Requirement to send foreign passport when applying for new UK passport

[Metabarca]

Just out of curiosity (and not to start any great debate), is the UK's interest in other passports new, does anyone know? (I.e.: post-B?) Do [insert EU country]'s passport office want to know about your British passport when you renew?

Italy had no interest in seeing my British passport when applying for an Italian one. However, during the application for Italian nationality, they did require a copy of it (but did not want to see the physical original). To get the new passport, I popped into my local plod (this during lockdown), and a week later it was ready for me to pick up.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Italy had no interest in seeing my British passport when applying for an Italian one. However, during the application for Italian nationality, they did require a copy of it (but did not want to see the physical original). To get the new passport, I popped into my local plod (this during lockdown), and a week later it was ready for me to pick up.

Similar for me in France except it was the local mairie and ready within 2 weeks.

 

[ean_p]

Because it was me who was officialy dealing with the application.

Perhaps I could make it clearer, they refused to contact either of us until it was too late and an insecure return was a fait accompli.

Appalling behaviour.


- W

Oh well never mind you'll be able to claim a nice new Portuguese one in a few years time, that is unless a bright blue Alba one happens to pass by beforehand.......

 

[DouglasKey]

Hey! I can understand why you're frustrated by this requirement. I think it might be a new thing they've introduced. They probably cross-check some data in their system or with other governments to find out about dual citizenships, and that's how they know your partner has an Irish passport too. Complete bummer, right?

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I have had two passports for a long time, expired and renewed. At the border in the US they knew exactly where I had travelled and on what passport I had used, even expired ones: EU, MENA countries, Russia multiple times, China, Mexico and Boliva, Australia . Anyone who thinks governments need you to check a box for them to find know what you have for identity and travel purposes is living in cloud cuckoo land. If you don't tick second passport and they decide to check and you do have second passport, then they will ask for that.

 

[PlanB]

This is a link to the guidance for UK passport office staff - it tells you what to do if dual nationality is declared and/or a foreign passport is sent in, but the wording suggests it is not mandatory to declare, without actually saying so.

Dual nationality

 

[papaver19]

There is an option when you apply to attach a scanned copy of every page of your other passport. I did this with my Irish passport and it was all fine & dandy. No way was I going to send my Brexit Escape Pass out in the post, I would let my UK passport lapse before that (not sure why I didn't anyway - waste of £90 these days really)

 

[stranded]

Iirc from a brief stint at the Passport Office in the 80s it was to do with establishing you were in the UK because it is/was illegal to post a UK passport abroad - hence if you were abroad you had to apply through the local embassy and the application and new passport would be transferred by diplomatic bag. Seeing the other passport suggested but did not prove you were in the UK because people would be very reluctant to surrender the other passport if overseas, which might well be against the law of the other country. Or something like that…

 

[Laser310]

new passport would be transferred by diplomatic bag

They now post them directly to the applicant from Britain

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Renewed my UK passport a year or so back. They wanted my German one, sent them a colour photocopy of every page. Worked fine, got my UK one no problem. Tell them you need the EU passport for travel due to Schengen restrictions and send a colour photocopy.

 

[Star-Lord]

When I (finally!) get my new second passport, I was considering maybe letting my UK passport lapse. Given the stories reported here, this option is looking increasingly appealing!

 

[Seven Spades]

I wonder what the sanction is if you simply lie and do not declare your other passport.

My wife has three passports and flew to her native New Zealand and went through passport control for citizens and they refused her entry because the airline ticket had been bought with her UK passport, she was forced to use the visitors queue! if it was me I would have made a fuss.

 

[westernman]

I wonder what the sanction is if you simply lie and do not declare your other passport.

My wife has three passports and flew to her native New Zealand and went through passport control for citizens and they refused her entry because the airline ticket had been bought with her UK passport, she was forced to use the visitors queue! if it was me I would have made a fuss.

They probably need to match up the ins and outs and cannot process the UK passport are the citizen only line.
I.e. they were not simply being difficult for the sake of it.