Guidance

St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha : Knowledge Base profile

Updated 15 January 2026

Version 4.0

About: St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha

This document contains useful information about St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email the Guidance team.

If you notice any formatting errors in this document (broken links, spelling mistakes and so on) or have any comments about the layout or navigability of the document then you can email the Guidance team.

Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 4.0
• published for Home Office staff on 04 November 2025

Changes from last version of this document

The Birth certificates section has been updated to show all birth certificates issued on the island of St Helena have a place of birth shown as ‘St Helena’ or St Helena Island’.

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha: nationality

This section gives staff information about nationality in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha.

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha is a British overseas territory.

Dual nationality is recognised in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha.

‘Belonger status’ is a legal term normally associated with British overseas territories. It refers to people who have close ties to a specific territory, normally by birth or ancestry. The requirements for ‘belonger status’ vary from territory to territory.

If the customer has ‘belonger status’ in a territory, it is the same as having indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter (being settled).

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha: legitimacy

This section gives staff information about legitimacy in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha.

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha recognises a difference between illegitimate and legitimate births.

A child is considered:

• legitimate:
  • if their parents were married at the time of the birth
  • from the time of the marriage if the parents marry after the birth
• illegitimate if their parents never marry

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha: parental responsibility

This section gives staff information about parental responsibility in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha.

Parental responsibility

Both parents will have parental responsibility in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha if they were:

• married at the time of the child’s birth
• unmarried at the time of the child’s birth, but the father was named on the birth certificate since 2004

St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha: documents

This section gives staff information about documents from St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha.

Birth certificates

All births in St Helena, Ascension Island & Tristan da Cunha must be registered within 21 days.

Births can be re-registered if:

• the child’s parents marry each other after the birth; or,
• the child’s biological father’s details are added to the birth certificate; or,
• spelling errors are identified and corrected

All birth certificates issued on the island of St Helena have the place of birth shown as ‘St Helena’ or ‘St Helena Island’.