New baby and father stranded in Cyprus amid passport delay

A man who had a baby by surrogacy in Cyprus is stranded there because of a delay issuing the child's passport.

Joseph Taylor, from Abingdon, applied for a passport for baby Jonah on 5 February and, until he receives it, is unable to bring his son home.

But on 25 April, his 90-day visa expires, after which he risks being fined, prosecuted or even jailed.

The Home Office said passports would not be issued until "all checks are satisfactorily completed".

Mr Taylor flew to northern Cyprus five days before his son's birth on 31 January after "meticulously" gathering the documentation required for his passport - and completed the application as soon as the birth certificate was issued.

Despite daily calls, webchats and texts to the Passport Office, Mr Taylor said there had been "no progress, and nobody has looked at the application since 15 February".

He said he was "desperate" to get Jonah home so he could begin his new son's UK healthcare, as well as for legal reasons.

"I have been issued a UK court date in relation to my parental order application and am unable to engage with this process while abandoned here in Cyprus," he said.

"It's looking like I'm going to be forced into a position whereby I have to overstay my visa and break the law."

He said he had been left feeling "mentally exhausted" and that "chasing this passport has become like a full-time job".

"Every single day I have to get up and try to figure out a way we can exit Cyprus on time," he said.

"The problem is nobody wants to help at the Passport Office no matter how many times I say 'my visa is expiring - please help me'."

Mr Taylor's parents are also anxious to get their son and grandson home.

His mother, Anette Taylor, said: "It's awful because you're so far away. On the calls you can see how stressed and distressed he's getting each day.

"We just want them to come home so we can start making some memories with them both."

Mr Taylor wanted to have a child as a single parent but did not want to foster or adopt so opted for surrogacy through IVF, using an egg donor.

He said he chose to go to Turkish-occupied Cyprus because he believed the surrogacy process would be more straightforward for him there than in the UK.

"As soon as Jonah was born I met him - it was honestly amazing," he said.

"It was one of those things that I thought would never happen for me and the emotion around that was just unbelievable."

The Home Office said it would not comment on individual passport applications but added: "A British baby born overseas would not be automatically prevented from obtaining an Emergency Travel Document (ETD) because they have never held a British passport previously.

"Instead, additional checks would be required to confirm the child's nationality before an ETD could be issued."

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