UKinBoston

Had our daughter 4 years ago, and at that time, applied and received her British passport through the embassy in Washington with almost no problem at all. Now we've got another one on the way, and I see that the entire system has changed. I've read through as many forum threads on this as I can... still have some questions, and would be grateful for any answers! (Posted this in another thread, but thought I'd repost here if anyone living in the US has any experience.)

1) Do we apply through the central passport office/online now? Anyone have the best URL for this?

2) Would it help to register our new child's birth at the Embassy here in the US? What's the difference between that and getting a consular birth certificate? Anyone have a good link for that?

3) How long's the wait? Seems as if it's been absolutely horrendous for many people... any improvement there? I just don't love the idea of sending our documents away for a long period of time.

Any advice is much appreciated!

MarylandNed

Start here: https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

That's been moved to the UK as well. Now processed in Milton Keynes.

Start here: https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

Usually your UK birth cert and the child's US birth cert is enough for the child's UK passport application. However, US birth certs issued more than 3 months after birth are viewed with suspicion by the UK authorities. This is because US birth records can be changed in cases of adoption. So the parents on a US birth cert may not be the actual biological parents. Such birth certs may not be acceptable for proving UK citizenship by descent.

So, if you are not going to do consular birth registration for your child, make sure you obtain multiple copies of your child's US birth cert issued within 3 months of birth. Also get what the UK calls "full" or "long form" birth certs that give full details of both parents (the "short form" seems to be issued by default in many US states).

If a US birth cert issued more than 3 months after birth is presented with a UK passport application, additional proof of the biological parents may be required e.g. a letter from the facility where the baby was born. This is why many people recommend UK consular birth registration for UK citizens born in the US. A UK consular birth cert (or a cheaper one obtained later from the GRO in the UK; you still have to go through consular birth registration first) is sufficient for a UK passport application.

Consular birth registration is independent of getting the consular birth cert (which is fairly expensive). That is, you can do the registration part without getting the consular birth cert (although you can order the consular birth cert at the same time you register). Consular birth registration records also eventually find their way to the GRO in the UK (usually in the calendar year following the year of registration). This is why you are eventually able to obtain a cheaper birth cert from the GRO.

UKinBoston

Many thanks! Wish us luck.

MarylandNed

You're welcome. Good luck!

Bob

Just a thought, but unless you're planning on moving back to the UK any time soon, don't bother with the UK passport. It's expensive and only good for a few years anyway and you'd need a US passport to travel.

Just register the birth and then get the certificate next year and perhaps a passport while on holiday, though I'm not sure how much of a cost saving there is doing it in person in the UK v sending it in from the US.

NatashaB

We didn't order the birth cert when we registered my son, it was very expensive- does anyone know how long we have to wait before ordering one from the GRO? Had completely forgotten about it until this thread reminded me.

Bob

Used to be from September of the following year, but who knows now that they're all processed in the UK.

NatashaB

Thanks! This one was sent to Washington, it was prior to the change. I will hold off applying until September.

UKinBoston

Good point. We didn't register the birth with our daughter, and instead just got her passport. That worked fine. Might do it the other way around. Thanks for the suggestion.

MarylandNed

If you registered in Washington DC, the GRO birth certs should be available from April in the calendar year following the year of registration (I got this info from someone at the British Embassy in DC). So, for example, if you registered any time in 2013, you would be able to order a GRO birth cert from April 2014.