HM Passport Office did not fully correct mistake

What happened

In spring 2006 HM Passport Office issued Ms J a passport for her young son, valid for five years, without first making sure he was registered as a British citizen.

When Ms J applied to renew her son's passport in 2011, HM Passport Office realised its mistake and rightly refused the application. HM Passport Office agreed to remedy its mistake.

It told Ms J to apply to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for her son's registration as a British citizen and said it would refund the cost.

Ms J could not afford to pay the cost of her son's registration in advance and then claim a refund of the increased cost, because it was a large amount. As a result, Ms J made a further unsuccessful passport application for her son using his father's citizenship.

What we found

There was no evidence of error in HM Passport Office's handling of Ms J's son's 2011 passport application. But there was error in how it handled her subsequent complaint.

HM Passport Office should have considered Ms J's circumstances and not assumed that she could afford to pay UKVI the full cost of her son's registration application before she asked it for a refund.

Putting it right

HM Passport Office arranged to pay £469 directly to UKVI. This is the difference between the cost of registering a child as a British citizen in 2006 and in 2014. It also agreed to give Ms J contact details of a UKVI officer who could deal with her application to register her son as a British citizen.