Guidance

Applying for a passport outside the UK

Updated 30 November 2022

Use the overseas tool for advice about how to apply from the country you are in, and a checklist of supporting documents that you need to provide.

Additional evidence is required for those:

• born in the Philippines
• with parents who are married or divorced, and have links to the Philippines

This is to establish the marital status of the applicant’s parents and authenticity of the relationship, depending on whether the applicant was born before or after 1 July 2006.

1. Children born before 1 July 2006

UK legitimacy and nationality law in conjunction with Filipino law applies for children born before 1 July 2006. Filipino law makes a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate births. Article 164 of the Legitimacy Act defines who are legitimate and illegitimate. Children conceived or born during the marriage of the parents are legitimate. Those conceived and born outside a valid marriage are illegitimate.

Under British nationality law the validity of the parent’s marriage may be relevant to the status of children born before 1 July 2006. This is because a child born before that date inherits their biological father’s British citizenship providing the child is legitimate if born outside the UK (if the father’s citizenship is not held by descent).

Legitimacy is decided in accordance with the laws of the country in which the father was domiciled at the time of the child’s birth, and is often dependent upon the parents being married (but this is not the case in all countries).

1.1 If the father is domiciled in the Philippines

A child born before 1 July 2006 is eligible for a British passport if the father is a British citizen and evidence is provided to show that the mother is married (not bigamously) to the child’s father under Filipino law. We will need to see:

• if the mother was not previously married - a certificate of no marriage (CENOMAR) or CRS form number 5 from the Philippines government
• if the mother has been married - evidence of annulment of the previous marriage

Statutory declarations are not accepted as evidence of legal separation in support of a claim that a person was free to remarry.

1.2 If the father is domiciled outside the Philippines

The legitimacy of the child will depend upon the law of the British father’s country of domicile. A child will be legitimate if:

• that country recognises the marriage of the child’s father and mother as legally valid, or
• that country does not require a child’s parents to be married for legitimacy purposes.

If the child was born in the Philippines we will need to see:

• evidence that the father and mother were in the same place at the time of conception

2. Children born after 1 July 2006

A child born after 1 July 2006 is eligible for a British passport if the father is a British citizen and:

• at the time of the child’s birth is married to the mother according to UK law or,
• the father is not married to the mother, but there is proof of paternity and the mother is not married to anyone else

For children born after 1 July 2006 where the mother was married (according to UK law) at the time of the child’s birth, the mother’s husband is deemed to be the father of the child for nationality purposes.

If the mother’s husband is not a British citizen or is not settled in the UK (for children born in the UK) the child will not be eligible for a British passport either through the mother’s husband or through the child’s natural father.

2.1 If the mother was born in the Philippines

The validity of the mother’s divorce, if applicable, is to be determined in accordance with UK law.

Where the child’s mother has been married to another man in the Philippines and that marriage has been annulled via an annulment of marriage, that annulment will only be acceptable if it took effect before the child was born.

For first time passport applications from all countries (including the Philippines) we can accept that the mother’s original marriage has been legitimately dissolved if the divorce took place outside the Philippines, providing the divorce is legal and valid in the relevant country.

We will need to see:

• if the mother was not previously married - CENOMAR or CRS form number 5 from the Philippines government
• if the mother was married to someone other than the father - evidence that they are no longer married:
  • divorce (under UK law) or
  • annulment of the marriage if this took place before the child’s birth, or
  • declaration of nullity made either before or after the child was born

If the child’s mother is married when the child is born, her husband is the child’s father for nationality purposes, even if he is not the biological father of the child. If the child would have become a British citizen automatically if the mother had been married to the biological father, you may be able to apply for registration as a British citizen. Information can be found on GOV.UK. This application would be free.

There may be in-country complications where either parent has been previously married to another person in the Philippines. These may include local difficulties in adding father’s details to children’s birth certificates for example. Where this applies, evidence of paternity (which may include DNA evidence) may be required.