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Letter consenting to a child’s passport application (UK)
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales · in English · for parents
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11 questions · about 5 min
Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
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For a parent or other person with parental responsibility who agrees that the other parent, or someone else, may apply for a British passport for the child. Usually one person with parental responsibility signs the application, but HM Passport Office may ask for the consent of everyone who has it — for example after a separation. The letter names the child and the applicant, gives your contact details and encloses a copy of your ID. Send it with the application, or as HMPO asks.
- Made for use in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- Last updated October 28, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- Your former partner is applying for your child’s passport and HM Passport Office wants your consent in the UK.
- Your child lives with the other parent, who is filling in the passport application.
- You agree to your child having a British passport but you are not the one signing the application.
- You want to confirm your consent in writing so that the passport is not held up.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Parent
- Parent's address
- Town or city
- Parent's postcode
- Phone
- Date
- Child's name
- Your relationship to the child (e.g. mother, father, guardian)
- Person applying for the child's passport
- Child's date of birth
Common questions
- Does HM Passport Office need both parents’ consent for a child’s passport?
- Not usually. One person with parental responsibility normally signs the application, which is made online on GOV.UK or on HM Passport Office’s paper form. But HMPO may ask for the consent of others with parental responsibility, or for more documents — for example where the parents are separated or there is a dispute. It does not ask a parent who has been found violent or abusive towards the child. This letter is for the case where HMPO asks.
- What can I do if I do not agree to my child having a passport?
- Tell HM Passport Office in writing that you object, giving the child’s details; HMPO considers objections but cannot force the return of a passport already issued. Where there is a real risk of the child being taken abroad, a court can stop it: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland the family courts can make a prohibited steps order (in England and Wales a mediation information meeting usually comes first); in Scotland the sheriff court can grant an interdict or a specific issue order (section 11 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995). In an emergency, the police can put the child on a port alert.
- Who can sign this consent letter for a child’s passport?
- Anyone with parental responsibility for the child: the mother; the father if married to the mother at the birth, named on the birth certificate (for births registered from 1 December 2003 in England and Wales, from 15 April 2002 in Northern Ireland or from 4 May 2006 in Scotland) or given it by agreement or court order; a second female parent, step-parent, guardian, special guardian (an order Scotland does not have) or adoptive parent who has it; or a person given it by a court order. State your relationship to the child in the letter, and enclose a copy of an ID document that shows your signature.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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