My daughter will be born in just a few weeks, and I wish for her to get her British citizenship and passport as soon as possible. I, the father am a British citizen, born in the UK and lived there for 17 years. The mother is a Taiwan national. The child will be born in Taiwan, and by default will be a Taiwan national with a Taiwan passport. I am married to the mother, so my name will be on all the child's documents. Am I right in thinking my child is eligible for British citizenship, and if so, what is the process for applying, and what is the time frame for these types of applications?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Britinnewtaipei, welcome to the forum.

Your daughter will automatically be a British by descent. You need only to apply her British passport however I would highly recommend consular birth registration.

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

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

https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Briti..._Registration_

Can I ask why you recommend this?

Have a read of the wiki article I linked to but essentially it’s a permanent record of both her birth and entitlement to British citizenship lodged with the General Register Office in the UK. Taiwanese documents may be hard to get hold of in the future or may prove to difficult to get accepted by the authorities when she is using her British passport.

How long does it currently take to get the consular birth certificate given coronavirus? It took around a month for the passport to arrive. Also, does the certificate use printed text or do they scan the writing from your application form? If so I may wish to write it a little prettier.

Using consular birth registration may pay off in future if your daughter needs a copy of her birth certificate. i have two daughters born in foreign countries. I registered both and have used the facility for getting a duplicate birth cert for both of them. They were born not in Taiwan but in Sofia and Jeddah. Same principle applies. When I had to order copies much later I just phoned up. Hey presto, they arrived by post.

They should be moving at normal pace. They won't scan your handwriting - it'll either be typed up or the registrar will transcribe the relevant documents. Personally I would fill in the application form via computer to avoid any misreadings.