Birth Not Registered?

[hodges5]

My partner is having trouble obtaining a passport, we can find no trace of a birth certificate for him, and are led to believe he was never registered,

could any of you advise what we will need to do to get a passport without a birth certificate?

[dzug2]

You will have to contact the passport office, I fear. The articles easily found online apply mainly to Americans and Utter Pradeshians. Whilst some of the generalities may be the same here the details will vary

[EDDIE51]

Yes you need to contact the passport office. I warn you it will not be easy!
He will have to prove that he is a British citizen.Can you get his Mothers and Fathers birth certificates?
I had a similar problem, my daughter was born in Zambia while I was working there. She had only a Zambian birth certificate. We lost that and were unable to get a copy as the Zambian registry of births was just a wooden building and it burnt to the ground taking the entire country's records of births with it.

[EDDIE51]

I am curious as to how he has managed until now. How did his parents get him registered for a school? Has he got any 'official' documents like a driving licence,( you can't get a driving licence without proving your age by showing your birth certificate.) Does he have any other documents like a National Insurance card or a NHS card and number? If he has none of these how is he working , paying tax or making pension / NI contributions? There is a lot more to not having your birth registered, as officially you do not exist!
Was he born abroad as my daughter was? If so you need to contact the High commission or Embassy or the place of birth.

[Peter Pedant]

Eddie's right
if you have a spare moment access his other entries on his lyttel daughter, her birth cert and her nationality

how did he (Mr Hodge) get an NHS number ?
a national insurance number ?
and how did they know he existed in order to call him to school and educate him

so basically there has to be a record somewhere

Mr Hodge is not a first by the way
during the bombing, 1940-41 loss of papers were commonplace and they managed somehow ....
so if anyone says this has not happened before - ever ! you can say yes it has lots of times now just follow the protocol ....

was he a home birth or hospital
home start with mothers GP
Hospital - start with the records dept there
it is very very unlikely that if he was born in the UK there is no record of anything

[hodges5]

Was born in the UK, apparently at home. But we do not have confirmation of this (local registers have been contacted) and nothing registered with a 40mile radius of where he was led to believe his birth took place (applied to the general register and nothing found).
I’m led to believe it was a long drawn out process to get his NI number sorted but has worked and paid taxes since working age. Has a driver’s licence, and bank account (but was all done +25 years ago) so not sure how this was obtained.
Wasn’t raised by birth parents so no one to confirm any information
I have contacted the Home Office and have been instructed to fill out a confirmation of British Nationality status for at the cost of nearly £200 (but having not much info to go on (ie birth parent’s details ect) this may prove to be another dead end…………

[EDDIE51]

Wow, I thought I had problems! Without details of his birth parents or even exactly where /when he was born it is going to be difficult.

[Buenchico]

Scroll down to 'Birth not registered' in this document, which explains the official policy on dealing with the problem:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/118596/birth-certificates-policy.pdf

[EDDIE51]

Just been thinking . Does he even know his 'birth name' ?
I know it is not registered but does he know the name he was given by his birth parents?
The name he has used all his life may just be what the 'step / foster ' parents who brought him up used for him not what he was originally known as. If that is the case that name could be on what documents he does have but it may not be his 'real' name.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah I think the birth was registered under a different name and the record has been lost

even in the fifties and sixties babies werent lost in this way
* ( the British as a nation of form fillers )

[Barmaid]

You said he wasnt raised by his birth parents - was he ever formally adopted?

[Peter Pedant]

it doesnt sound so barmaid or else he could have gone thro the adoption society

I am astounded to hear there (might have been ) a private adoption in the sixties or seventies. They had very effective paper systems - I know - I used to have to fill them out ! It wasnt possible to say " oh I thought I had four children but oops a recount shows I have five..." and the GP and authorities say 'ok yeah, anyone can make a mistake especially in labour"