DVLA siezed passport

Hi,
In Dec 08 my wife who is here on 2 year spouse visa applied for her provisional driving licence. We had to send our marriage cert and her passport as ID. They wrote to us on the 25th of March saying, " we cannot proceed with your application, as we are unable to confirm the authenticity of the passport that you have provided. "

I have since spoken to the DVLA at length on the phone. They have returned the marriage cert and say they will refund us the cost of the licence. They cannot tell me where the passport is, saying it has been with their checking agency and has now been sent to the authorities.

They say that the passport is a forgery, my wife is a Nigerian national. The passport is an old style passport much the same as the old style British passports. Nigeria does not produce these passports any more, they do the, e passports where you have to be scanned and they put a chip in it.

I have spoken to the Nigeria High Commission and they are not very helpful. One man said that there is nothing stopping my wife applying for the new style passport and the DVLA don't have the right to do what they have done????? I know they can if they suspect it's a forgery.

I also spoke to a Solicitor on the IAS helpline, they said I should apply for a new passport then fill out and send of a TOC to Home office and wait for their response. If that fails I should go back to IAS for help and if they cant help I should go to my MP.

Problems we have are that, we dont know when the authorities are going to get in touch and cant wait for that as it could take for ever.

Also do we apply for a lost passport or a new one ?? As I said before, the Nigeria High Commission are not helpful at all.

The passport is not a forgery to our knowledge.

We just dont know what to do and are really worried and confused about this.

Thank you for any advise in advance.

If DVLA suspect the passport is a forgery, they are under an obligation to inform the appropiate authorities ( in this case it is most likely to be the Immigration Dept at the Home Office).

DVLA should inform you as to where they have forwarded the passport as they will have handed it over to somebody at sometime during the seizure of the passport.

I suggest what you do is to write to the Home Office, giving full details of your wife and the passport and ask them for the latest position as to what is happening and that you would like to be kept informed.

Just because they have kept it for checking does not make it a forgery.

Is it the same passport that you wife got the visa stamped inside it and arrived on it to the UK.

How was this passport obtained in the first place?.

If the above applies, then I am sure it would have been spotted as forgery when it was fisrt presented when you wife applied for EC. If not I would have thought it would have been picked up on your wifes arrival in the UK.

If you do not hear anything, and you need a passport to travel, then make another one, and informed the HO of it, so they have a record of it.

Obviously if your wife is 110% sure that it was not obtained in dubious circumstances, you have nothing to worry about, but if you are hiding something , then I am afraid your wife will be in serious trouble with a good chance that she can be deported and forget about coming back to the UK, as it is very unlikely she will get a visa. Forging of documents is a serious offence.

Hope this help and good luck

I must share my horrible story here.

Back in 2003, I applied for provisional license with expired visa. ( Passport was valid ).

3 months passed but there was no reply from DVLA.

Hayyyyyy surprise and shock at 7:00pm in the night... Immigration Officers banging the door and looking for over stayer person ( Me ).

They came in cars and surrounded the house so that this illegal person can't run away lol.

Surprise for them now... I told them i was on asylum and my case is pending in HO, Showed them ARC card which they verified on the spot..

Now they are relaxed and having tea with us............Big giant assured me that he will tell DVLA that make his license but i never received any

**********************************************************

The point is, DVLA sends such documents to HO for verification purpose.

Well I would alsol like to know how, if my wifes passport fake did she fool immigration on arrival and then again when going on holiday and coming back in again???

Malcolm k wrote:Well I would alsol like to know how, if my wifes passport fake did she fool immigration on arrival and then again when going on holiday and coming back in again???

What does it matter?
It has been queried.

Malcolm k wrote:Well I would alsol like to know how, if my wifes passport fake did she fool immigration on arrival and then again when going on holiday and coming back in again???

Fakes, forgeries etc are not always picked up the first time they are used.
Often it depends on the experience and vigilance of the officer doing the passport check, as well as how good or sophisticated the forgery is.

HI
Sorry to hear about your case. And I hope things get better for you.

This is something you should have checked with DVLA before hand.

You can complain to various organizations regarding the conduct. I suspect some "overly investigative idiot " dealt with your case, and since I work in a similar industry I know these people are very judgemental and quite unnecessarily link everything to fraud!

This is the official COMPLAINT procedure, please dont be scared and dont swear at them it will only make matters worst. Use these channel and tell them you will go to the FOS if not resolved asap.

The four-step procedure is as follows:
Please read all of them before you do anything.
Step 1

Please get in touch with the person in the section or local office you have been dealing with. They may be able to solve your problem.
Step 2

If you are still not happy, write to:

Carole Evans
Customer Services Manager
DVLA
Swansea
SA7 0EE

E-mail: csm.dvla@gtnet.gov.uk
Fax: 01792 766 416

We aim to immediately confirm that we have received your complaint, and to send a full reply within 10 working days. If it is going to take us longer than this to give you a full reply, we will let you know.
Step 3

If you are still not satisfied, write to:

Noel Shanahan
Chief Executive
DVLA
Swansea
SA6 7JL

You need to provide full details of your complaint and the response you have received so far.

We aim to immediately confirm that we have received your complaint, and to send a full reply within 10 working days. If it is going to take us longer than this to give you a full reply, we will let you know.

If you feel that your complaint has not been handled properly, you can ask the Chief Executive to refer the matter to an independent complaints assessor.
Step 4

If you think that we have not done everything we could have done to settle your complaint, you may want to contact a Member of Parliament. They may refer the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).

Malcolm k wrote:Hi,
In Dec 08 my wife who is here on 2 year spouse visa applied for her provisional driving licence. We had to send our marriage cert and her passport as ID. They wrote to us on the 25th of March saying, " we cannot proceed with your application, as we are unable to confirm the authenticity of the passport that you have provided. "

I have since spoken to the DVLA at length on the phone. They have returned the marriage cert and say they will refund us the cost of the licence. They cannot tell me where the passport is, saying it has been with their checking agency and has now been sent to the authorities.

They say that the passport is a forgery, my wife is a Nigerian national. The passport is an old style passport much the same as the old style British passports. Nigeria does not produce these passports any more, they do the, e passports where you have to be scanned and they put a chip in it.

I have spoken to the Nigeria High Commission and they are not very helpful. One man said that there is nothing stopping my wife applying for the new style passport and the DVLA don't have the right to do what they have done????? I know they can if they suspect it's a forgery.

I also spoke to a Solicitor on the IAS helpline, they said I should apply for a new passport then fill out and send of a TOC to Home office and wait for their response. If that fails I should go back to IAS for help and if they cant help I should go to my MP.

Problems we have are that, we dont know when the authorities are going to get in touch and cant wait for that as it could take for ever.

Also do we apply for a lost passport or a new one ?? As I said before, the Nigeria High Commission are not helpful at all.

The passport is not a forgery to our knowledge.

We just dont know what to do and are really worried and confused about this.

Thank you for any advise in advance.

Hi Good people

I know some us us are struggling with finances and some can't even get a job until they get a decision with their passports from the HO. Therefore, it is EXPENSIVE calling those 0870/0845xxxxxxxxx numbers that the Home office generally provides.
Don't give up, now you can call Home Office for free, just check out www.saynoto0870.com and you will be provided with a local 0208/0151/0161xxxxxx number where you can contact HO for FREE! The actual number is 01516725626. (But log on to www.saynoto0870.com and confirm for yourself)
Especially if you have a pay monthly home or mobile telephone contract. You can still call from a pay as you go mobile but the charge rate will be like you are calling your neighbour next door on any 0208xxxxxxxx number.
Good luck Razz