Requesting the return of the UK-citizen's passport

Hi all,

 I currently have a SET (M) application under consideration with the UKBA, as I am the spouse of a British citizen.  My husband needs his passport returned for travel, but I don't need any other documents returned, and am certainly not trying to withdraw my application.

 According to the website I need to fill in a Request form, but then it goes on to state that: 'For all applications other than European and nationality applications, if you request the return of documents, your application will be automatically withdrawn and your application fee will not be refunded'.

Does anyone know if by requesting only my husband's passport be returned whether or not they will then withdraw my entire application?!

Any help is appreciated!

best,
Kelly

Hi,

I'm an FLR (M) applicant (USC) who needed to request my spouse/sponsor's passport (UKC) back a few months ago. I used that Return of Documents request form, sent via email, and got back the UK passport within a week. You won't receive any confirmation from the UKBA so it can be a bit of a scary wait (up to 20 working days).

Just be sure that you put NO in big letters to the question "Are you withdrawing your application?" at the top, and include a covering letter/email that states very clearly that you only want the UK sponsor passport, NOT the applicant's passport, and you do NOT want to withdraw your application under any circumstances. I didn't give any explanation why we needed it, just requested it and made sure it was clear that I didn't want to take any action which would withdraw the application.

Also, the letter/email has to be sent from the document owner. I sent it at first and got an email back saying that my husband (UK passport owner) needs to be the one making the request.

Edited to add:
That warning scared the bejeezus out of me as well - I don't quite know what they meant by it, but I think PickledSakura also used the form successfully in the last couple of months.

Hi luckyjinx,

 Thanks for your reply -- that definitely helps with the fear of submitting one of those forms!

 So, just to be clear, as long as the actual email (with the form as an attachment) reiterates that the request has nothing to do with the applicant's documents, under no circumstances is the application to be withdrawn, and it is sent from my husband's email address, all should be okay?

 And yes, that statement has to be thrown in just for the sake of sadism; trying to find straightforward answers on their website is akin to playing the riddle game with Gollum!

We had to return my husband's passport as well for a job interview in Belgium, but it was a few years ago, and there wasn't a specific form back then (I think). We were able to get just his back okay, but it did take a while.  Unfortunately it was too long for us, and they ended up giving the job to someone else, which was a shame as they had openly told my husband that they wanted him to do the work

Yes, all should be okay. Two of us have used the form in the last link given here to request the UKC passport back successfully: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/contact/return-of-documents/

There shouldn't be a problem as long as you say NO to the question about withdrawing the application on the top of the form, attach the form, and are clear in a covering letter that it is the UK passport you want and you do not want to withdraw the application. (And send from passport owner's email address.)

Of course, also be sure to include all your relevant case info, especially Home Office and UKBA case reference numbers, to help them get it to the right people quickly. I didn't have the registered mail tracking number, which wasn't an issue despite that entry being starred in the form.

Edited to add:
They appear to have changed the form so that you do have to give a reason, but that shouldn't be a problem.