PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Passports: Personal Records (7 March 2023)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason HM Passport Office requires applicants to submit birth, marriage and death certificates; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using General Register Office reference numbers.

Asked by:
Taiwo Owatemi (Labour)

HMPO requires applicants to submit birth, marriage and death certificates as part of the passport issuing process to enable determinations as to a customer’s nationality, identity and eligibility for a British passport.

In some circumstances, HMPO is able to check against electronic birth data for births occurring in England and Wales rather than requesting a paper certificate.

Answered by:
Robert Jenrick (Reform UK)
15 March 2023