British passport

Wesam

New Member
Hi.I had an old child Uk passport that granted when I was born in1980 and it has expired in 1989. As I have now a dual citizenship.how can I renew my British passport and how?.
Note: the spelling of my first name in recent valid passport is slightly different, is there a problem here?
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
When the passport is expired over 5 years, the HMO requires you to fill out a First UK passport application. Not a big deal; it just requires additional documents like your original birth certificate. The name change issue will be a minor pain to deal with, and the HMO is not flexible on this issue, so you will have to have all documents in order before they issue you the new passport with the new name.

If you are going to do this process yourself, here is the link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-first-adult-passport
If you live in Canada or USA, you can pay a third-party company to help you; here is the link: https://britishpassport.ca/first/.

Also, here is a do-it-yourself guide we wrote on this topic: https://britishpassport.ca/faqs/apply/ & name change issue: https://britishpassport.ca/british-passport-change-of-name-living-outside-of-the-uk/
 

Wesam

New Member
Thank you for the helpful info. So what you are saying it is possible to deal with the change on my name spelling if it is a slight change with extra documents and process?
My other question is my father was a Saudi diplomat in London while I was born in uk. Is it a problem for the renewal process since I already granted the uk passport with British citizenship stamp on it. I don’t know when was this law restriction happened after or before my born! Do you have an idea?
 

Riley Haas

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Toronto
Yes, the name change must have documents clearly showing the changes, e.g. name change documents, birth certificate (translated), current passport and so on...

The diplomatic stuff is weird rules surrounding it. Some countries will not give citizenship to the children of diplomats. But, if you had a British Passport before, you should be in the system and cleared already (if logic prevails).

What I would do is just file an application and see what happens. The worst thing that can happen is you lose your government fee, but at least you will be given a clear letter stating the UK government's stance on the matter. If you are still nervous about that matter, you can hire a third-party company to help you with the paperwork.

Good luck, and if you have the time come back and let us know what happened.
 

Wesam

New Member
Thanks a lot for your feedback.

I did go through this and read about the name changing in the UK Home Office website.
What I understand is,if I hold a dual citizenship I have to change the foreigner passport not the British one which is not an easy step for me because that’s my official documents name at my whole career since I went to school! My son middle name should be changed as well as consequence to this! Specially if I want also to pass him a British citizenship by decent which is the main purpose of the whole renewal process.

The diplomatic manner is really wired and I don’t now when was this law enacted! if it was a problem they wouldn’t give my father a passport as my long birth certificate shows his occupation as a diplomat clearly!

Do you assist people with the application outside USA and Canada ? And how much the service costs me in my case?

I really I appreciate your kind response Riley.
Thank you,
 
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