Reentering UK on a Thai passport

[Jim Kelly]

My wife, a naturalised British subject for the past 30 years, will be travelling to Thailand at the request of the UK Passport Office in order to change her name in Thailand to her married name. But since the Passport Office is withholding her British passport until she does so, she will have to travel on her Thai passport. Will she face a problem when she tries to fly back to the UK without a British travel document, or can she show the airline (and UK border control) her certificate of naturalisation to prove her right of abode?

[Eff1n2ret]

The Passport Office advice is rather arrogant, as the only option it suggests is that to comply with the requirement for the name in both passports to be the same, the foreign passport must be changed to comply with the details in the British one. My wife faced the same problem when she wanted to renew her UK passport a few years ago, though she is in a slightly different situation from yours, as we have been settled in Thailand for 12 years and she has few formal ties now with the UK (in terms of bank accounts etc.) It would have been much more of a workup to change her Thai name, so our solution was to change her UK married name by deedpoll to her Thai name, and apply for her UK passport in that name. That is something your wife might consider, although she would then have to notify her bank and all the other utilities who have her records.

Only two other thoughts:- has she consulted the Thai Embassy about changing the name in her Thai passport? When I first met my wife in the UK she was recently divorced, and she before we became an item she got an endorsement in her Thai passport changing her previous married name to her maiden name, and we first travelled together with that whilst she still had ILR before she applied for citizenship.

The naturalisation certificate is not an identity or travel document, doesn't carry a photo, and whilst production of that and other evidence might get her past UK Immigration control, I doubt very much whether any airline would accept her for boarding. She shouldn't leave the country until she has cast-iron written assurance that she would be accepted for travel on that basis. What name would she put on a return ticket?

The deedpoll might be her only option.

[chilly07]

Although my wife's Thai passport has always been in her married name as we married in Thailand this is all based on her Thai marriage certificate. Would have thought an agent in Thailand could do this for her including certified translations and the Embassy in London could issue her with a new passport. I do know that image conscious Thai ladies have got the London Embassy to issue a new replacement passport for this purpose or have replaced lost or damaged passports. Outrageous that HMPO says she should go to Thailand to change her passport. By the way there is a very long passport queue at the London Embassy to quote them 'there are 1m Thais in the UK including students who are all booking passport appointments' but until now they have closed previous outreach services and my 2 sons in the UK have been waiting over 6mths for appointments to renew their passports as the Embassy insists they must attend the Embassy for biometric data to be taken. Letter to your MP quoting HMPO nonsense wouldn't be a bad thing. If she went through the naturalization process she should already have a UK passport. Incidentally I am renewing my UK passport 1 yr early via an agent in Thailand to allow for HMPO delays- still should only take 11 w max!

[Eff1n2ret]

2 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Outrageous that HMPO says she should go to Thailand to change her passport.

They don't say that, they say that the names in passports of dual nationals must be the same, but their only suggestion is that the name in the foreign passport must be changed. It is perfectly possible and legal to change your UK name by deedpoll and apply for a new passport.

 

2 hours ago, chilly07 said:

If she went through the naturalization process she should already have a UK passport.

Having been there for 30 years, she probably does. But the requirements of HMPO have been changed in the last few years to combat fraud and have therefore made life slightly more difficult for the OP's, and my, wife when renewing.

[Jim Kelly]

I looked into the deed poll UK name change as the easiest option, but we live in Glasgow and Scots law is different. Only people born or adopted in Scotland can change their name here. The Passport Office doesn't insist that we travel to Thailand, only that the name in the Thai passport must be changed. The first step in this process is to register our marriage in Thailand and change the name in the house registration document, then get a new ID card. This can apparently be done from the UK by giving someone in Thailand the power of attorney to act on our behalf, but it's a complicated process and going to Thailand would probably be easier. Also, considering the long wait for an appointment at the London embassy, it would be much quicker to get the new Thai passport in Bangkok.

[Eff1n2ret]

If your missis wants to have a trip to Thailand anyway. perhaps the best thing to do would be to withdraw the UK passport application and if possible get the expiring passport back (I assume it's with HMPO at the moment). Then once she's in Thailand and done all the necessary to change her Thai i/d she could apply to the British Embassy in Bangkok for an Emergency Passport, supported by the expired UK passport and her new Thai i/d, just for the one-way trip back to Scotland. The important point to know is that you can't apply for an Emergency Passport whilst there is an outstanding application for a full passport, but if she's cancelled that there should be no objection. Then once back in Scotland she should have no difficulty in submitting a new application.

 

Edit:- As we're on the Consular Forum, perhaps someone from the Consulate might comment = in principle - as to whether my suggestion would be acceptable to them.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Eff1n2ret

[Jim Kelly]

Yes, I'm going to ask the HMPO about that. We would need the expiring UK passport back anyway as photo ID to back up her vax certificate for the airline, as it's in her married name.

[howerde]

Here is the case worker document ref aligning names on dual passports

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965566/Names_-_aligning_names_on_foreign_documents.pdf

Names_-_aligning_names_on_foreign_documents.pdf

[Eff1n2ret]

According to this guidance, they will ask you to confirm your request to withdraw in writing, and why. It doesn't specifically say they will return the passport, so when you ring them be sure to ask.

Withdrawal of Applications (publishing.service.gov.uk)

refusing-passport-facilities.pdf

[Dogmatix]

One option would be to change her name by deed pool in the UK to get the new passport.  Then travel to Thailand at her convenience and change to her married name in ID tabien baan and passport. Back in the UK she can change back to her married name by deed pool.  

 

If she travels to Thailand without getting her UK passport back, she won't be able to board a flight to get back to the UK.  The UK embassy won't give her a Britsh visa because she is a UK citizen with a valid passport still on record. 

 

This whole HMPO stunt is pretty outrageous and has cause huge hassels for innocent citizens.  A friend who is a naturalized Thai and has a Thai name in his Thai passport managed to squeak by for another 10 years by failing to disclose his Thai citizenship on the application form.  They are supposed to check that the Brit passport has a Thai visa in it but the girl from the outsource agency obviously didn't bother. That is an offence though and not something I would recommend, especially for naturalzed Brits living in the UK who could be criminally prosecuted and even stripped of nationality and deported.  My friend doesn't care much about his UK citizenship any more though.

[Jim Kelly]

Thanks for the case worker link, howerde. Very interesting. I may be able to cite the fairness test and get them to use their discretion if we promise to get the name change done on our next visit to Thailand, post-Covid.

[British Consular Team]

On 2/16/2022 at 6:21 PM, Eff1n2ret said:

The important point to know is that you can't apply for an Emergency Passport whilst there is an outstanding application for a full passport, but if she's cancelled that there should be no objection.

This is actually incorrect. You can apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) if your full validity passport is not going to reach you in time for your travel. More information about eligibility and requirements for an ETD can be found on GOV.UK. 

 

Before entering Thailand, please make sure that you check Entry Requirements on GOV.UK for the most up to date information.  

 

We also recommend you seek advice from the Royal Thai Embassy, London or Thai Immigration, if you’re planning to enter and leave Thailand with different travel documents.  

[Eff1n2ret]

I understood from a neighbour that there is a Catch-22 in the present system, because the current official advice for a full passport is that an application takes 11 weeks, but the ETD application system has not been updated, so that if you give a date of travel more than 6 weeks ahead it tells you to apply for a full passport. I don't know how they resolved that, as they were wanting to travel in early April.