ulsterwinnie

Hi, Im sorry of this question has been asked before but Im a little confused. Both myself and husband are British born, have lived in US for 19 years, he has a green card, i have citizenship. We have one son, aged 5 , born in the US. We were planning to move home middle of march, which is really close, I guess I just assumed my son was British by descent and he would travel on US passport and we would fill out neccessry documents at home. BUT the more reading i do Im realising its not that simple!
Is the best way to travel to get him a British passport before we leave the US. I only have a US passport, Im sure my British expired years ago and I have no clue where it is. I also dont think we have my husband and I's birth certs over here so that might be an issue. As mentioned above , we have abit of a time crunch that we cant change.
So where do I even start with getting my son a British passport?
Thanks for any help / suggestions
MC

SanDiegogirl

You should have renewed your UK passports and obtained a UK passport for your son.

While you will be allowed into the UK on your US passports you have nothing to prove that you are British citizens and so will have a visitor stamp put into your US passport. You will be told to get your UK passports asap.

Having your British passports would also have helped establish residency in the UK (accommodation/bank accounts/credit line up) and also smooth the way to obtain NHS services should you need them (several stories on here of folks taking their US children to the doctors/hospital, only to be told "they are American and do not have access to the NHS as a visitor to the country")

If you still want to try and get a British passport for your son go here:

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

If you want to try and renew your British passports for hubby and yourself go here:

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/renew...sa-105860.html

ulsterwinnie

Thanks.
I know I should have but now i just dont have time to renew unless there is a way to expedite the process?. So if we travel as if going on vacation, will we have hassle in UK for my son obtaining citizenship?

JAJ

He's not "obtaining" citizenship if he automatically acquired British citizenship (by descent) when he was born. A passport is merely a travel document, that also can serve as evidence of British citizenship (not the strongest evidence, but usually acceptable day to day).

Applying for citizenship and applying for evidence of citizenship are not the same thing.

Your husband has a green card, you say, and isn't a U.S. citizen. What's his plan for his green card once he leaves the United States? Is he going to try to hang on to it, or abandon it?

Englishmum

You can easily (and quickly) get copies of your birth certificates here:

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

It would be a good idea to get a copy of the 'long form' of birth certificate and take it with you when you arrive in the UK to show the Immigration Officer together with your American passport. Come to think of it, probably best to take in a copy of your father's British birth certificate too. You can explain that you will be applying for a British passport once on UK soil; you can even make appointments at some passport offices to go in person and collect your new passport on the same day (this is for renewals - you will need to check with HM Passport Office what the procedure is for lost/missing passports).

(Btw - If the General Register Office doesn't offer a service to expedite the birth certificates, get them sent to a trusted family member's house and ask if they can send it by courier if time is of the essence - you say you're planning on moving back to the UK in mid-March? ).

All British passports are now issued in the UK, even for British citizens living abroad; you may wish to apply for your child's passport as soon as you arrive in the UK too - and it will be cheaper