How can i obtain a british passport?

[VOR]

Can anyone advise on how I can obtain a British Passport given my circumstances?

I was born in the UK after 1983 to foreign parents who were not married or settled in the UK at the time of my birth.

Years ago I tried to apply for a passport using the Form T, but my application was rejected because I could not provide immunisation records (as my GP had lost the records).

What other methods can I use to obtain a passport?

I have never traveled outside of the UK

[alterhase58]

Have you considered the Windrush Scheme?

https://www.gov.uk/windrush-prove-your- ... -in-the-uk

The website states:
"You may be able to apply for a document to prove you can live and work in the UK if one of the following is true:
- you came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
- your parents came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
- you came to the UK from any country before 31 December 1988 and are now settled here"

This is not a direct path to citizenship (or a passport) but may provide you with a document that will help you.
Cannot comment on this as not familiar with the scheme.

[VOR]

Thanks for the info

However, I cannot go down this route

[CR001]

Have you considered the Windrush Scheme?

https://www.gov.uk/windrush-prove-your- ... -in-the-uk

The website states:
"You may be able to apply for a document to prove you can live and work in the UK if one of the following is true:
- you came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
- your parents came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973
- you came to the UK from any country before 31 December 1988 and are now settled here"

This is not a direct path to citizenship (or a passport) but may provide you with a document that will help you.
Cannot comment on this as not familiar with the scheme.

See users extensive topic from 2016.

british-citizenship/will-form-t-be-reje ... 24843.html

[FighterBoy]

Can anyone advise on how I can obtain a British Passport given my circumstances?

I was born in the UK after 1983 to foreign parents who were not married or settled in the UK at the time of my birth.

Years ago I tried to apply for a passport using the Form T, but my application was rejected because I could not provide immunisation records (as my GP had lost the records).

What other methods can I use to obtain a passport?

I have never traveled outside of the UK

Form T is the main method, tho you might be able to naturalise but you'd have to enquire (it's intended for migrants with settled status).

You should've contested it, filing for Judicial Review in court if needed. There's no basis in law to reject someone over immunisation records. The Home Office are clearly overstepping their powers.

This isn't the only case of Form T rejection I've read. If the UK doesn't grant jus soli citizenship & doesn't want to register people, they should amend the law to a pure jus sanguinis, instead of stealing people's money on a false premise.

Sorry to hear of your experience, you aren't alone. Many born and raised in the UK don't have a UK passport, it's not a straightforward process.

[secret.simon]

my application was rejected because I could not provide immunisation records (as my GP had lost the records).

Do you have any alternate proof that you were resident in the UK for the relevant period in time?

I presume that at the moment, you at least hold ILR along with the passport of a nationality inherited from one of your parents.

You should've contested it, filing for Judicial Review in court if needed. There's no basis in law to reject someone over immunisation records. The Home Office are clearly overstepping their powers.

Not sure how a JR would have worked in this case. It is the applicant's responsibility to prove that they meet the requirements for registration. And the requirements for Form T/Section 1(4) registration are laid out in detail in the legislation.

Keep in mind that judicial review works very differently in case of Immigration Rules, which are secondary legislation made by ministers under powers given by Parliament, compared to the British Nationality Act 1981, which is legislation made directly by Parliament. The courts in the UK can't challenge laws made by Parliament (that is the concept of parliamentary sovereignty, that there is no power higher than Parliament, that Parliament can make and unmake any laws whatsoever, without any restraints on its powers and that courts and the government would implement the laws as passed by Parliament).

[FighterBoy]

You should've contested it, filing for Judicial Review in court if needed. There's no basis in law to reject someone over immunisation records. The Home Office are clearly overstepping their powers.

Not sure how a JR would have worked in this case. It is the applicant's responsibility to prove that they meet the requirements for registration. And the requirements for Form T/Section 1(4) registration are laid out in detail in the legislation.

Law requires him to prove, on balance of probabilities, he was born in the UK and resided there for 10 years (limited absences). It does not require immunisation, or records thereof. If the home office refuses to register, it can be challenged in the courts. It is the courts who decide whether he satisfies requirements of section 1(4) of the 1981 Act, not the home office.

Section 1(4) does not define the evidence to be adduced. Infact nowhere in the 1981 Act defines the evidence to be adduced. As long as a claim is established on a balance of probabilities, it is valid.

TLDR: there's no legal requirement for immunisation records, the home office has zero legal power to demand it. It is purely a home office invention.

[1mic]

@secret.simon- I disagree

A person’s nationality status is a legal matter which only the courts can determine conclusively.

[secret.simon]

secret.simon- I disagree

A person’s nationality status is a legal matter which only the courts can determine conclusively.

In this case, of course, there is no doubt that the OP is not a British citizen. The doubt in this case is the level of proof they need to submit to meet the requirements to register as a British citizen.

The OP is free to apply for a judicial review. Indeed, there is a charity (PRCBC) that may be able to help him and guide him on this point.

But until I see a court ruling on such a point of law, I remain unconvinced. The courts in the UK tend to defer to the government on points such as nationality/citizenship law and are averse to a broad reading of the law. It is always worth remembering that the UK does not apply either the European or the American schools of broad reading of the law and heaves more closely to a literal/textual reading of Acts of Parliament.

[FighterBoy]

secret.simon- I disagree

A person’s nationality status is a legal matter which only the courts can determine conclusively.

In this case, of course, there is no doubt that the OP is not a British citizen. The doubt in this case is the level of proof they need to submit to meet the requirements to register as a British citizen.

The OP is free to apply for a judicial review. Indeed, there is a charity (PRCBC) that may be able to help him and guide him on this point.

But until I see a court ruling on such a point of law, I remain unconvinced. The courts in the UK tend to defer to the government on points such as nationality/citizenship law and are averse to a broad reading of the law. It is always worth remembering that the UK does not apply either the European or the American schools of broad reading of the law and heaves more closely to a literal/textual reading of Acts of Parliament.

There is nothing in the Act about child immunisation or having records thereof. Refusal on such a basis can be challenged in court. Any competent judge won't agree that immunisation records are a requirement of the Act - since they aren't.

If the court agrees he meets the requirements for registration, he will be registered. It is a matter of law - not of home office policies/procedures.

I have no idea why you keep putting forward the idea that child immunisation records are part of the law - they aren't. There's no getting around that fact.

[1mic]

@secret.simon @fighterboy

Balance of probabilities (Page27)-

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... e-v4.0.pdf

[FighterBoy]

@secret.simon @fighterboy

Balance of probabilities (Page27)-

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... e-v4.0.pdf

Yes, balance of probabilities is the standard of proof applicable to the British Nationality Act 1981. The Act does not define the evidence to be adduced.

Home Office are wrong to demand immunisation records, if they did that is. OP can ask a judge to decide if he's to be registered under Section 1(4).

[1mic]

@fighterboy

You are absolutely right.