- A British father living in France applied for a UK passport for his teenage daughter in February, submitting photos, hospital records and certified translations
- Post-Brexit rules mean dual nationals without a British passport cannot board flights to the UK, leaving the family unable to visit the father's ailing elderly father
- Despite the interview and extensive documentation, authorities told the father there was insufficient proof of paternity and suggested a £600 (KSh 103,008) DNA test
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A British father living in France has been told he must pay £600 (KSh 103,008) for a DNA test to prove he is his own daughter's parent, after authorities said the extensive documentation he submitted during a UK passport application was not enough to establish paternity.
Source: Getty Images
The man, a UK citizen married to a French national, has two older children who hold both British and French passports without issue.
His youngest daughter, however, was born while the family were living in Zimbabwe and holds only a French passport. That single difference has placed her in bureaucratic limbo under rules that came into force in February.
Evidence needed to obtain British passport
When the father began his daughter's British passport application in February, he gathered an extensive file: photographs of his wife during pregnancy, family pictures spanning from birth to the present day, hospital records and officially translated French marriage and birth certificates.
During a formal interview, he was questioned about his job, his daily commute and the floor plan of his home, yet interviewers reportedly spent very little time exploring his relationship with his daughter.
At the end of that process, he was informed that the evidence remained insufficient and was invited to pursue a DNA test at his own expense.
The root of the family's predicament lies in a post-Brexit rule that effectively bars dual nationals from entering the UK unless they carry a British passport.
Foreign nationals can travel freely on passports issued by their country of residence, but British expats who lack a UK travel document must obtain a certificate of entitlement costing £589 before they can board a flight home.
The father says the family urgently needs to visit his elderly father, who is unwell in the UK, but cannot risk attempting travel in case his daughter is denied boarding at the airport. When he asked officials whether she could simply enter on her French passport, given that the UK government was not yet accepting her as a British national, no one was able to give him a clear answer.
The new rules have reportedly caused considerable disruption, with children being stranded abroad or refused passports that their siblings received without difficulty, all depending on where in the world they happened to be born.
Source: TUKO.co.ke