From Wiki

British consular birth registration is a facility provided by the Foreign Office and the General Register Office (England and Wales) for British children born overseas to have a British birth certificate, in addition to any local birth certificate they may have.

It is only available where the child is automatically a British citizen at birth.

Usually the child concerned will be a British citizen by descent and consular birth registration does not alter the effect of being British "by descent". It simply provides additional evidence of status.

There is no time limit for consular birth registration.

Not Available in Certain Countries

Consular birth registration, other than for those in the armed forces, is not available in countries where the local standard of birth registration is broadly similar to the United Kingdom. These countries include:

• Australia
• British Overseas Territories
• Canada
• Ireland
• New Zealand
• South Africa.

The facility is available in the United States. Foreign Office - Registering a birth overseas. Also see :General Register Office - Registering births overseas.

Advantages of Consular Birth Registration

It is not necessary to obtain a consular birth certificate in order for the child to be a British citizen, or to have a British passport. However, it has a number of advantages:

• the certificate is in English (hence will not require certified translations); and
• it will be easier to have it accepted for official purposes as a birth certificate in the United Kingdom; and
• it protects against it later on being impossible to obtain a replacement local birth certificate (eg if local records have been destroyed); and
• it acts as stand-alone evidence of British citizenship. Should a British passport be lost or stolen, it usually is necessary to prove the claim to citizenship from scratch. That may be difficult if it occurs many years later.
• it is evidence of British citizenship that does not have an expiry date (unlike a passport).

If Consular Birth Registration is Not Available

Then your child's British passport is the only evidence of citizenship. Take good care of it!

• Do not throw out expired passports; and
• Keep copies of all passports in a safe place; and
• Make sure you have spare (original) copies of all the documentation used originally to obtain the passport, parent's birth, marriage certificates etc.
• Obtain multiple copies of your child's local birth certificate and keep in a safe place.

Don't assume that your child will find it easy to replace these documents in future. Not only can records be lost, but "privacy policies" may make it difficult or impossible for your child to replace documents in future, especially many years later.

Misc

You do not need to get a certificate at the time of registration, which would save around $100 as you can get it for 10GBP in the UK while on a trip their via the GRO or a local births/deaths registry. You can get a UK passport done while on holiday too as the child would need a US passport to travel anyway which is much cheaper than the $130 for a foreign issued passport that would not be valid for very long anyway.