Back when I deedpolled, five years ago now, I never got around to updating my (out of date, even back then) passport. The fact that I wasn't planning to leave the country meant that paying the fees seemed silly for something I simply wasn't going to use.

Now 2008 comes around, and I'm busy looking for new jobs. It seems in the time since I last looked, companies are now asking for passports to be taken to the interview to check our eligibility to be employed in the UK. So it looks like I have to get this done.

I know it is nowhere near as simple as it should be, hence posting here. Which forms will I need, and what supporting documentation (aside from the deedpoll) is needed? I remember them being all silly and requiring a medical letter - does this have to be from a specialist, or can this be done by my GP?

If it does have to come from a specialist, can Dr Curtis post these things out? I'm actually due a visit, but I need my passport fixed quickly, so any delay is out of the question, sadly.

Thanks for your help!

Either a GP's or specialist's letter will do according to a letter I have from the Durham passport office as my passport is stuck at Durham passport office waiting for a correctly worded letter.

To quote a letter from a Team Leader at Durham. "Before a passport in your changed gender may be issued, medical evidence is required confirming the orientation to the changed gender is likely to be permanent. This may take the form of a letter from your medical consultant or GP. Unfortunately the letter you have supplied does not cover this point."

It was true that my letter did not mention permanence as I did not have a confirmed diagnosis as my first psych appointment at the Sunderland Gender Dysphoria Service is tomorrow. The letter that my GP supplied has satisfied everyone except the passport office and hopefully this will be resolved tomorrow

At my last appointment at Charing Cross I asked the psychiatrist about passports, he said that he would write a letter and send it to the passport office directly, confirming that I will be spending the rest of my days as female.

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it's £15 for a passport letter from dr. curtis.
rachel.

I found changing my passport really straightforward. I enclosed a letter from my GP, with the wording that they have here, my stat dec (I think they required the original), the form and photos, and it was back with me within a couple of weeks. A letter from your GP is fine, as long as the wording is correct - no need to spend £15 on one from Dr Curtis!

Dave

My GP in Somerset will charge a fee for this and I don't doubt that it will be £15.

I still haven't done mine because I don't need it. I did find Glasgow's passport office helpful when last I communicated with them, which they are happy to do via email. Very prompt too, so they were.

Squigglefish wrote:

Now 2008 comes around, and I'm busy looking for new jobs. It seems in the time since I last looked, companies are now asking for passports to be taken to the interview to check our eligibility to be employed in the UK.

While it is reasonable for a potential employer to vet you to ensure that you are not an illegal immigrant, requiring a passport is probably unlawful since not every UK citizen has, or is required to possess one.

If you are eligible for employment in the UK, you will have a National Insurance number and you will be known to the local tax office. As we know, HMRC make quite free and easy with everyone's data these days, so you shouldn't have a problem confirming your eligibility for employment with your employer-in-prospect.

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The Daily Turnout - King of the Throne Room

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

As for the ins and outs of being asked to bring a passport and the legality thereof, I'd very much like a job kthnx. Whilst they may not be legally allowed to demand to see a passport or full long-form birth certificate (I've had that asked of me before now...¬.¬), and similarly they can't make you sign the waver for the EU working week stuff, but not doing as they 'ask' tends to mean no job offer.

In the absence of a passport, there isn't really much else they can correctly use, but it would likely end up including birth certificate. NI numbers are not proof of identity, and I presume their issuing system is such that there is no immediate check possible as to if someone is hence eligible to work - they would probably have to contact the tax office.

Ultimately, getting the passport fixed is not only a needed thing anyhow, but the simplest solution to this problem, and the one that will cause me less potential issues. Also, don't forget that some jobs may well require that you be able to travel. I figure once I get it sent off to them, then if interviews end up happening whilst its still away, it will sound far better to tell them that I'm having it renewed than to say "oh don't have one".