brioche

If you're asking whether you'll need your marriage certificate authenticated then I can only imagine that the answer's no. The relevant embassy would in this case be the British Embassy in the USA, since as you say Bermuda is an overseas territory.

Maltoo

All I was pointing out is it is a waste of money to register the birth as it is not needed to get a British Passport for a child born to a British Born UK citizens.

Bob

Though registering the birth has other benefits...

Mostly for the future, when the parent might be dead and getting copies of the documents to provide proof of citizenship becomes difficult or impossible...problems can come from a US birth cert issued after 3 months after birth, not being able to get copies of certain documents or most likely in event that UK passport is lost/stolen, not having to go through the whole process of proving citizenship from scratch.

Registering the birth means you can just get a birth cert from the births/deaths register in the UK, for minimal cost. You don't need a copy of the certificate when you register the birth if you want to save some money, especially if you're going to be in the UK at some point where you can pick up a copy for a fiver or whatever it is these days, but certainly a lot less than getting one from the US.

nun

Thinking of this from a contrary point of view, have you considered the implications of your baby being a US citizen? The biggest negative is the he/she will be taxed by the US no matter where they live and will have to file US taxes and comply with US foreign account regulations. If your baby ever lives in the UK as an adult this will be a pain in the neck if they have a pension or own UK investments. Of course being dual US/UK does allow them to live and work in US and EU.

Ozzidoc

File US taxes, not necessarily pay US taxes.

The paperwork issues are certainly not insurmountable, just different, particularly if "you" have never previously been exposed to annual tax paperwork. It's all about comfort zones, needing to learn about something different and such like.

(I grew up in Australia where I completed and filed my first tax return at age 16. This is the norm as personal tax returns/filing/submissions are compulsory. )

nun

Yes that's a good distinction.

However, it's not just a paperwork issue. There are US regulations that limit the investment options of US citizens abroad eg. investments in UK unit trusts and with FATCA there may be difficulties and extra charges to open UK bank accounts and investment accounts

Maltoo

taxpayers with foreign accounts and assets with an aggregate value exceeding $50,000 to report them on an informational return. It is unclear whether the $50,000 threshold applies if the balance of foreign accounts and assets exceeds $50,000 at the end of the tax year or at any time during the tax year, as in the case of the FBAR $10,000 requirement. FATCA’s provisions of IRC § 6038D apply to assets held during tax years beginning after March 18, 2010.

http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/...0/Aug/20102736

NatashaB

Sorry to bump an old thread... getting myself very confused! We are trying to work out what to do with my son regarding his UK citizenship (born in the US but husband and I are both British). We will obviously apply for his US passport, but is there any time critical urgency to doing the UK passport or birth registration? What would happen if we didn't do anything at all to get him a UK passport or register his birth... and he decided he wanted to live in the UK when he was older?

ian-mstm

He would have to prove his claim to UK citizenship - which might be difficult without any documented proof. There is no "time critical urgency"... but the sooner, the better. Securing documented proof of your son's status a UKC is probably a good birthday present for him.

Ian

NatashaB

Thanks Ian. I think he would prefer teething rings or an annoying singing toy to be honest but I suppose we'd better get onto it

Bob

Depends how the parents got UK citizenship, if they had gotten it through decent, then there is some time critical issues, but if they got it otherwise than by decent, there isn't anything time critical.

Getting the US birth certificate within 3 months of birth certainly helps though.

NatashaB

So if I was to get him a first passport, is that sufficient for him to be registered with the necessary agencies? (ie can I then let the passport lapse and not keep renewing it?) Looks like the passport is cheaper than registering the birth.

Bob

If he lost the passport, or if it expires and not renewed within 10 years, maybe less for a kids, then would need to go through proof of UK citizenship all over again.

If you register the birth with the embassy, you don't need to actually get the certificate, you can get that for a fiver or whatever at any births/deaths registry in the UK while on a visit.

Also don't need to bother with a UK passport as the US one will be all he needs to travel on, for now at least.

tonrob

The Sproutlet turns 1 in a week or so but we never bothered getting her a UK birth certificate, figuring that she'd only eat it if we did.

JAJ

Most secure approach to document citizenship for the long term is to get a consular birth certificate and at least a first British passport.