A SERIES of errors involving the UK passport application process has led to headaches and delays for many of those involved.

According to lawyer Ann Cartwright DeCouto, the main flaw lies with the application document itself. Instead of receiving a form unique to the requirements of British Overseas Territories Citizens, Bermudians are being asked to "sweat through" the standard form for UK residents - riddled with irrelevant questions.

That fact, combined with a number of misleading statements by the Department of Immigration, she believes, is making a mockery of the goodwill under which the British Overseas Territories Act was passed.

"As far as the application process for UK passports, somebody is not being truthful or is confused," said Mrs. DeCouto. "Care has not been taken to provide the correct form. They should issue a statement advising applicants to ignore the irrelevant sections.

"Somebody, somewhere, has put a monkey wrench in this. It's a total mess. I've had clients come to me with questions. They don't want to be without their passports. Elderly people in particular get very nervous if they don't have their passport with them when travelling.

"And many of them have reported to me as well of the rudeness and lack of sensitivity from the Department of Immigration. They've called with queries and the comments they've received in response, range along the line of `so what?' to `what are you asking for?' to `why do you want the new passport anyway, isn't the Bermudian one good enough for you'?

"The documents produced are totally at variance to the statements made by the Department of Immigration. I've been told that people are going up there, the line-up is out in the corridor, on the pretext that there are these special forms when they're only the standard form issued for UK citizens applying for passports."

All British Overseas Territories Citizens automatically became full British citizens with the commencement of the Brisith Overseas Territories Act on May 21 of this year, offering the right to live and work in the UK and the European Union.

As part of the applications process, Bermudians are required to submit a completed applications form, the necessary documents and their passport, which are then sent to the British Embassy in Washington, DC. The Department of Immigration has advised that the process can take up to 12 weeks.

Many of the questions asked in the application, Mrs. DeCouto pointed out, were irrelevant to those British Overseas Territories Citizens applying for passports. It was such questions, she said, which led a number of her clients to request her aid as they struggled to find the information the document suggested was required before they could receive a UK passport. As an example, she highlighted questions regarding the applicant's father in section four.

"It asks what is your father's full name. I can assure you of this, if the person is 72 years of age and his father was born in England and he doesn't know his full name (there's no recourse). A copy of a UK birth certificate will not show any Christian names at all and registration of birth in Bermuda was incomplete at that time. It will show the grandparents' names and state whether the child is male or female but that's it.

"A 72 year old, let's say his name is Bumby Simons, may not even know the exact date of the birth of his father. He may not know his father's date and place of marriage. That's why the form is quite obviously not the customised form we were supposed to have. If it were, and if you look at (what it should be) under UK legislation, it would say, `Are you Bermudian'? And, if not, please provide the following, which would include the necessary documents you would have to provide to show that you are Bermudian."

A similar problem could be found with the questions in section 5A, she said.

"It asks, `Are you a married (or widowed or divorced) woman applying for your own passport whose claim to British nationality is through marriage to a British man'? That entire question is totally irrelevant. People are supposed to sweat their way through this for what reason? It is totally the wrong form and people are being totally put off (from applying for a passport) because of it."

Added confusion was caused by an inconsistency in information between the two inserts - one issued by Government Information Services and a second by the British Government - received with the application form. Note eight of the UK insert demands that in submitting the passport application, one must "give up any previous passport for cancellation".

However, in the procedures and guidelines offered by Government to applicants born in Bermuda before 1983, all that is required of them is a completed form, the fee, their birth certificate and photographs.

"Nowhere does it say that you have to hand in your passport," said Mrs. DeCouto. "How do you prove (to the British Embassy) that you're Bermudian without one? According to (Government's insert) `holders of Bermuda-issued passports will be able to enter the UK as if they held British citizen passports and will be able to use the European Union Immigration Channel.' How on earth can you do that if you have to surrender it with the form?

"How can you travel to other countries in the world without (official documents)? It's one of the major problems. What about students? It's summer time and if, as the Department of Immigration suggests, it could take as many as 12 weeks before the process is complete, and if you're a university student in Canada or the United States, by Labour Day, you'll be heading back to school.

"That's eight weeks. You can't go to Canada on a birth certificate. Maybe you can travel to the United States on a birth certificate, but only for vacation. As a student, you need a visa and visas are only attached to passports. They don't get attached to birth certificates."

When contacted yesterday, Chief Immigration Officer Martin Brewer said his department recognised that there was a problem and they would be in touch with the British Embassy in Washington, DC.

"We got the forms the day after we were supposed to get them and had to meet the rush, so we put them out," he said. "The problem was drawn to our attention two days ago but we're unable to amend them as they're not our forms. They're those issued by the British Embassy. It's the standard form used to apply for all UK passports prior to May 21, 2002. It doesn't take into account (that its applicants might be) British Overseas Territories Citizens. They haven't updated it yet but I plan to contact Washington and ask if we can have it amended. It's an issue we're dealing with."

And he argued that, contrary to what Mrs. DeCouto believed, the forms were "special".

"It is a special form," he said. "It is a standard British application form but it's different to the regular (Bermuda) passport application. Generally, people don't read so we'll deal with the situation by making it so that people don't have to answer (those questions). We're hoping that Washington will agree to that. (Until then) we will direct people (on how) to answer (any irrelevant questions) as they pick up their forms."