TD112 BRP

Guidance Notes
Version 11/2018

PLEASE READ THE QUALIFYING CRITERIA AT SECTIONS 2 TO 7

OF THESE GUIDANCE NOTES BEFORE MAKING AN ONLINE
APPLICATION AT:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-home-office-travel-document/how-to-apply

EACH PERSON APPLYING FOR A HOME OFFICE TRAVEL DOCUMENT MUST USE A
SEPARATE APPLICATION FORM.

You can get help completing your application if you don’t feel confident using a computer or don’t
have access to one by contacting:

Help completing the online form

[email protected]
Text: ‘VISA’ to 07537 416 944
Telephone: 03333 445 675
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

You can’t get immigration advice through this service.

Do not book travel until you have received your Home Office travel
document. If you do, we cannot be held responsible for any changes
or cancellations you may have to make

Home Office travel documents can only be issued showing the same details recorded on your
Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

If you need to amend or replace your BRP, or other paper immigration document which has been
lost, stolen or damaged, you must do so using the link below, before you apply for a travel
document:
https://visas-
immigration.service.gov.uk/product/biometric-residence-
permit-replacement-service

If you do not comply with the above BRP application process, your travel document
application will be refused. Once you have obtained a replacement BRP, a BRP in your new
personal details, or a BRP replacing a lost/stolen/damaged immigration document, you may
make an application for a Home Office travel document.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR BRP, NOT THE ORIGINAL.

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 Please check the qualifying criteria carefully before you apply and make sure that you are paying
the correct fee. Paying the wrong fee will delay your application. For the current
application fees please follow the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-home-office-travel-document

1. Biometric Residence Permit

From 29 February 2012 anyone applying for a Home Office Travel Document who does not
already have a valid BRP, (for example, if you were granted leave to remain or enter on a paper
Immigration Document), you are automatically applying for a BRP as part of the Travel Document
application. IMPORTANT - Please ensure you read the notes at the top of this guidance
before applying.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR BRP, NOT THE ORIGINAL.

2. How do you qualify for a Home Office Travel Document?

To qualify for a Home Office travel document, other than a one-way travel document, you
must be lawfully resident, and present in the UK in one of the eligible groups listed below.

3. Who qualifies for a 1951 UN Convention Travel Document? (Blue)

a. A person who has been recognised as a refugee in the United Kingdom under the terms of
the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, may apply for a
1951 UN Convention refugee travel document.

i. A person who has come to the UK on a Family Reunion visa to join a refugee
who is present in the UK.

4. Who qualifies for a 1954 UN Convention Travel Document? (Red)

A person who has been recognised as stateless under the terms of the1954 United Nations
Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, may apply for a 1954 UN Convention
Stateless Person’s Document.

5. Who qualifies for a Certificate of Travel? (Black)

Certificates of Travel (COT’s) are issued at the discretion of the Secretary of State and may be
issued to people who are:

a. permanently resident in the United Kingdom (UK), or

b. have been granted Humanitarian Protection (HP) or Discretionary Leave (DL) to enter or
remain in the UK for a limited period, following an unsuccessful asylum application, and

c. can provide documentary evidence that they have been formally and, in the view of the
Secretary of State, unreasonably refused a passport by the government of the country of which
they are a national. This evidence should be obtained before an application for a COT is made
and submitted with the application. Only original documentation is acceptable. Failure to
provide this evidence may lead to the application being refused.
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To be ‘formally and unreasonably refused’ a passport by their national authorities, an applicant must
have applied for a passport in the manner required by their national authorities.

Applicants need to demonstrate why the refusal is unreasonable. We do not consider it

unreasonable for a national authority to refuse a passport because the applicant for example:

i. did not provide evidence to confirm their identity and nationality,

ii. is required to complete required military service; or
iii. has a criminal record in their country.
iv. did not comply with tax legislation in their home country.

We do make exceptions in cases where HP has been granted following the refusal of asylum,
where it has been accepted that such persons have a fear of the authorities of their country. These
people do not need to send us a letter from their embassy or high commission. People who have
been granted HP for other reasons e.g. family circumstances, or because of a medical condition,
must apply for a passport from their national authorities.

Where applicants meet the criteria, because their country of nationality:

d. does not have the ability to issue national passports in the UK,
e. is unable to accept applications that can be processed by their national authorities overseas,

requiring such people to prove their application has been unreasonably refused may be discounted.
This will depend on the reasons why the embassy is unable or unwilling to accept an application.

Applicants who need to travel urgently, must submit evidence explaining the need for urgent travel.
We will consider exceptionally issuing a COT of limited validity to meet that short term need. In all
cases, original documentary evidence of the need to travel, and a receipt from their embassy for their
passport application, must be submitted

In addition, in cases where an applicant meets the criteria and they provide evidence that their
embassy is considering their application for a passport, but this will take an unreasonably long time,
and the person can prove that they have an urgent need to travel, we will consider exceptionally
issuing a COT of limited validity to meet that short term need. The applicant must submit original
documentary evidence of their need to travel, and a receipt from their embassy for their passport
application.

Acceptable urgent travel reasons may include:

• essential employment or business reasons;

• compelling, compassionate reasons;
• religious reasons or other compelling reasons why it is essential for the applicant to travel or;
• essential educational trips.

A holiday is not considered an urgent reason for travel.

6. Do not apply for a Home Office Travel Document if you

have less than 6 months leave to remain in the UK.
Do not apply for a Home Office travel document if you have less than 6 months leave to remain. It is
not possible to issue a Home Office travel document for longer than your permission to remain in
the UK, and most countries will not accept a travel document with less than 6 months’ validity. If you
wish to extend your leave in the UK, you should make an application for further leave to remain.

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Any such application will be considered by the appropriate section within UK Visas and Immigration
and not by the Travel Documents Section.

7. Who qualifies for a One-way travel document

A one way travel document may be issued to a non British citizen in the UK, regardless of
status, who wishes to leave the UK permanently and voluntarily and does not have a valid
passport/travel document of their own. It can only be used for a single journey out of the United
Kingdom. It will not allow re-entry into the United Kingdom. It is valid for one year, but is
designed for immediate use. Evidence of identity must be provided with the application. You do
not need to apply for a BRP if you are applying for a one-way travel document.

8. How long will the travel document be valid for?

Type of Validity of document Validity of document

document Adult Child
1951 UN Normally valid for up to 10 years or in Normally valid for up to 5 years or in
Convention refugee line with limited leave. May be issued line with limited leave. May be issued
travel document with a shorter validity if considered with a shorter validity if considered
appropriate. appropriate.
1954 UN Normally valid for up to 10 years or in Normally valid for up to 5 years or in
Convention line with limited leave. May be issued line with limited leave. May be issued
stateless persons with a shorter validity if considered with a shorter validity if considered
travel document appropriate. appropriate.
Certificate of Travel Normally valid for up to 5 years or in Normally valid for up to 5 years or in
line with limited leave. May be issued line with limited leave. May be issued
with a shorter validity to meet an with a shorter validity to meet an
exceptional need or if considered exceptional need or if considered
appropriate. appropriate.
One way travel Valid for 12 months from the date Valid for 12 months from the date of
document of issue. Can only be used for a issue. Can only be used for a single
single journey out of the UK. It journey out of the UK. It will not allow
will not allow re-entry into the UK. re-entry into the UK.

9. Which countries can you travel to with a Home Office

travel document?
Before making travel arrangements, you should check with the embassy of the
country/countries to which you wish to travel to or through, that they will accept the
travel document and if you need a visa. The acceptability of a UK travel document is a
matter between the holder and the country/countries to which the holder wishes to
travel.
a. 1951 UN Convention Refugee Travel Documents (blue) will normally be valid for travel to
all countries except those from which asylum was sought and/or your country of origin.
b. 1954 UN Convention Stateless Person’s Documents (red) will normally be valid for travel to
all countries.
c. Certificates of Travel (black) will normally be valid to all countries except those from
which asylum was sought and/or your country or origin.

d. One way travel documents are issued for travel to specified countries.

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10. Children
If a Home Office travel document is required for a child, a separate application must be made.

If the child is aged under 16, an application must be made for a child’s travel document.

If the person is aged 16 or over, an application must be made for an adult travel document.
Children born in the UK may be entitled to a British passport if they were born in the United Kingdom:
• to a parent who was settled in this country on the date of the child’s birth, or
• to a parent who was a British citizen on the date of the child’s birth.

Further information on nationality of children born in the United Kingdom is available at

www.gov.uk/register-british-citizen/overview

11. Ensuring your application is complete

• Pay the correct fee.

• Enclose two identical colour photographs of yourself taken within the last month against a
cream/light grey background as specified in the separate passport photo guidance
www.gov.uk/government/publications/passport-photographs
• Make sure one of the photographs is certified only by a professional person as
specified i n t h e “ C o n f i r m y o u r i d e n t i t y ” section.
• Enclose original supporting documents.
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR BRP, IF YOU HAVE ONE, NOT THE ORIGINAL.
• If you are aged 17 or under, make sure that a person with parental or legal authority
gives the necessary consent.
• Make sure that the declaration in the “Confirming your identity” is signed as specified.
• Send the supporting documents to the address on your “supporting documents” check list.

12. Documents
Documents provided with the application must be originals.
For any documents which are not in English, a professionally translated version must be
provided.

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR BRP, IF YOU HAVE ONE, NOT THE ORIGINAL.

13. Lost or stolen travel documents

If you are applying to replace a lost or stolen travel document, you must provide full details of the
circumstances of the loss or theft. We will need to make enquiries before we can issue a
replacement and these may sometimes take a while to resolve.
The checks made before issuing a travel document are necessary to prevent the misuse of identities.

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14. Completing the form
If you are aged 17 or under, your parent, guardian or other person with parental responsibility
must give consent. Proof of guardianship or parental responsibility must be submitted. This should
be either a court order or a letter confirming responsibility from the relevant local authority.
If you are aged 16 or 17, but do not have a parent, guardian or other person with parental
responsibility to give their consent, you must provide an explanation for this.

15.Declaration

If you are aged 16 or over, you must sign the declaration.

If you are under the age of 16, your parent or another person with legal responsibility must sign on
your behalf.

16. Signing the declaration.

Your signature will be scanned into the travel document. Please make sure that your signature
is in black ink, inside the box and not touching any of the lines. Please see the example
below. If your signature does not comply, this will delay your application.

17. Posting your application and supporting documents

The address to which you must send your application and supporting
documents is:

Travel Documents Section (SD)

UK Visas and Immigration
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY

If you use Royal Mail Signed For service or Special Delivery, this will help us to track your
application and supporting documents. Make sure that you keep the Signed For or Special
Delivery reference number.
We will return any documents we do not need to keep by Royal Mail Signed For service. If you
would like these documents to be returned by Special Delivery, you must provide a prepaid
Special Delivery envelope which is large enough.

If your application is successful, the travel document will delivered by DX courier service. Please
note you may be required to sign to confirm receipt of the Home Office travel document.
If, after posting, you realise that you have forgotten to enclose something, do not send it separately,
as this will delay the application. If any documents or information are missing, we will contact you
with a request for any missing item(s).

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18. Contacting us after you have applied
To contact us after you have applied, do not use the address to which you posted your application
and supporting documents. Please only write using the address below:

Travel Documents Section

UK Visas and Immigration
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road Croydon
CR9 2BY

Email: [email protected]

and give the following details:

• your on-line application reference number
• your full name, date of birth and nationality

• the Signed For or Special Delivery number

• the date on which your application was made
• your Home Office file reference number if you have one

19. Priority requests

Please note that we will only deal with an application as a priority if there is a sufficiently compelling
or compassionate reason to do so, supported by acceptable documentary evidence. Examples of
acceptable evidence might be a recent death certificate, or a recent medical report or Doctor’s letter.
Copies of documentary evidence can be emailed to [email protected] or
faxed to 020 8196 0109. However, original documentary evidence must also be posted to the
address at section 18. above.

If no evidence is submitted, or it is decided that priority consideration is not appropriate, your

application will not be considered as a priority.

20. Choosing an immigration adviser

If you engage an immigration adviser, take care when choosing one. The Office of the Immigration
Services Commissioner (OISC) regulates immigration advisers.

The OISC website at: www.gov.uk/oisc contains a list of authorised advisers. It also has links to
websites for solicitors, barristers and legal executives.

If you have a complaint about an immigration adviser or need other information, the OISC contact
details are:
Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)
5th Floor
21 Bloomsbury Street
London
WC1B 3HF
Telephone: 0345 000 0046
Alternatively the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which regulates solicitors in England and
Wales, can help you find a solicitor if you contact them on or be 0370 606 2555 visit their website
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at www.sra.org.uk

The address and telephone number for any complaints about a solicitor are:

Legal Ombudsman
PO Box 6806
Wolverhampton
WV1 9WJ

Telephone: 0300 555 0333

21.Complaints about our service

If you wish to make a complaint about our service, please refer to the complaints page on
GOV.UK website for detailed information on how to do so.

22. Data protection notice

The Data Protection Act 2018 governs how we use personal data. For details of how we will use your
personal information and who we may share it with please see our Privacy Notice for the Border,
Immigration and Citizenship system at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-
information-use-in-borders-immigration-and-citizenship. This also explains your key rights under the
Act, how you can access your personal information and how to complain if you have concerns.

23. Biometric Residence Permits

Information about Biometric Residence Permits can be found at: www.gov.uk/biometric-residence-
permits
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR BRP, NOT THE ORIGINAL.

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