Obtaining a first British Passport in Bangkok

[p_brownstone]

My Daughter, born in Thailand (Thai mother) and now aged 12, has just received her Certificate of Registration as a British Citizen (a long and rather complicated story but not really relevant!).

 

Obviously the next step is to obtain a British Passport. The Embassy Website seems to confirm that the Application must be submitted to them for onward transmission to the U.K., however I am somewhat confused by the role of VFS; are they only involved in Visa issues or also, somehow, in the processing of - first time - British Passports?

 

Any guidance will be much appreciated.

 

Patrick

 

 

 

 

[Jip99]

VfS are the processing agents.

 

Submission and collection routed through them. 

 

Loads on gov.uk website, VfS website and on here

[captainhornblower]

It is quite simple. Go to this URL for a step by step guide.

 

https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

 

Good luck.

[Rawairat]

Just got my sons, without registration and had no problems. Only hiccup was filling out the forms on a computer, must be hand written 

[saminoz]

I too had my daughter's (half Thai, half me) back in record time.  No registration required.

I think they sent it to Hong Kong.

Now for daughter number two!

[partington]

9 hours ago, p_brownstone said:

Obviously the next step is to obtain a British Passport. The Embassy Website seems to confirm that the Application must be submitted to them for onward transmission to the U.K., however I am somewhat confused by the role of VFS; are they only involved in Visa issues or also, somehow, in the processing of - first time - British Passports?

The British Embassy in Bangkok have no involvement at all any more in issuing passports, and haven't done for several years now. If it says that on their specific Bangkok website it is wrong.

 

As others have described, the entire procedure is handled by VFS at the Trendy Building, Sukhumvit Soi 13 Bangkok, and the forms and photos you hand to them are sent by them to the Passport Issuing Office in the UK, and the passport returned to VFS for your collection at the same building when ready.

[HHTel]

The VFS act in the same way as the Post Office in the UK.  They check your application and supporting documents and forward it to the UK.  Even the credit card details are handled in the UK.  Approval is given in the UK and if approved then the new passport is returned to VFS for collection.  Any problems and the UK office will contact you directly.

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, saminoz said:

I too had my daughter's (half Thai, half me) back in record time.  No registration required.

I think they sent it to Hong Kong.

Now for daughter number two!

Definately not Hong Kong.. All British passports are issued in the UK.

[HHTel]

Before VFS, the agent was in Hong Kong.

[p_brownstone]

Many thanks to all who replied.

 

Patrick

 

 

[theoldgit]

14 hours ago, HHTel said:

Before VFS, the agent was in Hong Kong.

Not quite accurate, before they moved the actual processing of passports back to the UK, they had been printed there for years, the application and processing was handled by British Embassy staff in Hong Kong, not an agent.

[eddysmit]

Only problem for my daughter was the signed photo, they were not happy with the first signature, after a good friend signed it, has known her since her birth, all went well, I have just renewed my UK passport there they were excellent, hope it goes well for you and your daughter, sorry a little bit of misinformation, my daughter already had her short first one, but that should not make any difference for you, maybe a little bit more to fill in.

[HHTel]

5 hours ago, theoldgit said:

Not quite accurate, before they moved the actual processing of passports back to the UK, they had been printed there for years, the application and processing was handled by British Embassy staff in Hong Kong, not an agent.

I stand corrected.... I think!

[AGareth2]

On 8/8/2017 at 8:22 AM, p_brownstone said:

My Daughter, born in Thailand (Thai mother) and now aged 12, has just received her Certificate of Registration as a British Citizen (a long and rather complicated story but not really relevant!).

I would like some advice on this

is there a thread?

[p_brownstone]

13 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

I would like some advice on this

is there a thread?

 

Obviously I am not sure of your particular situation but you might start by Googling "The British Nationality (Proof of Paternity) Regulations 2015"

 

Patrick

[brewsterbudgen]

15 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

I would like some advice on this

is there a thread?

In short it confirms the person's citizenship.  However, it is not necessary to do this, as applying for a first UK passport also does it. As the OP has shown, even if you get citizenship first, you will still need to apply for a UK passport before the child can travel, so there are two costs involved.

[p_brownstone]

32 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

In short it confirms the person's citizenship.  However, it is not necessary to do this, as applying for a first UK passport also does it. As the OP has shown, even if you get citizenship first, you will still need to apply for a UK passport before the child can travel, so there are two costs involved.

 

Actually this is not always correct - as I myself can confirm.

 

In my particular situation my Daughter was born in 2004, British father, Thai mother as already mentioned, but we were not married at the time of birth so under the U.K. Regulations at that time my Daughter was not automatically granted British Citizenship - because she was born before new Legislation kicked in.

 

After a lot of lobbying of Parliament the "cut off date" for children born under these circumstances was revoked; but we still had to formally apply for Registration as a British Citizen - please see the Link I Posted above.

 

Only after we had this Registration could we apply for a British Passport for our Daughter.

 

Patrick

 

Edited August 10, 2017 by p_brownstone
Spelling!

[brewsterbudgen]

 
Actually this is not always correct - as I myself can confirm.
 
In my particular situation my Daughter was born in 2004, British father, Thai mother as already mentioned, but we were not married at the time of birth so under the U.K. Regulations at that time my Daughter was not automatically granted British Citizenship - because she was born before new Legislation kicked in.
 
After a lot of lobbying of Parliament the "cut off date" for children born under these circumstances was revoked; but we still had to formally apply for Registration as a British Citizen - please see the Link I Posted above.
 
Only after we had this Registration could we apply for a British Passport for our Daughter.
 
Patrick
 

I was referring to the situation as it is now.

Of course, some passport applications may be rejected as the applicant is not entitled to one, as they are not entitled to British citizenship.

[p_brownstone]

33 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I was referring to the situation as it is now.

Of course, some passport applications may be rejected as the applicant is not entitled to one, as they are not entitled to British citizenship.

 

Sorry, your Post makes absolutely no sense at all.

 

Perhaps you could clarify exactly what you mean - after you read again my earlier Posts?

 

Patrick

[brewsterbudgen]

Sure. Sorry if it was unclear.

My son was born in 2015 in Thailand. I'm British, my girlfriend Laotian. I was born in Africa in 1960, so there was some doubt as to whether my son could be a British citizen. I took advice and was given two options: 1) apply for British citizenship for my son or 2) apply for a British passport. Both processes would establish his citizenship, as the documents required are essentially the same. Just applying for citizenship seemed pointless as he required a passport in order to travel out of Thailand. There was a chance that his passport application might be rejected, in which case I would have taken legal advice and tried to establish his citizenship, so that we could reapply for his passport. Fortunately, despite me being born in Africa, his passport was granted which therefore establishes his citizenship.

We could have applied for citizenship first and then his passport, but saved considerable cost and time by just applying for his British passport.

I can't comment on your case as the situation may well have been different in the past.

[AGareth2]

6 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Sure. Sorry if it was unclear.

My son was born in 2015 in Thailand. I'm British, my girlfriend Laotian. I was born in Africa in 1960, so there was some doubt as to whether my son could be a British citizen. I took advice and was given two options: 1) apply for British citizenship for my son or 2) apply for a British passport. Both processes would establish his citizenship, as the documents required are essentially the same. Just applying for citizenship seemed pointless as he required a passport in order to travel out of Thailand. There was a chance that his passport application might be rejected, in which case I would have taken legal advice and tried to establish his citizenship, so that we could reapply for his passport. Fortunately, despite me being born in Africa, his passport was granted which therefore establishes his citizenship.

We could have applied for citizenship first and then his passport, but saved considerable cost and time by just applying for his British passport.

I can't comment on your case as the situation may well have been different in the past.

I was born in the Sub continent so my situation is similar

My question is 

should I start at The British Embassy?

[brewsterbudgen]

I was born in the Sub continent so my situation is similar
My question is 
should I start at The British Embassy?

The reason I was able to get my son a UK passport was that, despite being born in Rhodesia in 1960, I was registered in the UK as "British" in 1968 and could produce the original documents. I have spent almost all my life in the UK as I returned there aged about 1. Both my parents were also British.

I applied for his first British passport in Bangkok with all the documentation. It took about 3 weeks for his passport to be issued.