British passport issued by mistake

[shabz1986]

I was issued with British passport by mistake(1st British passport issued in 1999), but only found out when I went to renew my 3rd British Passport(in 2014).
Now they are asking me to apply for British citizenship. If they hadnt made the mistake I would have done the citizenship according to the 1999 rules and paid whatever the fee was back then. Is that a case I can argue with immigration/passport office?

[JAJ]

Extract from Home Office policy: (page 10-11)
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 1.0EXT.pdf

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Applications involving persons previously given status in error
Where an individual ... has been wrongly issued with a British passport, certificate of entitlement or the right of abode they may have lost age or time related entitlements to citizenship. Providing that you are satisfied that the error was not the result of deception on the applicants part you
must treat their original application as undetermined and process it accordingly.

This policy will only cover those individuals who would have had, but no longer have a route to registration under the British Nationality Act 1948 or the British Nationality Act 1981 and have been led to believe that they are British or have a right of abode in the UK. It does not apply where they still have a route to citizenship or where the applicant either did not qualify at the time of the grant or used deception in obtaining it or documents that were used to obtain citizenship.
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Was this passport issued while you were a child and did this take place in the U.K. or at a British diplomatic post. Depending on the circumstances you may be able to (and should reasonably expect) them to process the application under the circumstances as they were in 1999, including fee.

[shabz1986]

Thanks for the reply.
I was issued with my first British passport in 99 when I was 14 years old and was living in the UK since 1986.

[JAJ]

I was issued with my first British passport in 99 when I was 14 years old and was living in the UK since 1986.

Do you know of any reason why you may have been issued a British passport without evidence of British citizenship? Did your parents and/or siblings acquire British citizenship and/or passports at the same time.

You may find noteworthy the National Audit Office report on the Passport Office performance during 1999:
https://www.nao.org.uk/report/united-ki ... mmer-1999/

[shabz1986]

My mother got her citizenship in 2004 but my father was a British citizen way before I was born(early 70's I think).
He was a British citizen by descent, so he couldnt pass his citizenship onto me but, thats where the passport office/home office made the mistake and issued the British passport me. My siblings were born in the UK.

thanks

Shabana

[JAJ]

My mother got her citizenship in 2004 but my father was a British citizen way before I was born(early 70's I think).
He was a British citizen by descent, so he couldnt pass his citizenship onto me but, thats where the passport office/home office made the mistake and issued the British passport me. My siblings were born in the UK.

There was no such thing as British citizenship before 1983. Are you're saying your father acquired Citizenship of the U.K. and Colonies (predecessor of British citizenship) in the early 1970s? If so, on what basis did he acquired his U.K/Colonies citizenship? The answer may determine whether he became a British citizen by descent or otherwise in 1983. However- as a general rule, if he acquired his U.K. citizenship by registration in the United Kingdom (Home Office), Channel Islands or Isle of Man, he would be a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

[shabz1986]

Ok this is the important parts of the original letter from passport office in 2015.

"further to our telephone conversation ... where you confirmed that neither you or your father became British citizen through registration/naturalisation. Your previous passports were issued in error...

As part of the examination process we check the info provided along with our records and as a consequence we have confirmed that your grant of British nationality was determined on basis that your father was a British citizen at the time of your birth in Bangladesh. Further checks have determined that your father obtained his status by Descent through his father, who had registered as a British citizen prior to your fathers birth.
This means that he is unable to confer citizenship to you, as British nationality act 1981 states that a person born outside the UK shall be British citizen if either parent were British citizens 'Otherwise than by descent' at the time of the child's birth"

I've got my fathers old passports and his Bangladeshi passport expired in 1977 and he had his British passport issued in 1978. Not sure what process/application he had to go through to get his British passport and he cant remember either.
Thank you JAJ and Sorry about the long post, but it might be a lot clearer to you as to what has happened.

thanks