special ed

My wife is a natural born USC, I became a USC by naturalization in December 2009, and have retained my UK citizenship. My wife is expecting our first child and I was wondering what we would have to do to get a British passport for our daughter. When she is older we weould very much like her to spend some time in the UK and obviously this would be easier if she has dual citizenship. Any thoughts?

Duncan Roberts

ukinusa.fco.gov.uk

You can apply for a passport, register the birth or both. That's assuming you are eligible to pass on UK citizenship which is also covered on the site in the Help For British Nationals > Living in the USA section.

S Folinsky

There are posts indicating that it is to advantage for you to obtain her passport ASAP after her birth. If I recall correctly, the documentation is easier if the ink is barely dry on the birth certificate.

MarylandNed

I assume you were born in the UK? If so, your child will be a UK citizen at birth - no action is required on your part.

I think the best thing is to get a UK passport for your child asap. You will need a FULL FORM US birth certificate - one that has full details of both parents. For some reason, US birth certificates typically tend to be short form (a short form birth certificate will not be acceptable for a UK passport application).

Make sure that the full form birth certificate is issued as soon as possible after the birth. The US is strange in that it typically amends birth records and issues new birth certificates when children are adopted. Consequently, the UK authorities are suspicious of any US birth certificate that has been issued more than 3 months after the birth (for fear it has been amended due to an adoption). If you present such a birth certificate with a UK passport application, you MIGHT be asked to prove that the child has not been adopted (e.g. by providing hospital records). I suggest that you obtain multiple copies of the birth certificate and store these in various places so you won't lose them all at once.

Some people suggest registering the birth with the UK authorities i.e. consular birth registration. Personally I don't think this is necessary - and the UK authorities state the same thing - and I did not do this for my US-born daughter. It's also expensive. You can do consular birth registration without paying for and obtaining a consular birth certificate - but I really don't see the point in delaying obtaining the consular birth certificate if you've gone to the trouble of consular birth registration. Having a consular birth certificate makes life easier IF you don't have acceptable birth certificates (for you and your child) however, if you do, a consular birth certificate is not necessary.

By the way, you will also need to obtain a US passport for your child if the child will be travelling outside the US. USC's are expected to leave/enter the US using a US passport.

S Folinsky

The law of adoption can be considered "strange." A lot of it has to do with the history of adoption in this country and the idea that adopted children are legally treated as if they are natural born children.

BTW, I've been at this business for over 30 years now -- from experience I have observed that the UK and Commonwealth countries had the "short form" birth certificates long before they became common in the US.

BTW, my original birth certificate included a lot of information that is no longer recorded at all on California b/c's -- in regards to race and medical conditions. However, it was below the signatures. I have an old certified copy of that certificate and it has more information than the one I obtained 25 years ago.

Also, it has become more common for states to issue extracts from the recorded information -- which opens the door to conspiracy theories. [Yes, I'm thinking of the "birthers," -- curious in that John McCain III was not born in the United States. Legal arguments can be made that McCain was not eligible to be President. Same can be said of Barry Goldwater or Mitt Romney's dad.

tonyluca

lol true about mccain mr folinsky also barry soetoro.

British Consul

JAJ

But not for US nationality purposes.