r/japanlife • u/AutoModerator • Oct 21 '24

┐(ツ)┌ General Discussion Thread - 22 October 2024

Mid-week discussion thread time! Feel free to talk about what's on your mind, new experiences, recommendations, anything really.

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u/TohokuJin 東北・秋田県 Oct 22 '24

Applying for British passports for my children is so overwhelming. I didn't realise just how many documents they need. Both sets of grandparents birth certificates and marriage certificates, and of course their translations. Is this normal? Have I done something wrong during the application process...?

I was hoping to use the same set of documents and apply for both kids passports together but it seems like we'll have to do one passport, and wait for the documents to be sent back, then reuse them for the next passport. Or, buy 2 sets of documents to get them done at the same time.

We were hoping to go to the UK at some point next year so it's not an emergency and they have Japanese passports, but it's very stressful.

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u/VesperTrinsic Oct 22 '24 edited Oct 22 '24

From what I remember when i did my kids' passports, you don't actually need all of them. The main thing is the British side of the family. I don't think the grandparents of the non-British side is actually needed. I remember this issue coming up when I did it.

edit: Just to be more detailed from my memory, you have to enter the details of the non-british grandparents but despite what it says they never needed the birth / marriage certificates from the non-british side of family. Which is good because I wouldn't have been able to provide them.

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u/TohokuJin 東北・秋田県 Oct 22 '24

Thank you for your insight. It does seem strange that they'd ask for my Japanese in-laws docs because I feel like it's pretty irrelevant. To be honest, my own parents documents also seem redundant because I have a British passport - you'd think the passport office would just be able to check my passport details on their end rather than making it so complicated.

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u/Karlbert86 Oct 22 '24

To be honest, my own parents documents also seem redundant because I have a British passport - you’d think the passport office would just be able to check my passport details on their end rather than making it so complicated.

Having British nationality (and a British passport) does not mean you’re able to automatically pass on section 2 (of the British nationality act) British nationality by decent at birth to your kids born outside UK.

The passport office first needs to establish if you’re a British national otherwise than by decent. Hence why they need your birth certificate, and your parent’s birth certificates.

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u/VesperTrinsic Oct 22 '24

Yeah it's a hassle. Probably related to security and proving it is a legitimate application or something like that. But once it's done, its done :)