I was born in the US pre-1983 but my mother was British and I can apply for a British passport. The UKVM form is relatively straightforward but I have a couple of questions and the consulate will not answer questions over the phone and have not responded to my email.
One of my references (“referees”) needs to be a British citizen who has known me for three years and is not a “relative”. Most of the people I know in England are related to me, though some distant, so this is an issue. Would the daughter of my mother’s second cousin be considered a relative in this context? She has the same last name as my grandmother, so it’s something I’d like to not chance them finding out. How about the husband of a cousin? Ex-husband of my cousin?
I also don’t know if I could just have someone in the UK FAX me a signed form or if I need to have an original signature.
Pretty specific questions, but the SDMB is pretty amazing in the things people know.
Believe me, you are really overestimating both the competence and “give a fuck”-ness of the UK government departments who deal with stuff like this. You could probably give completely fake relatives, or even just write “N/A”, and have the thing processed. For this reason I can pretty much guarantee the fax thing would be fine.
I do not, however, know anything about this particular form and maybe immigration is where all the Oxbridge graduates who are too smart for MI6 go. I doubt it though.
I’ve sort of been through this when I had to get a new passport a few years back and didn’t have the old one to get renewed.
This is Section 3, right? 3rd cousin may be cutting it a little fine, especially when the names match. When I was applying for my passport renewal, I had to give someone completely unrelated. Don’t try to be cute. Supply the details of someone completely unrelated. Note also that it has to be a professional or similar.
As for fax, it’s best to have the original signature. Besides, fax is pretty much obsolete over here.
These are bureaucrats: give them exactly what they want. And if you have difficulties, write to them - registered post - rather than use email.
From what I’m reading, you believe that you are in fact already a British citizen, so you’re looking to register rather than naturalise. Is that correct?
In the notes for the naturalisation form, it states the following (scroll to section 5):
[QUOTE=UKBA]
If you are living outside the United Kingdom and do not know a British citizen who can act as a referee, a commonwealth citizen or citizen on the country in which you are living may sign the form provided:
he/she is of professional standing in that country; and
he/she has known you for three years; and
the British diplomatic post where you will be making your application considers his/her signature to be acceptable,
The referees must not have any unspent convictions.
[/QUOTE]
It seems possible that the same rules would apply for a registration application.
Yeah. My understanding is that, as per the law in place prior to 1983, you wouldn’t need to register if it had been your father who was a UKC. So you’re registering (not naturalising) on the basis of current law. That law seems to say something like (paraphrased) “If your mother had been your father, you’d be a UKC, therefore you can be a UKC by descent even though mothers couldn’t transmit that status at the time you were born.”
You will become a UKC by descent, so you can’t transmit UKC status to any children born outside the UK.
Anyhow, good luck, and if you ever find your way to Glasgow I’ll buy you a pint or a coffee, as you prefer.
The biggest hassle I had with the UK embassy was finding someone who could do passport photos against a cream or light grey background instead of standard white. Ah, bureacracy.
Ugh I guess I know now where the former British colony I live in got the idea for that stupid “get references from professionals” part of getting a passport. It is not only annoying, it is a pain in the ass or impossible for those who grew up out of the country to satisfy(most of them though probably don’t even bother just use their other passport).
I couldn’t even imagine the mess and bother it would cause if the US required that for issuing passports
When I had to re-apply for a UK passport after losing my existing one, I got the woman who sat next to me at work to be my referee. She didn’t really fit any of the approved categories, but the application went through fine. She did get a phone call though. I also know a couple of people who used the landlord of my local pub as a referee, so I guess the standards are a little more lax than than the published guidelines state.
Landlords are generally pretty well known to the police, tax and local authority by virtue of having a licence. They make fairly good referees if they know you, which if you’re a regular customer they may well do.
I have had at various times, a GP, a friend of the family who is a headteacher and a parish priest verify my identity.
I believe you can also present supporting documents at certain post offices, and they will verify your identity.
My impression was that the requirement is a holdover from a century ago, when only a certain “station” of person needed a passport, and of course they would be established members of the community and so they would have no problem getting their parish priest or minister, their lawyer and their doctor to sign for them.
