Friend needs help getting back into UK, lost where to look for advice.

ubersonic

ubersonic

ubersonic

Soldato
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Title kinda sums it up, I have an old friend and she is currently stuck in Canada (well she has her NZ passport) and is told if she trys to re-enter the UK they will turn her away at customs as she overstayed last time (despite being British), now for the complicated bits.

To sum it up, she was born in the UK to a British father (so is legally British), but when she was 14 her mother took her out of the country without permission, anyway flash forward many years she came to the UK on a NZ passport (with UK right to abode stamped) and stayed for a while but had to return to NZ to attend a funeral, then passport was destroyed in the earthquakes which also killed her partner, as a result she went to Canada to stay with a relative as couldn't bear to stay in NZ.

Right, now she wants to return to the UK however the aforementioned passport was destroyed in the quake and the replacement issued by NZ doesn't have the right to abode stamp (she has her british birth cert showing her and her fathers british-ness) and the UK border agency have told her if she tries to enter the UK she will be turned away as she overstayed last time and they don't class a british birt cert as proof of being born in britain >.>.

She asked me for advice so im asking you as I know **** all about this type of thing, google isn't helping me and before anyone suggests it the UK embassy in canada are useless.

Any ideas?
 
Dont really have any ideas for you bud sorry but if I could swap places with her to goto Canada I would. Hopefully someone will help but I would have thought that as a birth certificate is accepted for other id in Britain it must tie into a database somewhere with the national insurance number?
 
Did she actually overstay last time or did they not recognise her having left the country?

If she did then until she has proven her right to be in the UK she will struggle to be allowed in at all. The Border Agency really frown on those who flout the rules - and rightly so.
 
Dabbles said:
Because they think she's a NZ citizen and don't know / haven't seen proof of her Britishness, so she'll have been on a visa of some sort.
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And if a birth certificate isn't proof then what the hell is?

I mean one can easily lose your passport while on holiday.
 
Just found this on the UKBA's website:

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, you are a British citizen if at the time of your birth one of your parents was:

a British citizen;
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So, that means she is a British citizen, just has no way of proving it (as a birth certificate proving it is not acceptable in the UKBA's eyes :S)

The most annoying thing here is that the UKBA will have it on record that her and her father were born in the UK, and that she has been given right to abode, they simply cannot be bothered to look it up even when asked too >.>



Jokester said:
I think her best course of action is to contact the British Embassay/Consulate in Canada for a new UK passport.
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Sadly she has never had a UK passport as her mother stole her away before she was 16 so she was on her passport. She tried the UK embassy in Canada but apparently they are useless and dont understand how the UK border agency works/operates.
 
Wow what a difficult situation anyone could be in. :( Sorry to hear this. The only way would be to mail her a UK passport but might require to apply for a new one have it sent to a UK address and then from the UK address get it sent over to NZ ?

As long as she was born in the UK and got a UK birth certificate then you should be able to help via mail.

I don't know I'm no expert in this field just guessing.
 
I know nothing about this at all but surely if she gets a copy of her father certificate and presents that to the relevant body then that will prove what she needs as the case is not so much about her more about her right due to her parentage. Therefore, it is her parentage she would have to prove.
 
Problem is that old UK birth certificates are easily forged so are not acceptable as ID, which is probably why it has been rejected.

Does she have any family in the UK who could vouch for her and discuss with UKBA?

Its not as simple as saying that the UKBA could just look it up, the record keeping has historically been so poor that if the record exists no one knows where it is or how to find it.

Edit: Theres a form here for finding a lost or stolen immigration document https://apply.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/iapply.portal has your friend tried this route?
 
Last edited:
See here:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/right-of-abode/

and

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/right-of-abode/certificate-entitlement/

British Embassy should be able to help with all of this if required.

Note:
What to do when your passport expires
We will place your certificate of entitlement to right of abode in your current passport. When your passport expires, your certificate will also expire. You must apply again for a new certificate of entitlement to right of abode using the process described above.
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Now although her old passport didnt expire, its no longer valid and so she will presumeably need to re-apply.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Wow what a difficult situation anyone could be in. :( Sorry to hear this. The only way would be to mail her a UK passport but might require to apply for a new one have it sent to a UK address and then from the UK address get it sent over to NZ ?

As long as she was born in the UK and got a UK birth certificate then you should be able to help via mail.

I don't know I'm no expert in this field just guessing.
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That won't work as she's never had uk passport you need to have a interview before geting your first passport nowadays
 
garak112 said:
Does she have any family in the UK who could vouch for her and discuss with UKBA?
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Her fathers in a care home and has been for some time, same for her grandmother afaik.

-----

Thanks for the input guys, gonna call the UKBA today hopefully the staff based in the UK are more useful than the Canadian embassy staff.
 
Well I spoke to the British Embassy/Consulate hotline who informed me that they can only help people who are travelling on a British passport, so they suggest she contacts the NZ passport authority lol. Tried the UKBA Immigration enquiry bureau hotline but got cut off after being on hold for half an hour and they close at half four >.<

Try again tomorrow I guess.

Can't figure out how all the immigrants the DM keep banging on about are getting in, you would think they would get throttled by the red tape lol.
 
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