agentpeppermint

Ok... I will make this as short and painless as possible.

husband is a UKC I am a USC. We have 1 child who is a Dual Cit and I have 2 biological children that my husband adopted (bio dad is dead) was a step parent adoption not an inter country or hauge convention....I am having a hard time finding information specific to THIS type of adoption. Some websites state that because the adoption laws of 1973 were followed, the children get auto citizenship, others say we have to register them... however the registration application MN1 is asking for information that is not relevant and leaving the application incomplete!

So much information out there is contradictory.

Do we have to register the older children in order for them to obtain BC? (if YES) do we have to fill out sections 2 and 3 of the MN1 application ( husband is NOT BC by decent, but by birth ) and we both live in the US at the moment.

However! My father in law is very very very ill and we want to go back to the UK ASAP (like by the END of this month) in case of the inevitable.

Can we register the two older children WHILE in the UK, or should we send off the registration from the US prior to us leaving? (if we can kill 2 birds with one stone GREAT!) I would rather register them while in the UK.


Also, can we get all 3 of their passports while in the UK?


Our whole intent in the end is for me to get a Spousal visa to the UK. We will all be coming back to the US, no overstay, no intention on staying ect... But we might be in the UK for the entire 6 months depending on how my father in law fares. Right now he has a 30% chance of survival and was just woken from a 2 1/2 week coma...

JAJ

Children adopted by British citizens under "normal" arrangements in designated countries do not automatically get British citizenship. However, they can be registered as British citizens if aged under 18.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...adoptedabroad/

You are not clear on your plans, but if you are going to visit the UK as tourists, the children should use their US passports.

However, while in the UK you can send an application for their British citizenship directly to the Home Office (don't advertise this at Immigration, however).

If you are going to apply for a Spouse visa, then you have to include the children - because until they are British citizens, they will need a visa too.

agentpeppermint

We are just going back to visit, but would like to get them their citizenship and passports while we are there. In the future, we will be relocating back especially if Da pulls through this.

If they have their citizenship, we wont have to include them in the spousal visa right? If not, I believe the husband and children will go over ahead of myself once we have closed up all lose ends here.

Thank you for the quick reply!

JAJ

Once they have their Certificates of Registration as British citizens, they don't need visas. But up to that point, you should include them in any visa application.

When applying for their British citizenship with the Home Office,

1. Send copies of their US passports, not the originals.
2. Use a secure method to send application, eg courier.
3. Can you get "official" copies of their adoption and other civil documentation? The Home Office probably won't like photocopies so you want to get duplicates of their civil documentation beforehand as files often get lost in the Home Office. Same goes for getting duplicates of your husband's birth cert, marriage certificate.

It's recommended to get a consular birth certificate for your child who is already British.