General overseas postings

All parents need to obtain educational clearance for their children, aged 0 to 18 years of age, before proceeding with a move overseas. Educational clearance is provided by the Overseas Education and Supportability (OES) Team – RC-DCS-HQ-OES@mod.gov.uk. This team can offer professional advice and guidance on education options overseas and they co-ordinate the educational supportability assessment process for overseas postings for children with Special Educational Needs and those for whom parents have selected Elective Home Education.

As the clearance process can take up to nine weeks it is recommended that an early application is made to ensure that the needs of the child can be met in the new assignment location. See gov.uk/guidance/education-overseas-for-service-children#education-clearance for further information on educational clearance. If you wish to Home Educate whilst overseas you are advised to seek advice and approval on this as soon as possible as it is not supported in some locations.

Not all overseas locations are fully equipped to support SEN. You should discuss your children’s needs with the OES team.

A critical stage of education is defined as being within two years of a public examination, usually GCSE and A-Level or their equivalents. If yes, then you may wish to consider the longer terms implications of moving a child from the UK education system against other options.

Think about the implications of their start/end of term travel arrangements. Are there airlines that offer an unaccompanied minor service from your proposed overseas location? How will you manage exeats weekends/half terms? Do you have a couple of trusted friends who would be willing to act as guardians in emergencies? Also, basic issues like generally maintaining communications if you are in different time zones.

Single parents or dual working families, be aware that wraparound childcare is not currently available in all overseas locations and using other options like au pairs and nannies may be challenging and will take time to arrange.

If yes, then they may not be entitled to accompany you at public expense or be ‘entitled’ to military allowances and local support. You should discuss this with the overseas chain of command before accepting an overseas posting.

There are no special dispensations, they are subject to routine DVLA requirements.

Yes, there is a requirement to ‘export’ the vehicle by sending in the completed export slip (section 5 of the V5C document), with the date of export and the country to which it is being exported. This slip is used to update the vehicle record, show the vehicle as exported and generate any refund of vehicle tax. Section 5 states ‘Permanently exporting this vehicle for more than 12 months’, but if the vehicle is going to be out of the UK for less than 12 months and is going to be registered in another country then still send in the export slip to get a refund of the vehicle tax. If the export slip is not submitted, there will be no refund of vehicle tax, reminder letters will continue to be sent out, and Insurance offences may be raised as the vehicle will not usually be insured in the UK, but at the new posting.

No.

Personnel and family members should update their address every time they move – they can use a BFPO address.

If this isn’t done and there is an incident, and the information is found to be incorrect, the driver could face a fine for up to £1000. You need to do this for both your vehicle and driving licence, as the systems are not linked. For example, if you have a fine for a vehicle and you have not updated the address, it could be sent to the incorrect address and delays could lead to more fines/offences being added.

This is being looked into at present. There could be a few reasons that the BFPO address is not present, if it isn’t present online then a D1 application would need to be completed and sent to DVLA. The application should take no longer than three weeks once it has been received by the DVLA. It should be done after the move.

There is no requirement by the DVLA to do this.

AFF notes that DVLA is unable to send a vehicle log book to an address outside the UK, so if this is the case it may be better to get this completed before a move overseas. If you need a new/replacement log book be aware that it can take five days if you apply online but between four to six weeks if you apply by post or if you’ve changed your address or name.

If it is the requirement of the country that they are in, then this should require the UK driving licence to be surrendered to that county’s driving authority. A marker would then be placed on their record in the UK that the exchange has taken place, to show that the licence has been exchanged for another country.

When they then return to the UK they can apply to exchange the licence back to a UK one, as long as it is a country that UK has an exchange agreement with. If the photo is still in date this process would be free of charge. If the photo needs to be updated it would incur a fee – the current fees are published on gov.uk/driving-licence-fees. This cannot be done online.

Drivers can sign up to the driver and vehicles account to view their driving licence details and vehicle details all in one place.

As a result of EU Exit all parcels sent to overseas BFPO locations need to comply with International Mail Import/Export Regulations

BFPO has released a quick customer guide including financial document clarification

With immediate effect, BFPO will return any private mail for Cyprus to the sender if it does not have a valid customs declaration (CN22/23/commercial invoice) – this refers to packets and parcels rather than standard or large letters. If there is no return address, the package will be destroyed. This is due to BFPO being legally obliged to prevent mail without the correct declarations from entering the Republic of Cyprus.

Impacted BFPO numbers include: BFPOs 53, 57, 58, 59, 567, 550 & 775.

Revised guidance has been issued for the MOD provision of passports for Service personnel and their dependants serving overseas (2023DIN01-084) and for those living in the UK but who are either on permanent state of readiness to move at short notice (10 days or less) or are required to travel at public expense to or from a country which will require the use of a passport (2023DIN01-083).

Service personnel and their families who have to travel on official duty or are assigned to a country which requires a valid passport, should be provided with one at public expense, regardless of nationality. Passports will be provided free or replaced if they have expired. Replacement lost or damaged passports must be paid for by the individual.

1. You should apply via His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) Armed Forces team using form SE/04/01, available from unit HR staff, for all types of British passport (initial, replacement, renewal and changes for both adults and children). The online application process should not be used.
2. Applicants must refer to the guidance notes when completing their applications and also seek advice from unit HR staff, to avoid errors and gain necessary supporting documents (e.g. if the application is for a first time passport for a child under the age of 16, a letter from the unit on headed paper is required).
3. All completed applications should be forwarded to unit HR staff, who will send them on to the Armed Forces team. You should not send applications direct to HMPO without authority.

His Majesty’s Passport Offices (HMPO) can only process passport applications from individuals who are UK Nationals. Those who are not UK Nationals must apply to their own authorities for renewal or replacement of passports.

Costs are based on UK fees and do not attract any delivery fees, providing the passport is delivered to a BFPO or UK residence.

Applications can be treated either as standard (non-urgent) or urgent using a courier service and they can be tracked, unlike the online system.

AFF is aware that for families with children at boarding school the timing of a passport renewal is often quite critical. The HMPO Armed Forces team can return passports to a child’s boarding school, but they must have written permission from the parents, the unit and confirmation from the boarding school in question. They also confirmed that if the application has been checked by the unit admin office and it has been agreed, the application may be posted from the UK. 

British passports for non-UK spouses

Spouses married to British soldiers on overseas assignments may be eligible to apply for Citizenship if all requirements are met. You are strongly advised to read the information here: Citizenship applications during an overseas assignment before starting this process whilst on an overseas assignment. You will not be eligible for a British passport unless you have first naturalised as a British Citizen.

British passports for children born to non-UK parents during an overseas assignment

Children born during an overseas assignment are not born British unless one of the parents is already British. The child first needs to be registered as a British Citizen through an application to the Home Office before a passport can be applied for. Please note a British birth certificate does not confer Citizenship on a child. For all information on this process please see Citizenship applications during an overseas assignment and scroll down to 8. Citizenship for children born during the current overseas assignment.

Spouses/children without a valid UK visa prior to posting (whether to the UK or to another overseas assignment)

You should contact the F&C team as soon as possible. For further information on visa applications during an overseas assignment, see Overseas assignments for F&C families but you are advised to contact the team as it is a complex process. If you are due to be posted shortly, we may need to refer the case to Regional Command.

For those already overseas the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services Registration Team has advised that you that you can use the online form: Get healthcare cover for travelling abroad – NHSBSA but at Question 2 you should tick the box to say you are in the UK.

As you progress through the online application you will have the opportunity to explain you are on accompanied overseas service but would ordinarily be resident in the UK. You may then have to send proof of yours and the serving person’s military ID.

For further information about overseas health insurance cards, see our Overseas Health page: Overseas Health Insurance Cards

Under Section 55 of the ‘Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009’, Border Force Officers (BFO) have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children travelling in and out of the UK.

Parents are responsible for ensuring that their child(ren) carry the relevant documentation to meet the needs of the immigration and security services of the relevant countries. Further information can be found at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

As a minimum if a child is not travelling with a parent or legal guardian, then a letter of consent from the parent or guardian is required both at check-in and at the port of arrival in the UK.

Additionally, as requirements may differ by location, you are advised to ask your local admin team or National Support Element for local advice.

Further considerations include:

Unaccompanied minors (young people under the age of 18)

Must hold a letter from parents authorising the lone travel and giving the purpose of travel and contact details, to be presented at check-in, AND to the Border Force Officer on arrival. The letter of consent should be specific to the journey in question and could be in the form of an affidavit to add strength to the authority.

Minor travelling with both parents

• With different surnames – If the child has a different surname to both parents, then original birth or adoption certificates should be shown to confirm the relationship to the child. It may also be useful to carry a copy of a divorce or marriage certificate if your family name is different from the child’s.
• With the same surname – No further documentation should be required.

Minor accompanied by one parent

Generally unless a child is identified as being on any Warnings Index (e.g. a ward of court or at risk), then as long as the check-in staff and the BFO are satisfied with the relationship of the minor to either accompanying parent, then no further documentation is required. However, AFF is aware of instances where parents have been challenged and therefore suggests it may be advisable to carry a letter from any other person with parental responsibility, to confirm you have their permission. The letter could include the reason for the trip, the name and contact details of the person, and that they give permission for the child to travel on the given dates. If the surname is different to the one accompanying ‘parent’, then the original birth or adoption certificates should be shown to confirm the relationship to the child.

Minor accompanied by a guardian/nominated escort

If accompanied by a guardian/nominated escort, then the minor should carry a letter of authority from the parent/s, authorising travel with the guardian/nominated escort and the purpose of the trip. Once again, although not obligatory, but to add strength to the letter of consent, it could be in the form of an affidavit’.

The MOD has its own escorted minor form and commercial airlines will have a similar form.  Overseas Booking Centres managing School Children’s Visit flights should issue the appropriate escorted minor forms to parents of children under 18 when they issue the air travel authorisation.

Travelling on assignment overseas with children

Taking a child on a permanent overseas assignment is a different matter to travelling on holiday. Only the serving person/spouse or civil partners who have sole custody of children (recorded on JPA) will be entitled to bring those children overseas on an accompanied assignment.

If you do not have permission or sole custody of a child from a previous relationship, then you should seek independent legal advice if you wish to them to accompany you overseas.

As this is a civil matter the costs associated with gaining the correct permissions will be at personal expense.

Don’t lose your right to vote overseas if you are a spouse or civil partner. Register as an Armed Forces overseas voter.

Other Armed Forces dependents overseas and Reservists are not eligible to register as Service voters and can only register as overseas voters. Those choosing to register as overseas voters are not eligible to vote in any local government election.

If you’re overseas, you’re strongly advised to use a proxy vote rather than a postal vote.

Remember that the Armed Forces Covenant applies overseas, so do let AFF know if you feel that you are being disadvantaged due to being an Armed Forces family.

Are your extended family in the UK aware of what they need to do if a compassionate case arises whilst you are overseas? See gov.uk/guidance/joint-casualty-and-compassionate-centre-jccc for more information. Ensure your Next of Kin details are up-to-date on JPA.

Is the serving person expecting to exit the Service at the end of your overseas assignment? If yes, then you need to plan ahead and be aware of the limitations regarding timely access to resettlement facilities, financial and housing briefs. Visit our Transition page for more information.

Naval Families Federation
RAF Families Federation

HIVE
On behalf of the chain of command Army HIVE delivers information, arrival packs and deployment packs to support the military community on a variety of topics affecting their everyday Service and personal life.

In some locations support is available face-to-face through a network of HIVE Information Centres and HIVE information support officers, as well as online through the local HIVE blogs and social media www.facebook.com/ArmyHIVE and www.twitter.com/ArmyHIVEinfo.

iHIVE
The tri-Service International HIVE (iHIVE) provides location-specific guides and information available to download from the iHIVE blog at internationalhive.blogspot.com