Citizenship Application Questions

Hi all,

We're doing my wife's citizenship application and have a couple of questions thus far. I'm sure more will develop as we progress which I'll stick to this thread.

1) It asks for my wife's given name(s). Her name is Sarah Joanna Shaw but her passport and consequently her BRP say Sarah J Shaw. So do we put her given names as 'Sarah J' as per her passport and BRP or 'Sarah Joanna'?

2) It asks for national identity cards which 'can include' non-UK government cards. Do we put the BRP here or not? It's technically a national identity card or is strictly asking for non-UK?

3) Will my wife (USC) be left without her passport for any considerable time? We’re hoping to register the birth of our daughter if we can get an appointment

Many thanks in advance

Hi Ben,

I can't say for sure, but I know that I would get the US passport and then BRP corrected first before going any further. Does her birth certificate and social security stuff have her full name or abbreviated? It feels like it should be OK, but there are rules about the issuance, and it might be considerably more difficult in correcting a naturalisation certificate later on.

I don't think you need to mention the BRP in that section, but I doubt it would harm it if you did. For the record, we did ours in November 2020 and the final list of documents was marriage certificate, BRP (as part of its own requirement), passports and referee declarations.

We didn't send the passports until it came time to apply for the UK passport, at which point it was away for a couple of weeks before being returned with the naturalisation certificate (which did get creased, unfortunately, so be prepared for that).

I don't think you need to mention the BRP in that section, but I doubt it would harm it if you did.

For 2) it’s asking about national identity cards issued by your country of birth/citizenship, not BRPs (which are UK visas).

The US does not issue national identity cards to its citizens, therefore your wife does not have one... so you tick No and leave it blank.


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Yeah everything else says her full middle name. Do others not have just their initial in their passports or is it the full surname?

I wouldn't even know where to begin correcting passports and the BRP

Yeah everything else says her full middle name. Do others not have just their initial in their passports or is it the full surname?

I wouldn't even know where to begin correcting passports and the BRP

It would slow you down a bit, I think, but the order is to first update the US passport, then the BRP. If the social security card has the correct name, then start here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/change-correct.html with https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds5504.PDF

The US Embassy arrange the passport replacement, and they were very efficient last time - for us it took two weeks to get everything updated on the US side.

Once you have the passport in the new name, you then have to update the BRP. This will cost about £200. It might be smart though I don't know if it is necessary to supply a short covering letter explaining why. The new BRP might take a few weeks.

In all our passports it's the full name, not an initial.

It would slow you down a bit, I think, but the order is to first update the US passport, then the BRP. If the social security card has the correct name, then start here: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/change-correct.html with https://eforms.state.gov/Forms/ds5504.PDF

The US Embassy arrange the passport replacement, and they were very efficient last time - for us it took two weeks to get everything updated on the US side.

Once you have the passport in the new name, you then have to update the BRP. This will cost about £200. It might be smart though I don't know if it is necessary to supply a short covering letter explaining why. The new BRP might take a few weeks.

In all our passports it's the full name, not an initial.

Would it be acceptable for the citizenship application to just state her full given names (instead of initial) or attempt to change the BRP by stating the passport is her initial (and not full name)? Basically making it not necessary to change the passport

I would apply for citizenship using the same name on her US passport and BRP.  Simple and done.  No reason to spend money and time on something that doesn't matter.

I would apply for citizenship using the same name on her US passport and BRP.  Simple and done.  No reason to spend money and time on something that doesn't matter.

So just use her middle initial as on the passport? Then, when coming to get a British passport, request to not have middle name on it as I believe you cannot have initials on British passports? Worth mentioning her full middle name anywhere in the application, such as 'also known by' section?

Then, when coming to get a British passport, request to not have middle name on it as I believe you cannot have initials on British passports?

You can have a read of this guidance for Home Office staff on passport applications, published on 24 February 2021.

Names: aligning names on foreign
documents

Her Majesty’s Passport Office guidance on how to deal with passport applications
when the name a customer applies in, does not match the name on their foreign
documents
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/965566/Names_-_aligning_names_on_foreign_documents.pdf

Thanks everyone.

We're going to go the passport > BRP > application route. I just don't want to fall down at this final stage and would rather do things cleanly. But, we have to get a new passport in person and getting appointments is impossible. We also need an appointment to register our birth abroad and there's $2,400 on the line. We really need that money.

I have noticed in my wife's passport that we went to Rome and there are no stamps on arrival home. They seem to stamp sometimes and other times don't. Hoping it's not an issue and that they have in their system arrival dates etc.

Hi all.

Confused by this question "Do you have any dependants not applying with you at this time".

Does this mean dependents that will be applying separately or dependents that don't need to apply? We have two children together which are naturally dependents but obviously do not need to apply as they're British by birth. Not sure how to answer

I have a concern over passport stamps.

We went abroad March 15th - March 19th. However, our departure stamp for the flight home is incorrectly stamped as April 19th (you had one job). It asks for time abroad and I've put the correct dates but I don't want the case worker to see it as either (a) we've typed an error in (b) we're trying to deceive.

The 'extra' date doesn't risk being out of the country for too long so has no effect on requirements. Should I add this in the cover note I will be writing?

Also, she has some stamps missing as the US & UK tend not to stamp anymore and thus won't be able to accurately calculate time out of the country.

Sorry to pester but can anybody help? I’m submitted documents in a couple of days

All you can do is explain it in with the letter. It shouldn't make a difference at all, but if there's any doubt full disclosure is the best policy. I would wager they know based on digital passport records these days when people have been in and out

Thank you! Also, so the referee forms need a certain date on them? For instance, are the invalid if the date of signatory is after the application date?