wanton

Hi,

I diligently registered our child at the Embassy, and got a nice certificate. However now I come to file for his passport it's confusing.

I can either file as "Born a citizen", but that would require me to send all my personal paperwork (birth and marriage certs) away for months to the passport office, or, I think I can file as "Registered". However, in order to do this, I have to say he wasn't born a citizen (which he clearly was).

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm not sure if "Registered" is the correct type of registration - I have a nice Birth Registration document from the DC embassy with our details on it, so I assume, that is a valid registration, but why would it make me answer the question "Not born a citizen".

Very confused dad,
W

BritInParis

If you were able to obtain a consular birth certificate for your son then he would be a British citizen at birth. Consular birth registration is not available otherwise.

The confusion lies in 'consular birth registration' versus 'registering as a British citizen' in which an application is made to the Home Office and citizenship is granted providing the applicant meets specific requirements.

From the wiki: "Consular birth registration is only available where the child is automatically a British citizen at birth. Consular birth registration therefore should not be confused with registration as a British citizen with the Home Office which confers British citizenship upon eligible persons."

wanton

Ok, but why do they then need MY full birth certificate and our marriage certificate? The whole point of the consular birth registration was to simplify the passport application. There is nothing in the supporting document PDF asking for the consular birth certificate.

This is the supporting document list:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload..._Gp1_09.15.PDF

wanton

Ok, Thanks for that link, that does help somewhat, but I am still quite confused as to what they need.

Do they want my son's American birth certificate or my son's Consular Birth registration document? Do I still need to send MY birth certificate if I send the Consular certificate?
Do they want my original full birth certificate or do they want the short one? I (the parent) was adopted in the 60s (in the UK to UK adoptive parents from UK bios), so my original one, that the USA wanted as well, doesn't even have my proper name on it. Do they need that as well? Why should they even care, if I have a UK passport already.

The wording in table B is horrendous, even once you've worked out that it refers to the PARENT. In the column "Parent's Documents" it says " See table A if you were born or adopted in the UK" - does the "You" refer to the CHILD or the Parent? Then if you cross reference to Table B it says "one of the parents full birth certificates (showing both the child and parents details)" -- by that they mean the GRANDPARENTs details? My birth certificate was issued in 1963, 44 years before my child was born. Anyone know the Doctor?

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ments-guidance
https://www.gov.uk/government/upload..._Gp1_09.15.PDF

I've written to the Passport Office, but I'm not very hopeful they'll give me a definitive answer. Has anyone else done this recently (birth after 2006).

W

haldane86

If you have to send your personal documents away it may not take so long I just received my childrens passports back after applying from Canada and it took just over a week and a half to process and another 3 days in transit.

wanton

Ah thank you Haldane86!

Would you mind listing what documents you ended up sending, assuming it was for a first passport to a kid born in Canada to a UK father (and ideally consular registered birth).

Thanks so much!
W

wanton

I think so far I need:

1) color photocopy of every page in kid's US passport.
2) consular birth certificate.
3) My actual UK passport (that makes me nervous).
4) My full adoptive birth certificate (the one with the name in my passport, not my birth name).
5) 2 color passport pics, countersigned.

W

haldane86

Yes is was for my childrens very first passports Canadian mom and British dad. What I sent was their birth certificates-long form British columbia issued, husbands and my birth certificates (long form), our marriage certificate, the required photos and the color copy of our Countersignatorys biodata page of their passport. The longest part was having the applications sent from Canada to the UK

BritInParis

The wording is very confusing. You used to be able to send in a consular birth certificate in lieu of any other documents. This changed about a year. I wrote to HMPO to enquire why this change had occurred but the reply was less than satisfactory.

Evidently HMPO doesn't trust the FCO nationality examiners!

Anyway you do not need to send in any original passports nor a copy of the parent(s)' passports. Your supporting documents list should look like this:

1) Colour photocopy of applicant's US passport
2) Applicant's consular birth certificate
3) Applicant's original long form US birth certificate
4) Two colour UK size passport photos of applicant, one countersigned

wanton

I'm confused now. The list of supporting documents in Table B says:
https://www.gov.uk/government/upload..._Gp1_09.15.PDF

"First British passport applicants born or adopted outside the UK – parents’ or adoptive parents’ documents, Please provide the following:

The passport you entered the country from which you are applying, and if different, any non-British passport held as well as the evidence shown in the table below:"
Born on or after 1 January 1983
• one of your parents’ full birth certificate (showing both the child’s and parents’ details)

wanton

Ok, so I just pulled the trigger, so to speak, and the generated declaration and checkbox document doesn't mention my passport at all. Very very strange, but, BritinParis, it looks like you're correct. I guess it makes sense, I mean, I give them my passport number, they can generate a lookup directly from the Passport/Home Office database of all my information.

But the interesting thing is, I don't see anything that therefore guarantees that I am who I say I am (other than I know the passport number and control a copy of my sons information). Anyway, wish me luck when I send this stuff off.

Ah, the declaration the counter-signatory signs is the proof that a "good" Brit has acknowledged I am who I say I am.

Also a former Brit-in-Paris -- Rue De La Roquette, 11eme, 1999-2001!

BritInParis

That confuses a lot of people. It's referring to the applicant's passport even though it's in the parents' documents table.

In theory you should also be sending your full birth certificate but given that you were adopted that would also necessitate sending your adoption certificate as well and most adoptees don't have their full birth certificate in any case. Hopefully the passport examiner will accept the consular birth certificate instead.

Moi aussi. Rue de la Roquette, 11eme, 2011-2012