I’ve applied for my child’s (currently a teenager) first UK passport. They were born in France to a French mum and myself (British), and therefore entitled to one being British by descent.
So far so good, I’ve gone through most of the process, and have had someone in a suitable profession confirm their identity. Now they are requesting my child’s full birth certificate, and ask for a civil and hospital version, and to send original documents (not photocopies). All I have is a ‘copie intégrale acte de naissance’ as provided by the townhall, which does state all the details, including the parent’s details… It’s not a photocopy, and it does have the official stamp, but it is an official copy. Is that sufficient? Presumably it’s also not an issue being in French?
The other small concern I have is that my wife has three long middle names, and the passport office’s form doesn’t have enough characters to enter it, so I had to stick with their first and last name only, which is also her maiden name before we were married. I hope it doesn’t cause an issue when they see the full name on the birth certificate.
If it’s useful to anybody else I spoke to somebody at the passport office, who said the long French version of the birth certificate is good… I suggested including a copy of the marriage certificate because of the maiden name, and they said it was a good idea, and that the middle names could be included in a cover letter, as the website didn’t allow enough characters.
Hi, I’ve just been through this with one of my now adult children. You must get a certified translation of the full French birth certificate. You must also send an original copy of your birth certificate, but this may be because my child is now an adult. I had to send off for a new one as I only had copies. I know there are different rules for whether it’s the mother or the father who is English, if the child is born in France, but I imagine you’ve checked this out. My son’s application has now been fully accepted. Good luck
Thank you for letting me know that - I didn’t think to ask on the phone, and that info is hidden in a pulldown box on the government website; I will seek out an official translator. The townhall from the commune where my son was born provided an official ‘copie Intégrale - acte de naissance’ with the townhall stamp; it’s not a photocopy, so I hope it suffices as I have nothing else.
I also have a certified copy of my birth certificate, which I obtained years ago when I got married.
Oh, and I just realised although they didn’t request a marriage certificate, if I sent one to show the change of my wife’s family name, that would need translating too! It’s going to end up being an expensive passport.
@Nicky before I forget, can I ask if the passport office returned all your documents when they sent your child’s passport? I will be applying to do the same for my other teenager, but I wanted to go through the process first.
Had this with my daughter, born in France, when she applied for a UK passport as an adult, from France. She needed court approved translation of her mother’s birth certificate (French) and a complete birth certificate for me from the Registry Office.
@RicePudding . I’m not sure if there’s a difference between applying as an adult or a child, but I figured if I get them now, before they’re 16 it’s a bit cheaper, and if they ever want them in the future (a big ‘if’, I’m not sure they have much interest in the UK) it would then be easy for them to renew it.
It is easier with children. My two eldest sons were on my passport when they were babies, but that was no longer allowed when my two youngest were born, so I didn’t get around to doing theirs. After all, didn’t need them before wonderful Brexit! For my son, the passport office asked for proof of residence, all correspondence was addressed to him, they could have phoned him for an interview (though didn’t)and it costs more, as you mentioned. Yes, it was great to get it. Will now start the process for my (now adult) daughter
I tried to force the issue when they were in their teens living with their mum, but as they weren’t interested at the time, and there was a little bit of parental alienation going on, the 2 girls only got around to it when they thought it would be of benefit to them as adults. I asked my 29 year old son if he had done it yet - he said he was bad at paperwork and didn’t feel the need, so…his loss !
I’m just in the process of finding a suitable translator. Although they only asked for a birth certificate, because we won’t married at the time, I’m pretty sure they will then ask for something to show the change of family name. Unfortunately that means I will also need to translate a marriage certificate. As the marriage certificate is held in a registry within a book and can’t be physically removed, the best I could do is to get a certified photocopy stamped by the townhall and signed by the mayor.
Really should have done all this before applying and paying for the passport, but I think you have 3 months in order to get it sorted out.
@Nicky Brexit caused all sorts of headaches. Whenever I pass a group of persistent yellow vests (probably some of the last remaining vestiges of that movement!), they like to display their FREXIT board on the roundabout… I feel like telling them, trust me, do you REALLY want that?
Hope everything also goes smoothly with your daughter’s passport.
@RicePudding Better late than never, as you don’t know what’s around the corner and what might change in the future (more true in 2025 than ever before).
I guess your son will get around to it at some point. It’s not really much in terms of form filling, it’s just getting the pesky documents together to send.
Today I received a plurilingual copy of my child’s birth certificate from the commune they were born in. Slightly different format, but same information. It’s in French, but with a red circles number next to each field, and on the reverse, corresponding to that number, is the translation in multiple languages… I’ve no idea if that would suffice!
