Getting a British passport...

[jen]

Does anybody know if it is possible to have my parents apply for a passport for my son from within the UK for me?

Going through the embassy is twice as expensive as doing it through the post office at home plus they don't even do it in Helsinki any more so I have to send it by courier to Düsseldorf which is another 30€. My parents are coming to visit next week and I wondered if it is possible to bring the forms with them and take back with them the completed forms and relevant documents and apply from within the UK.

There is a helpline number on the embassy website which I tried to call but to use it you have to give your credit card details. I only have my husband's card and he is away at the moment so the wouldn't accept it, they gave me another number to call but I can't call that number through skype and my mobile doesn't make international calls.

I suspect not being born or resident in the UK would cause a problem but I thought it was worth checking out anyway.

[mvgrogan]

i don't know how helpful this is...

my children both have a finnish father and a british mother; my daughter was born in UK and has a British passport and my son was born in Finland and has a Finnish passport BUT I understand that they both have dual citizenship and qualify for either/both passport as their parents are both eu nationals and the children were born after 2003.

It may be you could get a Finnish passport for your son now and then get his british one next time you are there.

hope you get it sorted whichever way.

[jen]

Thanks Maria,

Unfortunately my son can't get a Finnish passport since neither parent is Finnish. The process through Düsseldorf is simple enough, just expensive, so I was hoping to save a little money. It seems silly that you have to send it to Düsseldorf though, why cant you just send it to the UK if you are going to have to send it somewhere?

[jen]

I managed to find out through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the it is not possible. Oh well, I will just have to shell out the money.

[Rosamunda]

Yes, it seems a huge rip off to me. When my kids' British passports expired I got them Finnish ones. The British consulate wanted to charge us all kinds of extra fees. For example, they wanted me to apply for GB birth certificates for them, and would charge a "research fee" for this. Seemed crazy since my kids already had GB passports (I was applying for a renewal) It was so much easier in Paris where they accepted their French birth certificates, without even a translation.

Even though my kids don't have GB passports they still retain their citizenship (in theory anyway).

My understanding is that, as they were not actually born in the UK, they will not be able to pass on their GB citizenship to their own children (my grandchildren) automatically. But that's a long way off....

[riku2]

if you are visiting the uk then you can get them the same day, I did that a few years ago. You don't have to be a resident to do that but there are extra charges to have it done the same day (regardless of whether you're a resident or not)- they took about 5 hours between handing the form in to me collecting it.
I never forgave the hki embassy for issuing my previous passport as non machine readable long after the uk issued ones were machine readable, so I never considered going there again.

after I wrote this post I checked the prices.
same day renewal in the uk - 130pounds
renewal via dusseldorf - 159 pounds

[Karhunkoski]

Sounds cheap enough, considering the work load that goes into checking the dodgy applications, you know, the checks that ensure a British Passport is worth the paper it's printed on

[sinikala]

if you are visiting the uk then you can get them the same day, I did that a few years ago.

That's partially true, yet rather misleading.

The service Riku2 refers to is the Premium one-day service, (which I used myself in London this June, and it was first rate ) it's a 4 hour service, but you have to make an appointment in advance, and IIRC the appointment can be made a maximum of 14 days in advance and

This service is not available for:
* a first adult or first child passport
* making changes to your existing passport (such as changing your name)
* extending a limited passport
* replacing a lost, stolen or damaged passport

You also need to provide a UK address, though they accepted the Holiday Inn in Kensington. A great service if you meet their requirements ... but not suitable for the OP.

[kaisaella]

It's not necessarily a reduction of services by the various Consulates and Embassies, but rather an increase in the security and complexity of producing passports these days- especially countries like the UK that produce an 'E Passport'.
In fact Canadian passports are no longer produced here in Finland, despite the ability to apply here.
The UK has even removed the ability for Brits in Canada to get their passports produced in Canada- their forms etc are sent to the US and the passports are produced there.