cheesycheese

Hi,

We moved to Whitby, ON in May this year on 3 year TWPs (me, my wife and my 2 year old boy). We're due to give birth in the next couple of weeks to our second child and I'm unsure what to do regarding a passport for her.

Is it best to get her a UK passport, a Canadian passport or both (can she have both?)?
If we get her a Canadian passport, does that mean I don't need to get her an Accompanying Dependent Visitor Record Permit as I have for my son?
And when we apply for Permanent Residency, if she had a Canadian passport, would that help us as a family?

We'll be crossing the border into the States for a holiday in the next few months so I need to get all of this sorted as quickly as possible in case there are any delays in the application.

I have just spoken to Service Canada but gave up when he kept repeating 'do you want a Canadian passport' to my question 'will she need a Canadian passport'.

iaink

She can have both, but a Candian one will be a lot less hassle to get from a practical perspective. The main delay is usually in waiting for the birth certificate.

Much easier with a local application in person at the passport office to make sure the pictures are acceptable, and less money up front. May have to go to the main Scarborough passport office for that rather than the Whitby satellite office, but as pics of babes are notoriously hard to get to standard it may be worth it. Took us three goes to get them OK for our youngest.

Cant see it being an advantage for immigration, they are a few years off being able to sponsor you. As a canadian they wont need any additional paperwork.

As far as my own cdn born kids go, I am waiting till they are nearer 16 to apply for UK passport for them, then they will have Europe as an option when they are adults.

ninaDGBCA

She will be Canadian by birth and therefore get a Canadian birth certificate. A Canadian passport is about $20 compared to a UK one through Washington $200. She is eligible to both nationalities. Canadian by birth, Uk by descent.

We had our 3rd daughter here in Canada, the other 2 have UK passports, and choose to only get her the Canadian.

It did not speed up the PR but made it one child fee cheaper . But she never needs the I94 when we go shopping in the States, will never have to meet any PR residency requirements. And when she is old enough to travel on her own to see Nana she'll get a UK one, too.

dbd33

Both. Absolutely get both.

iaink

Why would a babe need both?


Get both eventually for sure, but I dont see any need to rush, especially as pictures for babies are often very hard to get to meet the required standards, which makes mail ordering a passport potentially fraught.

Dashie

Both of ours have both, got them as babies. We have never had issues with photos or delays.

dbd33

Two main lines of thought:

- you can't trust the government, if something offered now take it before the chance is gone

- in my experience when a passport is needed at short notice it's a hassle to get one, better to do it when there's no urgency to the matter

And, on edit, a third

- the Canadian passport is better for visiting the US, something a person in Canada is very likely to do. A British passport is better for going home and to Europe, also something a person living in Canada is likely to do. One really should strive to give one's children as many advantages as one can, this is an advantage easily conferred.

Yandros

What happens when you visit the UK with the new baby? If he/she has only a Canadian passport do you have to take him/her through the 'Non UK/EU' channel? If you do it may be worth getting a British Passport just to avoid the horrendous queues at Heathrow and Gatwick.

Congrats by the way.

Former Lancastrian

One tends to think that the UKBA officers would use common sense when faced with the parents on UK passports carrying or pushing a baby or young child with a Canadian passport in the UK passport holders lane.

Gillymonkey

Is that not a bit naive? The baby might not be theirs.

Atlantic Xpat

I've taken my family consisting at the time of a Brit, a Canadian and a child with dual nationality traveling on her Canadian passport through the EU nationals line on several occasions with out any problem.

ninaDGBCA

We just pick the faster lane. Either we accompany the Canadian child or she accompanies us. Always worked so far. In M'cr it didn't matter both queues were horrendous and Frankfurt the non EU was actually the faster one. Ottawa only has one for all. And in Florence the border agent didn't care if we even had passports . But when we go to the States she doesn't pay the $6 and her Canadian passport was quick and cheap. So I don't see the need to get her a European passport until she wants to stay there for a while or study.

cheesycheese

Great - thanks for the advice.

And the congrats.

Former Lancastrian

Then one would expect the UKBA officer to ask some questions like we do in Canada. Of course the parents get pissed at us for asking what they deem as a stoopid question and even more pissed when travelling without the other parent and asking for a letter of consent or god forbid divorce or seperation court documents.

dbd33

So long as you can predict when she'll want to stay there for a while.

I hadn't bothered getting a British passport for my child because she was named in mine and had Swiss and Canadian ones; they served most purposes. Then she decided to move to London and needed a British one quickly which lead to a big bother that could so easily have been avoided. Were I to have another round of breeding I'd get the progeny all obtainable documentation from the outset.