Hi, I've a, Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode - UK (http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/in...f12rightofabode), pasted into my Aussie passport.

Nearly ten-years ago, I applied for and received it from the British High Commission, Canberra.

As I'll be receiving my renewed Australian passport in a couple of days, with as little inconvenience as possible, I'd like to transfer the Right to Abode certificate to it.

However, looking at the above website, it seems that the permit may not be so 'permanent' after all, and I may have to mail a completely new application (including, passport, my dear mother's birth certificate and other personal identification documents of mine) to a British High Commission at a cost of 215 quid, not including postage, etc, as opposed to just getting it transferred form my old passport to the new renewed one at the UK embassy here in Bangkok .

I'd appreciate if other posters who have the same certificate could share there experiences of renewing it whilst staying in a third country .

Unfortunately, a certificate of right to abode does expire when the passport it is in does so; from Certificates of entitlement to right of abode

The certificate is placed in a valid passport and expires when the passport expires. To have a certificate in your new passport, you must apply for one again.

As you are outside the UK you do have to apply to your nearest British diplomatic post using form VAF7. The current fee for doing so in Bangkok is 11180baht, however, all application fees are due to change on 6th April, so you should check the fees page before submitting your application. See also the how to apply page from the UKVAC in Bangkok.

You may also find How to apply for a certificate of entitlement to right of abode useful and, although it is aimed at applicants in the UK, guide ROA, especially section 7 detailing what supporting documents are required for the different categories of applicant.

I think all you have to do is to apply in Bangkok to have the C of E transferred to your new passport, using the "Transfer" VAF. You shouldn't have to apply for Right of Abode all over again.

You may get posters telling you not to bother, because you can produce both the old passport showing RoA and your new passport when you travel. But I remember an Aussie who posted on another forum that he'd been sacked from his job in the UK because the Cert of Entitlement is endorsed as valid only within the validity of the passport - when his passport expired the employer rang up UKBA and the muppets there said that he was no longer entitled to be working or in the UK!!! - total nonsense, of course, but outside bog standard enquiries, the people who answer the phones there haven't a clue.

So you're probably right to get an endorsement in your new passport, but you're only applying for a transfer of what exists already, and you should be able to do that in BKK.

Mmm, looks like they know how to make a dollar, and I complain about the hoops which we have to jump through, here in Thailand.

You may also find How to apply for a certificate of entitlement to right of abode useful and, although it is aimed at applicants in the UK, guide ROA, especially section 7 detailing what supporting documents are required for the different categories of applicant.

I appreciate your help.

I hope that the UK embassy, Bangkok can accept the application, etc.

I think all you have to do is to apply in Bangkok to have the C of E transferred to your new passport, using the "Transfer" VAF. You shouldn't have to apply for Right of Abode all over again.

You may get posters telling you not to bother, because you can produce both the old passport showing RoA and your new passport when you travel. But I remember an Aussie who posted on another forum that he'd been sacked from his job in the UK because the Cert of Entitlement is endorsed as valid only within the validity of the passport - when his passport expired the employer rang up UKBA and the muppets there said that he was no longer entitled to be working or in the UK!!! - total nonsense, of course, but outside bog standard enquiries, the people who answer the phones there haven't a clue.

So you're probably right to get an endorsement in your new passport, but you're only applying for a transfer of what exists already, and you should be able to do that in BKK.

That's a bummer for that guy. Though, the certificate in my passport isn't endorsed with the above.

Yeah, I pray that the BKK embassy can sort this out, without loads of hassle and minus the huge expense.

Whilst I would agree that on many occasions the staff manning the UKBA 'help'lines are often useless on anything other than a bulk standard, simple question; from reading the UKBA pages linked to above it does appear on this point that they were right!

A certificate of right to abode does expire when the passport it is in expires and it cannot be transferred to a new passport (I, too, thought that it could until I checked); one has to apply for a new one. My reading of this is that if the holder does not do so then they no longer have the right to live and work in the UK; or at least no longer have any way of proving that they have that right.

Of course, if the holder is resident in the UK then applying for British citizenship is, although initially more expensive, the better option as citizenship is permanent (unless revoked) and does not have to be regularly renewed.

I hope that the UK embassy, Bangkok can accept the application, etc.

Yes, they can.

I would suggest making an online application and booking an appointment to submit your documents; the UKVAC is particularly busy at this time of year with student applicants and just turning up may mean a long wait!

I think all you have to do is to apply in Bangkok to have the C of E transferred to your new passport, using the "Transfer" VAF. You shouldn't have to apply for Right of Abode all over again.

You may get posters telling you not to bother, because you can produce both the old passport showing RoA and your new passport when you travel. But I remember an Aussie who posted on another forum that he'd been sacked from his job in the UK because the Cert of Entitlement is endorsed as valid only within the validity of the passport - when his passport expired the employer rang up UKBA and the muppets there said that he was no longer entitled to be working or in the UK!!! - total nonsense, of course, but outside bog standard enquiries, the people who answer the phones there haven't a clue.

So you're probably right to get an endorsement in your new passport, but you're only applying for a transfer of what exists already, and you should be able to do that in BKK.

That's a bummer for that guy. Though, the certificate in my passport isn't endorsed with the above.

Yeah, I pray that the BKK embassy can sort this out, without loads of hassle and minus the huge expense.

If it isn't endorsed with a limit on the validity, then you should most certainly apply to have it transferred to your new passport aand pay £75 rather than £215 for a new application.

Right of Abode does not lapse simply because a document expires (any more than Indefinite Leave to Enter or Remain does), and the advice the employer was given was incorrect.

Eff1n2ret, with respect, I repeat the quote from UKBA

The certificate is placed in a valid passport and expires when the passport expires. To have a certificate in your new passport, you must apply for one again.

(My emphasis)

If you have a UKBA or other government link to show that this information is incorrect and that the certificate can be transferred, please provide it.

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^^

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Thanks for the help guys.

Looks like I'll have to contact my dear old mum and have her forward her birth certificate over from Oz to me here at Bkk. I wonder if a true copy of the original would suffice and satisfy the Bkk British embassy, i.e., endorsed by an Aussie JP?

As you are renewing the certificate, your mother's birth certificate is not required; just your old passport with the old certificate.

See Document Checklist, Renewal of the Right of Abode Certificate of Entitlement

^Okay, I'm glad you've interpreted it that way, because clause #6 had me confused.