Gemma Tones, a 30-year-old mum-of-three from Whitstable, just wanted to take her family on an £8,000 dream holiday to Portugal. But she faced a shocking roadblock: her passport application was denied because officials claimed she wasn’t British!
Born in Yorkshire to a British father and an Italian mother, Gemma has lived in the UK all her life. She votes, pays taxes, and even receives child benefits. But because her parents weren’t married when she was born, the Home Office said she couldn’t derive citizenship from her dad.
The five-month ordeal began. Gemma had to prove her mum had the right to be in the UK at the time of her birth – a task harder than expected.
“They told me I’m not British, but I know that I am,” Gemma said. This bureaucratic mess started after she booked the 10-day trip, the first-ever getaway for her family, including two severely disabled children.
She applied for passports five months ago, expecting a simple process. But the standard three-week timeline turned into a frustrating stalemate. “If I’m good enough to pay tax and national insurance, surely I should be able to be a citizen,” Gemma argued.
Every time she sent new documents, officials asked for something else. Gemma felt lost and misunderstood. Her children, born in the UK to a British father not listed on their birth certificates, also had their applications stuck.
Gemma provided proof of her mum’s ‘settled status’ and other documents, but officials initially rejected them. They claimed her mum wasn’t self-sufficient, blocking her citizenship claim.
The situation seemed hopeless until this week when the Home Office finally reversed its decision. After KentOnline contacted them, they acknowledged a crucial document proving her mum’s settled status and granted the passports.
Officials blamed Gemma for not sending the right documents sooner, but she insists she sent enough evidence and received conflicting advice. “I lost a lot of sleep because of the stress,” she said.
Before the British passports were confirmed, Gemma applied for Italian passports, facing uncertainty over her UK residency post-Brexit. Now, her British citizenship is confirmed, and the passports are on their way.
Gemma’s ordeal highlights flaws in the system. “If you’re going to send me out of my country, where are you going to send me? I was born here,” she exclaimed.
An EU citizens’ group, the3million, supports Gemma, calling the citizenship law “pointlessly complicated.” Spokesperson Andreaa Dumitrache said, “It’s disgraceful that people who have lived in the UK their whole lives are being denied their rights unjustly.”
