NicolaD

My daughter was born in March in the US. Both her father and I have dual US/UK citizenship. We've received mixed information about how to get her UK passport settled. Do I need to fill out the MN1 form for Registration as a UK Citizen? Do I need a Consular Birth Certificate? Would really appreciate any help as I can't seem to get this figured out. Thanks!

sir_eccles

Registering the overseas birth at the consulate (actually done in the UK now) is a good idea because that gives her a British Birth certificate that you can order at any time from GRO.

Realistically, getting a UK passport is not much use unless you are planning to leave the US permanently and resettle in the UK. As a US citizen she must use a US passport to leave and enter the US. UK passports are expensive and under 16 will only last 5 years.

Kintsukuroi

I am British and my children were all born in the US. I did not register their births with the British Consulate. I just applied for their UK passports directly to the British Embassy. It was a very simple process with just filling out the regular UK passport application and including the fees and documentation (my UK birth certificate and their US birth certificate).

Jerseygirl

Hi...Welcome to BE.

I have moved your thread over to the general US Forum as this is not a US immigration issue.

Welcome to BE.

NitroTerp

" 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." British Born Abroad | British Consulate

My understanding is the process also depends on how you have your UK citizenship. If you and/or your husband were born in the UK (British other than by descent), you can just apply for her passport https://www.gov.uk/get-a-child-passp...first-passport

However, if both you and your husband have British citizenship through your parents because you were born outside the United Kingdom (British by descent), you can't pass your British Citizenship on unless you become naturalised. Citizenship by descent only passes down one generation. https://www.gov.uk/government/public...y-instructions

JAJ

However, a consular birth certificate is a stronger proof of British citizenship than a passport. And it doesn't expire, etc.

BubbleChog

especially as eccles pointed out your US born little one MUST use their US Passport to leave and re-enter the US.

For Babychog we used the consular registration and will only be getting her a US Passport unless we decide to head back to the UK permanently.

Ozzidoc

Ditto. Our kid has a US passport, that I am about to renew, a UK consular reg cert, and nothing yet for her Oz citizenship...

Pulaski

Us too, most likely. Even my British passport has expired and I haven't got around to renewing it yet.

BritInParis

So long as one of you were born in the UK then you don't need to complete Form MN1. Consular birth registration is advisable but not a prerequisite for obtaining a British passport for your daughter. As US citizens it is a legal requirement for all three of you to enter and exit the US on US passports although your daughter can visit the UK on her US passport.

You need to send both consular birth registration and passport applications to the UK. Beware of non-official sources with outdated information in this regard.

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

MarylandNed

If you want a UK passport for your daughter, you simply apply for one by submitting the appropriate paperwork (birth certs, marriage cert, etc). Although you need to ask yourself if having a 5 year UK passport for a child living in the US is really worth it given that, as a USC, she must leave/enter the US on a US passport.

Consular birth registration is optional. Please note that this process is now handled in the UK (Milton Keynes) i.e. you no longer go through any embassies or consulates. You can register with or without getting the expensive consular birth cert. Sometime in the calendar year following consular birth registration, you will be able to obtain a much cheaper birth cert from the GRO in the UK.

Note that UK authorities are suspicious of US birth certs issued more than 3 months after birth. This is because US birth certs don't always name the biological parents (in the case of adoptions). Hopefully you obtained multiple copies of your daughter's US birth cert. Preferably these should be "long form" i.e. they include full details of both parents. If not, you might want to consider consular birth registration. It will make it easier for your daughter to prove UK citizenship in the future as one document can do the job of multiple (birth certs, marriage cert).

NatashaB

We did the same. If you do this route, you can save money by not ordering the birth certificate via the registration form - wait till August/September the following year and order it directly from the GRO website - it's over $100 cheaper.

andrewlohnes

Maybe one day she will want to leave the US and live in the UK herself, so having a passport already could save a lot of hassle later on.

BubbleChog

Having a 5 year passport for a small child is not going to be as useful in establishing her right to live in the UK as a British Birth certificate.
If Babychog wants to live on the other side of the Atlantic when shes a grown up then she should be grown up enough to fill in her own forms and pay her own fees

markonline1

So we are about to have our first child together next week. She's the USC, I'm the brit. So not bothered about the UK passport, but I do want them to have dual citizenship for later on in life. They automatically get dual citizenship because I was born in the UK, right? Is there actually any real world benefit in registering the birth with the UK?