Some suggestions about filling in the UK passport application form

I submitted my UK passport application yesterday and thought a few suggestions might save others some time and effort. It was more difficult than I'd anticipated, especially as I thought I was now an expert after completing HSMP, spousal, and ILR applications! I ended up having to fill out the form four times and having my poor countersignatory fill it out twice, plus visit three separate post offices yesterday (they kept closing on me, as it was Saturday). I used the post office check and send, and I'm glad I did as I had problems all day that would have gone unnoticed by me.

The form I used was SE/04/01 (on the top right corner).

HIGHLY ADVISED: Get the form well before you need it, so you can look it over. They're free. I should have asked for one at the post office weeks ago, but I am used to doing everything online, and searched a couple of times for the form but couldn't find it (I did find an older version of the form but I'll refrain from posting the link as it might be confusing). There is an online form you can fill out and have mailed to you to complete and take to the post office, but I have read of people having problems with it, so wanted to avoid it, plus I was anxious to submit it ASAP so I have a good chance of getting it before our Christmas flight to the US.

Important: GET THREE OR FOUR COPIES OF THE FORM! It will come in an envelope addressed to the Passport Office, with a guidance booklet. You can always hand back the unused forms when you submit yours.

FYI, current costs:
https://www.gov.uk/passport-fees

General remarks:

- DO NOT CROSS ANYTHING OUT. If you make a mistake, start over on a new form. Apparently there is a way you can black out a box, but my first application was rejected because I had written our town on the wrong line, put a line through it, and rewritten it on the line below. I don't know if they scan the forms or what, but they are VERY, VERY picky about the way you fill it out. DO NOT USE TIPPEX or your form will be rejected.

- Similarly, all of your information MUST be within the boxes on the forms, not just your signature but every single letter, X mark, and punctuation character. On my visit to the third post office with the fourth form, the person said oh no, your commas extend outside the box (I was seriously ready to weep at this point), but finally took the form after showing it to a colleague.

- Be careful when looking at the field names above each line as it's easy to get confused as you're going along if you don't have information for each line.

Section 1:

- There is a box to check if you want your US passport and naturalisation certificate returned by Secure Delivery, which seems a no-brainer to me. It's £3 extra.

- There is also a box to check if you want a 48-page passport. The first post office told me I couldn't have a 48-page passport as a first passport, the second one didn't know, and the third one wasn't sure, but thought it would be OK. I'll update when I get it to say whether they did it or not. It's an extra £13.

Section 5:

- I couldn't figure out what "Place of issue" meant: UK? Wandsworth? The second post office told me it would be shown on the certificate, but I didn't see any location there either. I showed it to her and she said it should be "HOME OFFICE LONDON", which is shown on the certificate under "Issued on the direction of the Secretary of State". (Yours will probably say something else there if you're outside London.)

Section 10 (countersignatory section):

- There is line that says "I confirm that I have known the person named in section 2, or in the case of a chid, the adult filing in section 9 (insert their name)". Your name should go there (unless you are doing it for a child). It's pretty obvious but I missed it the first time my countersignatory filled it out, thinking it applied only to the applications for children.

Hope that helps someone! I was seriously a nervous wreck by the time I finally got it submitted at 5:15 at a post office that closed at 5:30, and had a hard time finding information in a hurry when I was filling it out again and again. Good luck!

Excellent info that I hope to be able to use soon! 

Thank you very much!  I'm filling in my Passport application today and hope to send it out before the end of the week. I am in Greater London, in Surrey.

I got my citizenship last October, but we've been travelling so much that there has never been enough of a window to send in my application w/my U.S. passport - until now. We've just returned from a week in Tuscany, but our next travel date isn't until the end of Dec, so fingers crossed there will be enough processing time to have my U.S. passport returned.

May I ask you a question? There seems to be some confusion on some other forums about whether or not it is required to insert information about both sets of grandparents in Section 8. The related wording in Section 4 is ambiguous: "If both parents below were born abroad [which mine were, as I am American], we will also need the full name, town, country, date of birth and date of marriage of your grandparents..."

This does make it sound like it needs to be included ... but I read somewhere that this applies only if we are applying for a UK Passport via a parent's claim to British nationality - which I am not; I am applying as a naturalised citizen.

Do I understand this correctly then, that I do NOT need to include my grandparents' information in Section 8?

Thanks again.


Denise 

Hi Denise--I found that confusing too, but when I really read through the accompanying booklet it did appear that the grandparents are just for those claiming through descent. I didn't include them and the post office didn't ask about them. I did find it odd that it asked for my parents' wedding date, as I didn't remember having to give that on any of the previous forms.

BTW, I had a call today from the third post office, where I submitted it, from a guy doing a second review of my application. He said that my passport photos will probably be rejected (he said he could see my teeth, which I certainly didn't notice). We agreed he would submit them anyway as if they want other ones they'll contact me and it will delay things by only two or three days. Just when I thought I could relax!

Hmm.....yet another interesting thing to find out before I need it.

I know my parents were married in November 1945, in Danville, VA.....and I know it was around the 28th or 29th. But I can NEVER remember the actual date as they never, ever, celebrated an anniversary when I was a kid.

Just doing a 'practice run' on the PP application - still a good few days before I actually get to submit it - and it's easy to get confused. Even after reading MorganSF's great post, I put my "town" on the wrong line - D'uh.....

My father wasn't born in a 'town' - it was 'out in the country' and the only other time I provided this I did say "Rockingham County" as that is what's shown on his birth certificate as best I remember. DH thinks I should "pick a town" in the county and put that in - I'm not even sure what the 'mailing address' would have been in 1927 - could have been "Madison" or possibly "Huntsville". I think I should stick with what the BC says. Thoughts?

Both my parents are Americans, and I assume that I should put "American" in the 'nationality and citizenship at the time of the applicant's birth". Again, DH says he thinks I should put "USA" here.

What I don't want to risk is having to scramble to get Section 10 filled out a 2nd or 3rd time because I've screwed up something in Section 4. I've read the booklet but am still not confident of my assumptions - here's where an "example" or 5 would be helpful!

Both my parents are Americans, and I assume that I should put "American" in the 'nationality and citizenship at the time of the applicant's birth". Again, DH says he thinks I should put "USA" here.

If you use check and send, it will depend on the person checking the application.

I don't like using the term 'American', what about the rest of North, Central, and South America? I put United States of America where it asks for your nationality, and the person at the post office refused my application because of it; they insisted on 'American'.

I also had a problem with the person used as a reference. They were OK, but they were retired. Retired was no problem, but when they noted it on the form, they placed it in parenthesis (or these things, brackets). Brackets are not allowed evidently.

I'm of the same opinion w/r/t use of the term "American" given that it is applicable to multiple geographies.

When I lived in Portugal and received 'residencia', I then had to apply for the carta azul - the Portuguese identity card for foreigners. Because of their understanding of what I was told to put on the application forms, my 'nationality' was listed as "North American" - likely some corruption of place of birth in North Carolina and the designation of "American" as the citizenship status.

Yes but United States of America is a country, not a demonym. Someone from Canada would hold Canadian citizenship, someone from Venezuela would be Venezuelan, etc. North/Central/South American are descriptions of the region someone is from, not nationalities. There would be no reason for someone from Canada to say that they have North American citizenship because it is not a thing.

Every other country has a demonym based on their country name. The US country name just happens to have the name of the continent in it. I don't understand why it's such a sticking point for people, the use of American, when they know full well what it refers to and the fact that others from the continent can simply use the demonym based on their country name.

They literally have no need to call themselves American unless they need to clarify which continent they are on in which case they would say north or south.

I agree with kathrynhabibti on this point. Yes, those other countries are in the Americas, but they have different names for their countries, and no Canadian or Venezuelan would call him- or herself American. When people in other countries (e.g., the UK) refer to Americans, they are referring to people from the USA. I will reconsider this if someone can point me to even one example of the use of American that doesn't mean pertaining to the USA.

I think it's a case of being overly sensitive on behalf of people (other residents of the Americas) who don't care. But then I've had this discussion many times over the past several decades, and have come to this conclusion over time. Of course everyone is free to decide this for him- or herself.

Re: what to put for the country on the passport application form, I put USA, as I have done for all the many immigration forms I have filled out, and it has always been accepted, as it was this time.

vadio, re: small towns/no towns, I was born in a very small place and have put that place name on all my immigration forms too. I would stick with whatever you put on the other forms. Re: the marriage date, I seriously doubt they're going to be researching your parents' wedding date (have you tried looking online yourself, by the way?), so just give it your best guess.

As I noted elsewhere, I received my passport on Thursday! The picture was apparently fine as it's now going to represent me for the next 10 years (until I have to renew).

One final comment on the process: Everyone I've read has said that the passport interview was easy, a friendly chat, etc. I found it rather stressful. My interviewer looked about 12 and was overtly friendly in really fake way. The questions were all over the place, with no rhyme or reason to them. Every time I started to relax and feel as though we were actually chatting, she fired another completely random question at me. She ended the interview asking for my parents' full names, by which time I was dazed and stumbled over them. I left wondering whether I'd screwed it up, and really discouraged that this very last step was just as much a trial as every other step I've taken in the last seven years. However, it is all over now and I'll never have to do it again. Hurrah!