# 3 passports allowed? worth it?



## SPGW

A person born in the USA with parents of Fr and UK nationality can in theory apply for a passport for each of the 3 countries (based on info on respective government websites and application forms). OTOH, a national of the UK is not obliged to hold a passport, as far as I know, and could travel on either of the other 2 passports. They could be a legitimate resident of the UK indefinately, based on Birth Cert (nationality) and NI registration. Does anyone see a problem with this or should the person apply for a UK passport?

Practically speaking, the UK Passport Office requires the originals of any other passports held and the current advice is that the process can take 10 weeks, not to mention the risk of documents going astray with a postal application. This is something of a deterrent. Is it worth it?

Thanks for any experience with this situation.


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## Clic Clac

I have just obtained a British passport for my son.
The only original document required was his French birth certificate, together with a certified translation.

They accepted copies of every page in his French passport.

Very fast turnround - received it 5 weeks after applying (last week).

The hardest part was getting the online application to accept a photo.

I thought I was going to have to phone David Bailey, but in the end I re-submitted one that was 'fair' but previously refused and it was accepted.


I had wondered about him entering on his French passport, then residing as he was already a British Citizen, but thankfully we didn't have to explore that route. 

Total cost was about 125€ including the translation.


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## BoilingFrog

"Very fast turnround - received it 5 *weeks* after applying (last week). "
Think you meant days.
I also struggled with the photo for a recent new passport. I used a photo booth (which now makes the photo available online to the passport office, quite slick)
However, I just could not get it to accept a pic of me, until finally it did, where I look like a wild eyed madman (cursing modern technology) 
So for the next ten years that is what is in my passport, and as I also replaced my driver's license, on that too. Annoying!


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## Bevdeforges

On those photo booth photos that transmit directly to the prefecture (or wherever) for i.d. photos. I made 4 attempts to get a photo that the machine would deem "acceptable" and after those 4 attempts, still no joy. But I just kept pushing the buttons as directed, and lo and behold, the machine transmitted the "unacceptable" photo wherever and it was accepted for my driver's license, Carte Vitale and national i.d. card. No idea how that happened, but sometimes you just stay the course and these things work.


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## Clic Clac

BoilingFrog said:


> "Very fast turnround - received it 5 *weeks* after applying (last week). "
> Think you meant days.


No, I meant weeks. 
5 days might be stretching it a bit, including delivery across the channel. 😃

It arrived last week, which I mentioned to show current turnround times.


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## BoilingFrog

Gotcha, sorry, I must have read (after applying last week)


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## boilerman

I think the 10 week time scale is just them covering their rear end. Last year, mine took 4 weeks, and like Clic Clac said, the photo part was the only problem.
Try getting an Irish passport I'm still waiting after 6 months


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## conky2

boilerman said:


> I think the 10 week time scale is just them covering their rear end. Last year, mine took 4 weeks, and like Clic Clac said, the photo part was the only problem.
> Try getting an Irish passport I'm still waiting after 6 months



My Irish passport application was processed within 4 months back in 2019 and that was done via the embassy in Paris......maybe applications have increased recently ?


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## Chrissippus

conky2 said:


> My Irish passport application was processed within 4 months back in 2019 and that was done via the embassy in Paris......maybe applications have increased recently ?


I just applied for my Irish citizenship at the Registry of Foreign Births. Their confirmation email told me to expect to wait two years for a decision. I think it's all the Brits of Irish descent looking to regain their freedom of movement.


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## Clic Clac

Chrissippus said:


> I just applied for my Irish citizenship at the *Registry of Foreign Births*. Their confirmation email told me to *expect to wait two years* for a decision. I think it's all the Brits of Irish descent looking to regain their freedom of movement.


Covid backlog.

The last time I looked (lockdown era) they had stopped accepting applications for the RFB as they had moved their staff onto more pressing tasks.


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## Chrissippus

Clic Clac said:


> Covid backlog.
> 
> The last time I looked (lockdown era) they had stopped accepting applications for the RFB as they had moved their staff onto more pressing tasks.


Maybe, but I did read that the Irish had one million requests for passports in 2019, which as you know was before Covid, but after Brexit.


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## Peasant

When I got my UK passport I didn't have to send in my US passport. I made an appointment at the appropriate office (in Edinburgh, as we were on holiday and the offices in London and the southeast are notoriously booked far in advance) and presented my paperwork. The person there made official copies and that was that. She even gave me a pin with UK and Scottish flags and a sprig of thistle and asked that I wear it when I went through the ceremony at the UK consulate in Chicago. I did, and sent her a photo.


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## Clic Clac

Chrissippus said:


> Maybe, but I did read that the Irish had one million requests for passports in 2019, which as you know was before Covid, but after Brexit.


Yes, the far-reaching mutant strain when Covid met Brexit to give a real double whammy.

Or 'sunlit uplands' as Bodger Johnson might say. 🙄


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## Chrissippus

Clic Clac said:


> Yes, the far-reaching mutant strain when Covid met Brexit to give a real double whammy.
> 
> Or 'sunlit uplands' as Bodger Johnson might say. 🙄


Well yes, but most of the whammy so far as well as the whammy yet to come is from Brexit, not Covid.


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