HonestBrit

Hi,

I have a bit of an issue and it has caused me a lot of stress lately. I apologise in advance for what I'm about to ask and I will try to keep it short because it's quite a long story. I'm british and got Married to my Filipina wife here in UK. My wife is not British and I was unemployed at the time. We went back to Philippines together and have two lovely kids. One is age 7 months and a 1 yr and a half old that were both born in the Philippines. So how do I go about getting my two kids over in to the UK? What requirements do I need? I am now back in UK but my wife and kids are in Philippines at the moment.

Kind regards,

Mike

BritInParis

Providing you were born in the UK your children will be British citizens. You only need to apply for their British passports. Be aware however that the Philippines is considered a high risk country and that you should allow up to nine months for their applications to be processed. As such you may wish to first obtain consular birth certificates for them and apply for their passports using those rather than submit the rest of your life documents.

SanDiegogirl

You ask about your children but is your wife eligible to enter and live in the UK?

If not, you would have to sponsor her.

mikemike

I did this for Passports for my two in Manila. Go on line for the embassy requirements. Make sure you have followed exactly what they want in terms of original documents and copies. You can then post with a cheque to the embassy for them to process.

Or

Do what I did to make it fast. Book an appointment at the embassy and go in do it 1:1. Too me an hour and three weeks later we had both passports. Can your wife do that? if not, unless you are prepared to go to Manila it will have to be the postal route.

Make sure you have ALL the paperwork correct plus the fees

Incidently. You may also wish to get them Filipino passports as well. Very fast as this is outsourced to some of the malls and the babies have a priority over all comers. leaving the Phils on local passport and arrive on a Uk passport. Not sure what time restrictions are in place for the BI here if the kids get a British passport as they will be under tourist arrangement. A local passport stops that nonsense.

knighstrike

And what year did you do this?

Last I heard, they don't process passports in the embassy in the Phiippines anymore. You have to apply online and the application will be sent to Liverpool.

Plus, the staff in the embassy in the embassy is quite rude. I'm also a Filipino by the way.

@HonestBrit

I've applied for a UK passport for myself and it's currently undergoing security checks and whatnot. What BritInParis said about applications from the Philippines taking about 9 months and more is right. Mine is 9 months now. I know some people who took much longer.

You'll probably be better off with bringing your kids to the UK and applying from there.

HonestBrit

Thank you for your prompt reply.

She is not eligible. At the moment, I cannot get her because I won't be able to afford or make the financial requirements. I have to completely switch jobs before I can do so.

HonestBrit

Thank you so much.

I was born here in UK. My question is, couldn't I just apply for their passports here in Uk instead? Or does it really need to be done in Philippines. I apologise for the newbie questions.

HonestBrit

Thank you for your reply.

So if I could do it online then I do not really need to go back to the Philippines to apply for their passports?

knighstrike

Yes, but you might in the future if they require an interview. And chances are, they will. It will either be you or your wife that will have to sit in. If it's you though, you will probably be asked to go to the nearest immigration where you live. But I digress, again it depends on which of you would be asked to.

Do pay in mind though that Philippines is considered a high-risk country, expect a very long wait for your children's passports. One of the posters here elizdave, a Filipina who is married to a Brit, took 11 months to get her child's passport.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...830435/page60/

HonestBrit

I greatly appreciate all your replies.

@knightstrike

I agree that the British Embassy were quite rude when we went there. We was not able to continue processing because my eldest was diagnosed meningitis. So we were pretty stuck at time. All our savings were spent, so I had no choice but to go back to UK.

@mikemike

Is it necessary to even go back to apply for their passports? Can it be done online here in UK instead?

@BritInParis

So technically my two sons are really British and I really just need to process their application for a British Passport?

Dorothy

This is not twitter, so no need for the @. And no, your children are not "technically" British, they ARE British by descent if you were born in the UK.

knighstrike

Were you born in the UK? If so, then you are 'British otherwise than by descent' which makes your children 'British by descent'. The major difference is, your children would not be able to pass their UK citizenship automatically to their would-be kids in the future.

I'm in the same category as your kids. Though both my father and mother are British. My father was born and raised in the UK. My mother who is a Filipina, got naturalised way back in 1981 when she married my father (old rules).

Oh and have you registered your children in the embassy? A UK birth registry would be a tremendous help for your children.

HonestBrit

Thanks again. I can also say that I'm in the same category as you because my Dad was born and raised in the UK and my Mom is a Filipina. My Mother was naturalised around 1983. Yes I was born in UK. About registering the kids, that I do not know but I will find out probably later on. Maybe we somehow registered with the Philippine Embassy? But I'm only guessing and I actually do not remember where we registered them. I will update you soon as I here from my wife.

I'm assuming that you mean registering them in the British Embassy? So what if i didn't? what happens then?

Thanks again

knighstrike

The difference is I was born here in the Philippines. So I'm closer to your children's situation. Anyhow...

Yes, you make sure that you've registered them in the embassy. And if you haven't yet then do so straight away. Are you here in the Philippines now? If not, you will probably have to go back to apply your children. Like I said, the staff here are pricks and your wife would likely have a hard time dealing with them by herself. You cannot apply online for birth registration.

If you haven't registered them in the UK Embassy, then it will be twice harder for your children in regards to their passport application. Though still doable... but more difficult.

Good luck mate.

HonestBrit

@Knightstrike

I just got a message from my wife that we haven't actually registered my two kids. I'm struggling to send money for my son's treatmeant over in Philippines. So I thought that it might be easier if I took them and get proper treatment here in UK. I'm also trying to balance my finances, so that I can sponsor my wife.

I cannot thank you enough for all your help. I will have a good search around online as well.