fatbrit

Let's have a situation where the child is a dual citizen living in the US with their parents, occasionally visiting the UK to see family. This is a common scenario. If you want to spend the minimum yet secure your child's documentation for UK citizenship, the best way is simply just to register the birth. This never expires and the registration is held securely. The child must have a US passport for travel out of and into the US anyway, so there's little point in them holding a UK passport as well.

MarylandNed

I don't think you can ever assume that anything is held "securely". I've been involved in IT and disaster recovery for 26 years I have seen "secure" data disappear through hardware failure, software failure, human error, malice, hackers, etc. I could argue that UK passport records are held as "securely" as consular birth registration records but it doesn't mean anything.

I would rather have a hardcopy of a UK passport (even if it is expired) or a UK birth cert (consular or GRO) that I can shove into someone's face as I challenge them to explain away my claim to UK citizenship.

fatbrit

You're comparing the UK losing its vital records with your $299 Costco safe. It's really not worth arguing with you.

MarylandNed

I don't have a Costco safe. I keep my important documents in a safety deposit box at the bank.

fatbrit

So, which is more secure? The vital records of the United Kingdom, or the shoe boxes in the back room of the Third Bank of Podunk?

Bob

That is the thing, some states don't do any of that, they just print the date in which the certificate is issued. It is those states where the real problem lies.

Those states do it that way so that a person will not know just by looking at their birth cert that it has been altered, so won't find out accidentally that they might have been adopted.

MarylandNed

Why not have both?

fatbrit

Fine! Do the registration, keep the early copies of the US birth certificate, and get the passport. I'd recommend it to anyone

But if your kid is a dual living in the US and you're only going to do one thing for reasons of economy, register the birth.

holly_1948

A couple of years back I obtained a (first time) UK passport for my 17 year old son who was US born (I was born in England).
They made me (made him actually) produce my hospital records of his birth in addition to birth certificate. Fortunately the hospital and records were still existing and a copy easily obtained. Reading this thread I now realise that they were thinking adoption (it never occurred to me at the time).

The main reason to obtain a dual citizen teenager a UK passport is that it effectively acts as an EU work permit. The main reason to get the passport now, rather than do it much later is that you do the paperwork while it is relatively fresh and relatively easy to put together. The downside is that it costs more than waiting, and you need to remember to renew the passport periodically, all of which adds to the cost.

Bob

That's why people are suggesting that folks just register the birth, then it's done, one off cost.

No need to renew a passport, which isn't needed, isn't valid for very long and if expired for a period of time will be treated as a first time application, just as if the passport was lost/stolen and sure the passport records should be kept, but that doesn't mean the government will look them up for a new application and that has come up as a issue in the past.

If you can afford to do the passport, that's great, go for it, but as FB said above, if there's just the one thing you should do and can't afford to do anything else, it would be just to register the birth and not even bother with the certificate. Everything else is just gravy and extra expense

holly_1948

There is another issue though.

We live in an uncertain world that looks to be more unstable in the years ahead than it was in the past. There are legion stories of people who did not see their need to leave Germany in the 1930s because they thought the past was a guide to the future.

Who knows, there could be war or chaos everywhere, for example if sea level rise keeps on being faster than predicted every time they measure it. Having a passport in hand gives options that probably won't be needed but just might, might, be invaluable.

fatbrit

Is there a full moon tonight? Or have they just increased the transmission power from the Utah bunker?

MarylandNed

For "reasons of economy", obtain the kid's US birth cert asap and a copy of the UKC parent's birth cert. If you're worried about losing them, obtain more than 1 copy of each and store them in different locations. That's the cheaper option and you don't even need to do consular birth registration or obtain a UK passport yet.

If you're going to do consular birth registration, you might as well get the UK birth cert through the GRO. What's the cost of going the extra step to obtain that GRO birth cert? That is all someone would be "saving" if they followed your advice...after they'd already forked out for the consular birth registration.

fatbrit

You're maintaining two bank deposit boxes for a lifetime and you believe that it's cheaper than having the GRO store it? Not to mention the fact that it fails the test of security.

This is insane. You made a mistake with your own children. You probably thought you were being clever, but I'm afraid you didn't think it through. I cant help you with your problem, but please don't try and persuade others to follow your follow your folly.

MarylandNed

Look, we can agree to disagree. I'm entitled to my point of view just as you are entitled to yours. I'm also entitled to express it.

I made no mistakes with my "children." Two were born in Canada where consular birth registration isn't even an option (which is also true of other countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa). One was born in the UK (so no issue there either). ONE child was born in the US. I have enough birth certs for her, me and my wife stored in separate locations. She already has a UK passport. I see no need for consular birth registration - if I did I could still do it, so again, there is no "mistake". The UK government actually states on their web site that you don't need to do it:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-...tering-a-birth

I can see that some people might feel the need to do it for whatever reason (e.g. the US birth cert issued more than 3 months after birth). I just don't see those reasons applying to my daughter's situation.

I certainly don't have safety deposit boxes just for storing birth certs although that's a perfectly good reason for having one. I happen to already have a safety deposit box for other reasons so it costs me no more to throw a couple of birth certs in there for safekeeping. I have family members who also have safety deposit boxes so it costs nothing to throw a couple more birth certs in there too.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket by trusting the GRO. As I've said before, I've seen "secure" records go missing for various reasons. Nothing quite beats the ability to shove a physical document into someone's face and have them try to explain it away.