub my eyes and check the date - are we living in 1930's Germany or 2010's Great Britain? Where exactly is this country heading?

I have spent countless hundreds of pounds going back and forth between the various embassies and the passport office, providing all the documents requested only to be met with ZERO compassion or understanding.

I wish to publicly shame this organisation. Everybody, from the director general xxxxxxxxxxxx down to the lowly, pen-pushing, jobsworth case examiners are an absolute disgrace.

To anybody else who has been affected by this vicious, cruel, institutionally r.acist organisation, I say this:

- Complain to HM Passport Office (we know this will go nowhere, but let your displeasure be known and recorded)
- See your local MP and get them involved in the case
- Contact the relevant Peers in the House of Lords, their names are mentioned earilier in this thread. We need as many people as possible to know how unjust this situation is.
- Contact the media, if you are willing to go public on this matter as some have already. Again, the more exposure we have, the more shame and humiliation can be piled on the institutionally r.acist Passport office.
- Seek legal advice. The ultimate option must be to engage a lawyer to initiate Judicial Review proceedings. This would be costly but must be the best way of achieving justice.

The fight will continue. We will never give up.

[phill74]

It sounds so bad for you. Yes I agree this is a form of totalitarianism.

Some of your troubles have come from the former British Empire and colonialist mindset which still exists.

Througout this process I began learning about the history of my family and I understood that our real state was removed from us after partition.

[cerberus]

I also wanted to add, if anybody else has been adversely affected by the institutionally r.acist policy and actions of the Passport Office, to seek free advice from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Contact them here:

http://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com/

[world_ctz]

This is now in national press:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... issue.html

Hi Maxim. I was just wondering how your case is going. We are in almost exactly the same situation. My wife is Belarussian and we have been told to change the name in the Belarus passport. In our case it is not possible due to transliteration from Belarussian to English - the name will never be transliterated exactly. According to language rules also the surname will have to have an "A" added to indicate feminine gender.

We have written to HMPO but are nervous of the outcome after reading yours (and others) stories here. Any news that you have will be gratefully received

[Richard W]

Nor did they return either of my wife’s passports (her British passport had expired by then). So my wife is expected to go to Belarus and return back to the UK on her Belarusian passport. Belarus is not a EU country and a passport holder needs a visa to travel almost anywhere, including the UK. How on earth is my wife supposed to get back to the UK?

I realise this question has been partially answered by the short validity passport, but the key point is that British citizens have no right to a British passport.

The theoretical answer if she had been returned her Belarusian passport would have been that she could have travelled by land to the Channel coast. Her Belarusian passport plus British certificate of naturalisation allow her entry to any EEA country but the UK whose border she can reach. At the channel coast she buys an inflatable dinghy and rows across the channel and walks up the beach. British citizens are not required to enter the UK either at a 'port' or by crossing the Irish boarder. Rowing to a Channel Island might be better, but I don't know their border control laws.

Obviously it is not a satisfactory answer.

[maximb74]

Hi Maxim. I was just wondering how your case is going. We are in almost exactly the same situation. My wife is Belarussian and we have been told to change the name in the Belarus passport. In our case it is not possible due to transliteration from Belarussian to English - the name will never be transliterated exactly. According to language rules also the surname will have to have an "A" added to indicate feminine gender.

We have written to HMPO but are nervous of the outcome after reading yours (and others) stories here. Any news that you have will be gratefully received

Hi world_ctz,

Thankfully, we managed without an inflatable dinghy. We travelled to Belarus over Xmas, my wife changed her Belarussian passport to the spelling HO wanted, upon return she applied for her British passport renewal again with no issues this time.
If you don't want your name to be transliterated automatically in Belarussian passport, you need to fill in a box on the form with the English spelling you want. I don't think they care that much (like HO does), as long as it is not a completely different name...

[Saulsaul]

Hello guys.

In case if your country embassy cannot issuing a new passport for you, Can passport office accept an original letter from your country embassy mentioning that the correct spelling name of the person instead??

E.g correct spelling name of "Marko Julian" holder of Spanish passport with number S10171661, is "Marco Jolian".

Thank you .

[maximb74]

In case if your country embassy cannot issuing a new passport for you, Can passport office accept an original letter from your country embassy mentioning that the correct spelling name of the person instead??
E.g correct spelling name of "Marko Julian" holder of Spanish passport with number S10171661, is "Marco Jolian".

Hi Saulsaul ,

This is exactly what my wife did - got a letter from the consulate of Belarus in the UK stating that her name in the passport could not be changed in the UK and explaining reasons why it was spelt differently. Passport office response was that she had to go the Belarus in that case to change her passport.

[yoshi_jp]

I posted my messages somewhere further up the thread some years ago, and I came back to follow up as it's about time to start preparing for the renewal of our son's passport.

(We have discussed the futility of this at length: if a person CAN change the name on their foreign passport at will, then they can also change it again after applying for a British passport, thereby undermining the security purpose of the policy).

I thought about it at length, and specifically about any possible security benefit to the state with regards to identifying criminals, etc. Given the level of police state that we have, I do not think that they really need this policy to capture ham-fisted wanna-be criminals. They have many other means of surveillance at their disposal to capture real ones.

Thinking about this never-ending totalitarian drama on the flight to Tokyo Narita a few months ago, I realised that the truth behind all this nonsense might have been hiding in plain sight, i.e. THE NEW EXIT CONTROL SYSTEM.

When you fly out of the UK, the Government collects your API data, and use that as your record of embarkation. So, if a Japanese-British dual national with no record of naturalisation checks in a one-way flight using his new Japanese passport (to avoid visa requirements, etc.), the API system only captures an unknown Japanese person leaving the UK without first entering it rather than a British Citizen. I guess that will quite significantly corrupt the data set over time.

That is probably why they are so militant about building up a massive database that actually cross-links between every foreign and British passport.

If they had a proper exit control where every British national is asked to show a British passport, they would be able to simply compare the embarkation data and the API entries and build the necessary record with ease.

Having said that, it is perhaps really for security purposes i.e. detecting everyone who was born here and can potentially fly one-way to certain countries, but do they really think such people will honestly declare? Or, is it simply about nicking certain people for not honestly declaring it?

[Saulsaul]

In case if your country embassy cannot issuing a new passport for you, Can passport office accept an original letter from your country embassy mentioning that the correct spelling name of the person instead??
E.g correct spelling name of "Marko Julian" holder of Spanish passport with number S10171661, is "Marco Jolian".

Hi Saulsaul ,

This is exactly what my wife did - got a letter from the consulate of Belarus in the UK stating that her name in the passport could not be changed in the UK and explaining reasons why it was spelt differently. Passport office response was that she had to go the Belarus in that case to change her passport.

Hi maximb74 , thank for reply and info. My country embassy in London all they could right a letter mentioned the correct spelling of my name, I sent that one and now waiting to hear them. Will see what's gonna happen. Cheers

[natsher]

Hi,
The situation is unchanged, unfortunately, 6+ months. Some progress on our local MP front, though - a reply from HO (took 2 months), 3 page letter confirming their stance and no exceptions in our case. MP is not happy about it, meeting with him next week. This is our first piece of hard evidence, we can take it to the lawyers, newspapers maybe... This policy can't be shifted unless enough noise is made in the media, I guess.

Hello, are you still trying to obtain your wife^s passport? I am going through the same nightmare and cannot see the way out, 7 months without passport already. Your help will be very appreciated.

[Saulsaul]

In case if your country embassy cannot issuing a new passport for you, Can passport office accept an original letter from your country embassy mentioning that the correct spelling name of the person instead??
E.g correct spelling name of "Marko Julian" holder of Spanish passport with number S10171661, is "Marco Jolian".

Hi Saulsaul ,

This is exactly what my wife did - got a letter from the consulate of Belarus in the UK stating that her name in the passport could not be changed in the UK and explaining reasons why it was spelt differently. Passport office response was that she had to go the Belarus in that case to change her passport.

Hi Maxima74 . Regarding changing spell of name. After I sent Iraqi passport and a letter from Iraqi embassy from London, the letter mentioned the right spelling of my name. Yesterday I had a call from passport office Durham says they still wants the name changed on Iraqi passport to the desire spelling then they can issues my British passport with the spelling.

So now Firstly I have to right them a letter to return me back my Iraqi passport and Secondly go to Iraqi embassy in London renew and change the spelling of it. I already speak to the Iraqi consulate through the phone, they said the will issue a passport with the changing name.

Honestly I have to say that I have been through very difficult time with immigration and passport office after paying all fortune they still won't issue me passport with all the evidence I provide. Shame.

[world_ctz]

Hi again Maxim,

I'm glad to hear of your good news. After us fighting the passport office, we have given up and decided to change the Belarus passport like you did. Can I ask, what document did you provide to show proof of the name change? We have a British marriage certificate. Is it enough do you think. Perhaps you had additional documents? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are worried about using up our holidays to go to Belarus, but being unsuccessful because of not having the right documents.

thanks in advance for any advice you might have

[world_ctz]

Hi Maxim. I was just wondering how your case is going. We are in almost exactly the same situation. My wife is Belarussian and we have been told to change the name in the Belarus passport. In our case it is not possible due to transliteration from Belarussian to English - the name will never be transliterated exactly. According to language rules also the surname will have to have an "A" added to indicate feminine gender.

We have written to HMPO but are nervous of the outcome after reading yours (and others) stories here. Any news that you have will be gratefully received

Hi world_ctz,

Thankfully, we managed without an inflatable dinghy. We travelled to Belarus over Xmas, my wife changed her Belarussian passport to the spelling HO wanted, upon return she applied for her British passport renewal again with no issues this time.
If you don't want your name to be transliterated automatically in Belarussian passport, you need to fill in a box on the form with the English spelling you want. I don't think they care that much (like HO does), as long as it is not a completely different name...

Hi again Maxim,

I'm glad to hear of your good news. After us fighting the passport office, we have given up and decided to change the Belarus passport like you did. Can I ask, what document did you provide to show proof of the name change? We have a British marriage certificate. Is it enough do you think. Perhaps you had additional documents? Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are worried about using up our holidays to go to Belarus, but being unsuccessful because of not having the right documents.

thanks in advance for any advice you might have

[GRAC1ELA]

Hello, this is just a general response on this subject. There are also over 500 posts on this web-site under heading "Passport refused-uncancelled passport in maiden name", where, on page 26 you will see my post under GRAC1ELA. By the way, I am told by the PO that even CANCELLED passports in different names are treated the same way. I don't know what the supposed benefits are for the one name rule, but it seems to me that the PO, by adopting this policy, has created a huge rod for their own back, apart from the stress, massive inconvenience and expense for the applicant. In our case, this is an uncancelled Argentine passport which is expired, and is in my previous married name. The passport cannot be used, it cannot be renewed, it would not be recognised by the authorities, as, apart from the fact that it expired 30 YEARS ago, Argentina now, like some other countries, only issue passports in a woman's maiden name, yet the PO still refuse to remove their bureaucratic blinkers. Now, after just nipping off to the Argentine Consulate in London, we have a statement confirming Argentina's passport position to send to the PO. Without any guarantees from the PO, we decided that I had to acquire an Argentine Passport, which I now have ( in my maiden name ), to ensure that I can travel at the end of the month to my son's wedding. By the way, the staff at the Argentine Consulate were WONDERFUL. Going back to my earlier point, surely if it is possible to forge a document, criminals will do it, no matter what sort of passport regulations are in force. Why can't the PO just add a codicil to the married name passport stating " also known as previous married name of ......., and maiden name of ......", and leave the other passport as is ?
PS The online application process is super-simple, and we didn't anticipate any problems, as I had renewed twice previously over 30 years. However, the PO is, I think, guilty of rank incompetence in not stating, at the dual Nationality stage, the fact that passports submitted in different names will result in a refused application. This would at least highlight the problem to an ignorant British Subject like myself, and prevent thousands of applications going in to those poor over-worked souls in the PO for refusal.

[GRAC1ELA]

PS Just spoken to my local MP about this situation, and mentioned that my husband wants to gather a petition. Not sure how we would head it up, as a complaint, or as a request/ demand for a review ?!? Anyway, the spokesperson suggested looking up " Parliamentary Petitions ". They also thought that you may need something like 10,000 signatures. Well, easy peasy, right ? HERE WE GO !

[ozexpat]

Has anyone had any luck with having an observation added to explain a difference in name in a foreign passport?

I have a foreign ID card which does not match with my other documents. HMPO has requested everything be changed (either the ID card or practically all my other documentation) due to a difference in the order of my first and middle names. The ID card is not easy to change and cannot be done from overseas and supposedly is considered on a "case by case" basis. Was wondering if anyone else has had any luck with getting an observation put in and how strict HMPO is with the requirement that it is not possible for names to be changed in foreign documents.

[ozexpat]

PS Just spoken to my local MP about this situation, and mentioned that my husband wants to gather a petition. Not sure how we would head it up, as a complaint, or as a request/ demand for a review ?!? Anyway, the spokesperson suggested looking up " Parliamentary Petitions ". They also thought that you may need something like 10,000 signatures. Well, easy peasy, right ? HERE WE GO !

A petition sounds like a great idea - the policy unfairly targets dual nationals (read "foreigners") and women who may be using maiden/married name. All for the supposed purpose of security or what not - even though as others have pointed out: if it is so easy to get documents "amended" and names to match up then it would be just as easy for them all to be "amended" back (or to something else) if someone truly had malicious intent after the British passport has been issued.

[ghgi]

Hi,
I thought I would mention that only last week I received my passport after fighting for 6 months (I know it doesn't seem like long from all of the stories I have read on here). I managed to wear HMPO down and get them to add in an observation, as I wasn't going to be renewing my French passport which expired in December. They didn't seem to understand that in France I will always be known under my maiden name, with them an addition of my married name.
I had to send them my new identity card which has this on it, and so I now have my passport with an observation which reads:
Holder has a French passport, number xxxxxx issued xxxxx in the name of xxxxx (maiden name). This passport expires 09/12/2017.
Holder has French Identity Card issued on xxxxxx in name of xxxxxxx ep (married) xxxxx

Hopefully this will help, and if anyone needs more information message me and I will be more than happy to help with a case of precedence.

[cerberus]

Hi,
I thought I would mention that only last week I received my passport after fighting for 6 months (I know it doesn't seem like long from all of the stories I have read on here). I managed to wear HMPO down and get them to add in an observation, as I wasn't going to be renewing my French passport which expired in December. They didn't seem to understand that in France I will always be known under my maiden name, with them an addition of my married name.
I had to send them my new identity card which has this on it, and so I now have my passport with an observation which reads:
Holder has a French passport, number xxxxxx issued xxxxx in the name of xxxxx (maiden name). This passport expires 09/12/2017.
Holder has French Identity Card issued on xxxxxx in name of xxxxxxx ep (married) xxxxx

Hopefully this will help, and if anyone needs more information message me and I will be more than happy to help with a case of precedence.

Congratulations on reaching a satisfactory conclusion with your case.

I would like to point out, however, that for many Dual Nationals - the forced placement of an 'observation' by the Home Office will not solve their problem, but indeed create many more problems for them.

If a British citizen is also a national of, let's say; North Korea, Venezuela, Russia, Syria, Iran, Libya, e.t.c or any other country deemed 'undesirable' by this xenophobic and colonialist government, is it right that their British passport should needlessly draw attention to their ethnicity/heritage?

Surely, this is a blatant and disgraceful form of discrimination that at the very least will cause inconvenience and humiliation for these unfortunate Dual Nationals, and may even put them at risk in their travels?

I put it to the Home Office, that this is also a violation of their basic human rights in addition to a shocking form of r.acial discrimination.