There are many United Kingdom residents who can travel anywhere without a passport but only a UK travel document. For you to be able to cross international borders without the use of your passport there are several options available for you. According to the UK immigration law, a UK resident can travel with such documents and can stay in the UK for a period of over six months at a time. There are many types of such documents and you may be entitled to one of them.
If you are a UK resident, there are four of these document you can apply:
1. A travel certificate
2. The IS 137 document
3. A refugee convention document and
4. The Stateless person’s document
The UK Border Agency is responsible for processing the applications for a UK travel document. Using the form TD112, the process takes about four weeks or so to process much of it, the rest takes longer than you might expect. These documents are in conformity with the UK immigration law as well. The application process may take a little while so the applicants are instructed to wait for at least a year plus another four weeks from the date of application.
The UK Border Agency makes meticulous steps to ensure that the person applying is authentic and the situations that influence such application that is why it takes so much time for this document to be processed. If a child needs to go with you, there is another form to fill out for this. The allowable age is sixteen years old or under to apply for the travel documents. The child’s fee is considerably lower than that of the adults. The fee is 210 pounds for adults while the child’s travel document is only 130 pounds. These fees are for the travel certificate, and the other three travel document fee is 72 pound for adults and 46 pounds for the child. Be careful not to lose your travel documents as they are not transferable and the same sum will be paid each time you apply for the UK travel document. The certificate of travel is only good for five years for UK permanent residents and this is provided for individual who have no passport.
If you have a refugee status then what you need is a convention travel document. This document will certainly be granted if you have legally obtained such status according to the UK immigration law and the United Nations convention. You must be in the UK when you apply for the UK travel document and as such you are not a part of any insurgency or a threat to the security of the nation. If you have stayed permanently in the UK, then your travel document is valid for ten years, five years for residents that have temporary visas.
The United Nations or the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of the Stateless persons states that if you are legitimately recognised as stateless then a UK travel document can be granted, in this case, a stateless person’s document. You will need documents to show evidence that you are indeed stateless, a person who does not have a nationality, ties, rights and obligation to any nation. Lastly, the one way document is used if the individual wishes to leave the UK permanently. This UK travel document is also includes a one way ticket out of the UK.