MrsCroz

Help!
I am Canadian and my husband British, we had our children well he was serving time with HM Forces in Germany. fast forward 14 years and we are settled into a new life in Canada, my husband is still working on his citizenship and we applied recently for our children's proof of citizenship to have their passports be a problem due to the fact Immigration does not accept birth certificates from the HM Forces in Germany and NW Europe for citizenship. they have asked I provide them a German birth certificate for my boys but we were told not to apply for them well in Germany and so never registered them there. We have a friend who is a lawyer in Germany apply for our boys under our behalf but need to wait a week and she is doubtful they will get one as they were again not registered there but rather under HM Forces!
Anyone deal with this? What did you do? how did you rectify it, we are under urgent processing and have paid for a 10 grand trip in October so time is not on our side HELP!!!!!!!

BEVS

Morning MrsCroz .

Let me have a dig about & maybe ping a couple of folk that will be up on this. I doubt they are German citizens. As they were registered through HM forces it could well be they are UK citizens.

SanDiegogirl

What passports are you applying for? UK, Canadian , German?

With a British father sounds like they are British citizens by descent (born in Germany) However, they might well be just British citizens as members of the armed forces get some special dispensation I understand.

MrsCroz

Thank you, I'd appreciate any help. I fear they have wrong info but are sticking to their guns. I did apply like they have told me to and retold me to when I called. My friend is a lawyer and lives in Germany so she did it for me (cost me $66!!!) She even said she doubts I will get birth certificates as they were not registered in Germany when born rather the paperwork was done in a welfare office and shipped to England so they could have British birth certificates (which they hold)

MrsCroz

I never meant to have passports in my question, I am trying to get them proof of Canadian Citizenship. They are Canadian which even the guy at the embassy Confirmed, but they cannot get their proof of citizenship certificate until they have a German birth certificate as the British one we have is given by HM forces! To me it sounds like a mix up on their half but they are sticking to I apply in Germany and wait for a response and go from there, Honestly so defeated right now with the whole process

BritInParis

Did you give birth in a military or civilian hospital?

BEVS

Yes. It does sound like something has become a little muddled.

I asked BritInParis to look in. He's a bit of a whizz at all this lark .

Do you or your husband remember actually registering the births with the German authorities ?

I take it this means Canada Immigration.

Former Lancastrian

These questions need answering

1. I am assuming your husband is a UK citizen and born in the UK.
2. You are the Canadian citizen and born in Canada.
3. Your children were born in Germany while he was serving with HM UK Forces.
4. Are you now intending to return to Canada by sponsoring your husband and children?

Use the link below to see if your children are or might be Canadian citizens

https://na1se.voxco.com/SE/56/amican...ng=en&tui=auto

MrsCroz

No we gave birth in German hospitals but registered with the Army.

UPDATED INFO...
I was Denied a German birth certificate for my boys as they were not registered in Germany but under HM forces. So back to square one

MrsCroz

Yes Canadian

MrsCroz

1,2,3 all correct.
We currently live in Canada, have done for 4 years now. My husband has his Permanent Residency at the moment. My Kids are Canadian by birthright of myself, the lady even said they are on the phone but said they cannot accept their birth certificates as they don't accept certificates from HM Forces in Germany and NW Europe. (It's a British birth certificate but the army is who registered the births.

NEW UPDATE:
Germany has DENIED us German Birth certificates (which I knew would happen) as my children were not registered in Germany at time of their birth (they are now 10, 13 and 14 years old), there is no way around that anymore.

BritInParis

That was my understanding for BOAR children. You’ll just need to educate the Canadian authorities.

calman014

You might need to try the UK and find a way to exchange the ARMY Certificates for a regular UK one. One of my kids was born in a non UK hospital but as I was under NATO at the time had to submit the paperwork to the UK consulate in order to get British citizenship confirmed.

>> BIP: BAOR..haven't heard that in a long time...!! (for those who don't know, acronym for British Army of the Rhine) not that there are many of them left these days..!

BritInParis

I suspect the Canadian authorities are looking for a German birth certificate, not a British one. As such whether it’s military or consular won’t make a difference.

Yes, I meant BAOR, darn Autocorrect. My time in Germany was spent assisting their work in a tangential manner at the starting of their winding down.

calman014

Don't think a German certificate will be forthcoming due to SOFA (Status of Forces) agreement 1949.
No obligation to register birth with local German authorities.

(https://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/chi...ermany02-2.pdf)

In fact this rule would also apply to Canadian Forces...so its a bit strange that there is no reciprocation there..maybe that's an avenue to explore.

There are rules for children born to serving members of the forces as I mentioned above but they have been revised several times and the rules are strict these days it seems.

(https://assets.publishing.service.go...en-v5.0ext.pdf)

(https://assets.publishing.service.go..._MN1-Jul19.pdf)