Baby Nationality & Passports?
Morning All,
I'm fairly new to the forum so apologies if this is the wrong place to post this. To make a long story short, I'm a UK citizen who emigrated to the US last year, married a US citizen, attained permanent residency status living in the US and we're now expecting our first child this coming January. From what I've read our child should have dual nationality being of both American and British parents. My first question is, is this correct and how would we go about registering our new addition as part British? I'm assuming that as we're having the birth in the US, the US national side of things should be straight forward. Second question is, we're planning a family visit to the UK next year for my grandparents. Does the US now require infants to have passports like the UK? Does the UK expect the infant to have a passport? Basically what passport is going to be best to get the little one from the US, to the UK and back again with a minimum of hassle at customs? US/UK? Any light you can shed on the situation would be really appreciated. All the best Alf. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by alfie1977
Morning All,
All the best Alf. the general rule of thumb is thus If standing on US soil, use the US passport If standing on UK/EU soil, use the British passport. check out www.britainusa.com for more details on registering the birth with the UK embassy. welcome to expats also. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Manc - I've a question on this. Is it "better" (as far as any potential situation down the road) to register the birth with the Embassy in DC and only get 1 passport (US) or do I have to get 2 passports for my little one?
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Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by HoosierDaddy
Manc - I've a question on this. Is it "better" (as far as any potential situation down the road) to register the birth with the Embassy in DC and only get 1 passport (US) or do I have to get 2 passports for my little one?
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Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by Manc
I don't know. You can be a UK citizen without a passport for sure, entering the UK as a UK citizen on a US passport might raise some serious eyebrows though
Cheers for the information, really appreciated. I was kind of thinking of doing the same as Hooiser. Registering the little one as both a US & UK citizen and initially getting a US passport as the prices for a 5 year UK passport seem a little extreme. Of course the little one would enter the UK as a US national on a US passport. Would this cause any problems do you think? (Yeah I know it's kind of cutting corners but.....) All the best Stuart |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by Manc
entering the UK as a UK citizen on a US passport might raise some serious eyebrows though
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Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
USC babies do indeed have to have a passport and it's good for 5 years.
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Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by alfie1977
I was kind of thinking of doing the same as Hooiser
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Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by alfie1977
Morning All,
I'm fairly new to the forum so apologies if this is the wrong place to post this. To make a long story short, I'm a UK citizen who emigrated to the US last year, married a US citizen, attained permanent residency status living in the US and we're now expecting our first child this coming January. From what I've read our child should have dual nationality being of both American and British parents. My first question is, is this correct and how would we go about registering our new addition as part British? I'm assuming that as we're having the birth in the US, the US national side of things should be straight forward. Second question is, we're planning a family visit to the UK next year for my grandparents. Does the US now require infants to have passports like the UK? Does the UK expect the infant to have a passport? Basically what passport is going to be best to get the little one from the US, to the UK and back again with a minimum of hassle at customs? US/UK? Any light you can shed on the situation would be really appreciated. All the best Alf. and congrats for January :) |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Our first one was born in December last year. We applied for the UK passport and registered her with the Embassy in Washington.
When it came time for our annual UK trip, our daughter's UK passport had not arrived, but we had applied for and received her US passport. So we went through passport control at Heathrow as UK citizens, even though the little one was entering as a US citizen - no problems at all. When we got back from our UK holiday, there was the FedEx package sitting on our doorstep with our daughter's UK passport. I have a suspicion it arrived on the day we left, but since we left at 6am we didn't see that day's delivery. Anyway, I would just go ahead and get the UK passport - it will save a lot of hassle further down the line.
Originally Posted by alfie1977
Morning All,
I'm fairly new to the forum so apologies if this is the wrong place to post this. To make a long story short, I'm a UK citizen who emigrated to the US last year, married a US citizen, attained permanent residency status living in the US and we're now expecting our first child this coming January. From what I've read our child should have dual nationality being of both American and British parents. My first question is, is this correct and how would we go about registering our new addition as part British? I'm assuming that as we're having the birth in the US, the US national side of things should be straight forward. Second question is, we're planning a family visit to the UK next year for my grandparents. Does the US now require infants to have passports like the UK? Does the UK expect the infant to have a passport? Basically what passport is going to be best to get the little one from the US, to the UK and back again with a minimum of hassle at customs? US/UK? Any light you can shed on the situation would be really appreciated. All the best Alf. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by kevntrace
Anyway, I would just go ahead and get the UK passport - it will save a lot of hassle further down the line.
by all means get both passports...I eventually will for my kids but I would say the best advice for the OP is to use the U.S passport for the child. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Save hassles of entry into the UK. I agree with the advice of using a US passport on US soil and a UK passport on UK soil.
Originally Posted by Celtic_Angel
what hassles? :confused: it specifically says that the U.S authorities fully expect their citizens to use only U.S passports, they even advise you at the British embassy in Washington to do this.
by all means get both passports...I eventually will for my kids but I would say the best advice for the OP is to use the U.S passport for the child. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by HoosierDaddy
Manc - I've a question on this. Is it "better" (as far as any potential situation down the road) to register the birth with the Embassy in DC and only get 1 passport (US) or do I have to get 2 passports for my little one?
|
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by Celtic_Angel
what hassles? :confused: it specifically says that the U.S authorities fully expect their citizens to use only U.S passports, they even advise you at the British embassy in Washington to do this.
by all means get both passports...I eventually will for my kids but I would say the best advice for the OP is to use the U.S passport for the child. |
Re: Baby Nationality & Passports?
Originally Posted by Bob
saves hassle down the line because not all US birthcerts show citizenship...registering kids is a pain depending on which country your in, and a passport shows citizenship, and a copy of that, your be all set.
If you have a child born in the US and the child is British - you will save the child a lot of hassle later on if you get a consular birth certificate from the British Embassy as well as a British passport. Many US birth certificates are not accepted fully by UK authorities, and if the only proof of your child's British citizenship is a passport then the child faces a nightmare replacing it later on if it's lost (eg as a young adult). Also - *never* assume your child is British unless the child has been issued with either a consular birth certificate, a Certificate of Registration (as a British citizen) or a British citizen passport. While most children born in the UK to British parents are British automatically, there are exceptions to this rule. Usually this can be fixed by applying for the child to be registered as a citizen, but there are time limits for this if so. Lots of parents get a really nasty surprise later on when they think their child is British when it isn't. Jeremy |
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