BubbleChog

SmallChog has a consular birth certificate and an American passport. We decided it wasn't worth the additional expense of a British passport as she must exit and enter the US on her American one. The birth certifictae means it's relatively easy for her to apply if/when she needs one

BritInParis

I will respond to your other thread.

The OP was born in the UK and is therefore a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

Personally I would always do it particularly if your daughter was born in a non-English speaking country. You can order a copy of your daughter's multilingual birth certificate (Formule A) and her full French birth certificate (copie integrale) free of charge from the mairie where her birth was registered or online. If you married in France then you can do the same with your marriage certificate (Formule B). Extra copies of English/Welsh birth and marriage certificates can be ordered for £9.25 a time from the GRO if you don't want to part with the 'originals' and you don't need to send in your passports.

The child wouldn't have Right of Abode in the UK but he would be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Enter if the father was to move back to the UK with her. He may also be eligible to be registered as a British citizen if the father spent at least three consecutive years in the UK before his son was born.

No. You're probably thinking of children born in Commonwealth countries to British mothers prior to 1983. British mothers couldn't pass on their citizenship (CUKC) but their children did receive Right of Abode in the UK.

It's a good idea to apply for at least one passport whilst they are still under sixteen. Making a first time British passport application as an adult who was born overseas tends to make passport examiners suspicious.

mrken30

It also gives your child free health care in certain countries such as New Zealand. With just a US passport this is not an option. Also in times of crisis it's better to have more options than fewer.

Just watch the Michael Bourdain episode when he was stuck in Beirut. The French had already evacuated EU citizens.

Southy_SWFC

I've read through the thread a few times and can't answer my own question. Whats the difference between the form from the GRO for a tenner, and registering the birth and getting birth certificates for nearly 200quid?

BritInParis

The registration fee (now £150) needs to be paid regardless. The price difference is between ordering a copy of the consular birth certificate from the FCO at the time of registration for £50 or waiting until after the following September and ordering a copy from the GDP for their standard fee of £9.25.

morpeth

My daughter born overseas and received her British passport at birth, though I don't recall any document saying her birth was registered. Her mother not British. I was born in UK, and my mother British. When my daughter has children, would they automatically also be British citizens ? Would she have received a British passport from the consulate without a birth registration at the consulate ?

Pulaski

No, your daughter is British by descent and cannot pass on citizenship unless she lives in the UK for a continuous period of three years (short trips overseas are permitted) before a child is born. Yes, registration of the birth is not necessary to get a passport. And BTW registration of the birth at the consulate has no bearing on whether she can pass on citizenship.

MarylandNed

You have to register the foreign birth first (now £150) - you can't just go straight to the GRO because the GRO won't have any information on the birth. Optionally, you can also order a consular birth cert (now £50) at the same time you submit the registration. However, you can just register without ordering the consular birth cert.

Some time after you have registered, the GRO will be updated with the registration info (when registration was done outside the UK, this was the September in the calendar year following the calendar year of registration). After that happens, you can order a much cheaper GRO birth cert (now £9.25).

mrken30

Once you’ve registered locally you may also be able to register the birth with the UK authorities. You can only do this if the child was born on or after 1 January 1983.

What is the significance of January 1983?

mrken30

The document you obtain is not a UK birth certificate and should not be used as such. It does not replace the locally issued birth certificate which you would obtain when in the UK. Now this is very important about the registration process – The consular birth registration does not confer British nationality and is not required to register your child as a British citizen or needed before you can apply for a British passport for the child. The reason for this is that British nationality is normally passed from a parent to the child and your child(ren) must have an automatic claim to British nationality at birth in order to make a registration.

British Born Abroad | British Consulate

Before continuing with your application, you should be aware that under the nationality laws of some countries a person will automatically lose their nationality if they become a citizen of another country.

It is important to know that someone who is a British citizen by descent cannot “upgrade” their citizenship by applying to be registered or naturalised as a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

Pulaski

It's the date specified in the legislation as the date on which the change in the law went into effect.

morpeth

Thank you for that information.

A further question- is that 3 year requirement before she is 18, or at any age ? We are planning for her to attend university in the UK so she will spend 3 to 4 years in UK at that time.

Thanks for information about registration. We had an issue with her US passport as we didn't register her birth at consulate. When came time for her to apply for US passport, initially immigration kept insisting she get a Certificate of Naturalization, I said no she is a citizen at birth, so we had to get a Certificate of Citizenship and had to get lawyer involved. British consulate was great, my wife went in with letter from me, copy of my British passport and birth certificate, my daughter's birth certificate, and she had passport in 2 days.

MarylandNed

Where was your daughter born?

BritInParis

The commencement of the British Nationality Act 1981, the current Act of Parliament which legislates for British nationality. This cutoff date is relatively recent, presumably because the FCO has gotten cheap and doesn't want to train up its nationality examiners to the previous high standard.

All correct although I would caution against using unofficial sources like this particularly when it comes to a matter as complex as British nationality law.

At any age before her own children are born outside the UK. If she spends consecutive three years in the UK for university then that would normally suffice but be wary that the academic year starts in September but finishes in June. She would need to stay on until she has completed the full three years. If she leaves shortly after her finals then the clock stops and it doesn't count. She'll need to stay for the summer (with documentary evidence) or resolve to marry a British-born spouse or have her children in the UK.

Was your daughter not born in the US or the UK then? If she was born outside the US then you would need to apply for her Consular Report of Birth Abroad via the local US Embassy before you could apply for her US passport. There is no such requirement for a British passport.

Pulaski

BiP has already answered this, but she should count the days very carefully as there is a strict limit to the number of days during the three year period that she can be out of the UK (IIRC it's 90 days, maybe BiP has the number at his fingertips?) so I would recommend that she keep a detailed diary of her time and travels, supported by a scrapbook of travel tickets and evidence of time she was IN the UK.