We are still waiting for our babies passport. We finally got the birth certificate early in Jan - we were about to send off the paper work to Paris for the passport when we realised we had somehow lost our marriage certificate from one day to the next so we are now waiting for over a week for a replacement marriage certificate before we can send the passport paper work off - so we are delayed even more.

We really want to travel back to the Uk early Feb but can't see us getting the passport back in time, does anyone know of any way you can travel with maybe just the birth certificate? I am sure I have read or heard somewhere about ways around travelling with a baby whilst waiting on the passport

any help much appreciated

We travelled with our three months baby from Singapore to Athens with the birth certificate and a letter from our embassy for the authorities at the airport.
A month later we travelled with swissair from Greece to Zurich just with the birth certificate (and they didn't even checked it).
I think if both parents travel with the baby there is no problem.
May be you should check with the airline/airport.

Can you not just get them chipped?

I was in exactly the same situation and even up to the last day was hoping the passport would drop through the letter box. It didn't, so we went to the airport anyway. This is where our stories may diverge, as we were flying to Spain.

[May be Schengen only]
We checked with the customs people when we got to the airport, it seems legally you can fly with any legit photo ID, or birth certificate. The airlines ask for passports / ID cards to standardise so that the McJob people at the desks don't have to keep checking if the ID is real or not.

We flew no probs without a passport (baby was 4 months old)
[May be Schengen only/]

You can certainly use the birth certificate extract around Basel (for F and D), and that's just a scrap of A6 card. For the Uk however hey may be stricter. Best bet is to call the consulate.

MrsT, Get out of this man for the Love of God!

Hello, were your children born is Suisse? If so they are eligable for a ID and they can fly to UK it as my 2 children have the same and you can apply for it at your commune. Hope this helps?

Is this for British citizens ... the UK ID card scheme or are you talking about Swiss nationality??

thanks

It really depends what nationality your baby is, I had mine just written in my passport, since she is Czech. She was born here, I got her a Czech birth certif and a recognition of CZ citizenship (and nationality) and that was that. She was able to get her passport a lot later, based on her receiving the CZ citizenship. But before all this, she was able to travel just written in my passport. Since her US nationality was not ever applied for, it was relatively easier, since US officialities take a lot more time.

he's British, born here, birth certificate registered here. They need their own passport though

OK, well, I am not sure. You are flying? We drove the first time, overnight, baby slept through it, she was 6wks. If you drive, it is less likely you will have to show your passports, no? Or do they want them at Callais/Dover?

Called British consulate regards above advice and they never heard of such a situation and said they dont issue a letter and said unlikely british immigration will accept birth certifucate

FFs sake what do they think he's going to do. Overstay his welcome and then get a job on the black

Sorry your original post did not make it clear that your baby is British (you mentioned Paris etc).

Now I know this I can categorically confirm that you should not attempt to travel without the correct passport. You DO always have to show your passports at Calais (or at least often enough for me not to want to try getting through without one) - I travelled through Calais with my children 6 times last year and we showed passports at every trip.

Similarly airlines flying to the UK will simply not let you board without a passport for everyone travelling, as if you arrive in the UK and are refused entry (as will be the case without a passport, I am almost sure) then I believe you are the responsibility of the airline who deal with you. In short, this appears to have concentrated the minds of the airlines. Various family members work for airlines and I have just sent a quick email to my brother who is senior manager within Emirates and he says it is very simple, no passport, no travel. End of.

So my advice is do not attempt travel without it. You may be lucky - because lets face it, its quite obvious, you have all the birth certificates and the baby to boot, but you will be reliant on the goodwill of the customs/airline official that you encounter. My sister travelled to Amsterdam for the day with only her UK drivers licence once .... but that was about 10 years ago. Wouldn't suggest trying that now

BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel, 3 years ago with our newborn, we too wanted to fly back to the UK within a few weeks of his birth. The British consulate who issued the passport in Zurich were really helpful and looked out for the application and speeded it along. We got it back, complete with chip and all within 10 days, so we had it when baby was 2 weeks old. But that was Zurich and it sounds like you are in France, so I cannot speak for the consulate in Paris.

I hope you get it, and you get your trip back home.

Good luck!

They are not in France, Paris is where you now have to apply for British Passports.

OK. But the advice is still the same and what a shame the very helpful passport people in Zurich have disappeared.

Looks like we'll just have to wait and delay travel till march

Thanks for all the advice. Sorry for not being clearer

What a shame.

I also apologise if I was a little over the top but we have been there and so almost done that, and at the time I was very emotional, just wanted to get back home, and it was a horrible experience to think that we had booked expensive flights and also I had got myself all worked up because I just wanted to get back (difficult family stuff going on at the time), only to find that without the help of the Consulate, we would definitely have not made it. You just don't need that when you have a new baby!

Fingers crossed and it will probably arrive quicker than you think.

Kind regards

I wonder if there is a fast way to get your passport, since that does exist in my home land. You pay triple the amount and you can get a passport in 24hours, delivered to you by a courier. It's a shame that Shengen does not really work in the UK, you can fly now without a passport to some countries, just with a valid ID card. But I guess it is not a passport that is holding you up, it's the marriage certif, innit. Good luck. Better fly without the nerves.

We don't have a Greek embassy in Singapore to issue passports so the consulate just gave us a formal letter saying we are traveling to Greece to file for a passport and nationality there.
The letter had parents, baby names and the flight no and date.