British citizenship for US born son?
 

Hi All,
I am attempting to ensure that my son is a British citizen in addition to being a US citizen( dual nationality). From what the British consulate website says they recommend getting a US passport as my son is automatically a UK citizen by descent of his father being a British national. Is my understanding correct? Should I just apply for a US passport and there would be no issues with hime gaining entry into the UK?
Here is the link I read;

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...6&L3=1&a=25317

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Don't you still need to register him at t'embassy and apply for his own UK passport.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Your son is indeed an automatic dual national. You need to do three things - apply for a US passport, apply for a British passport, and register his birth with the UK Embassy in Washington D.C. The details for that are at britainusa.com so you're on the right track. You do not need to register his birth immediately, and you'll need to send off documents to D.C., so do that once you're done travelling for a bit. This is a good reminder, actually, I still need to do this for my nearly 4-year old daughter! Whoopsie! LOL

If you are travelling with your son and not your hubby, type up a letter that he will sign, and get it notarised, saying that he gives you permission to take your son travelling without his father. Have it on your person in case they suspect kidnapping. It can and does happen that they might suspect this.

I was always told that you should use the passport of the country you are travelling towards and have always done so, otherwise it might be construed that you're renouncing one of the nationalities by not using its passport when entering that country. It can confuse airline officials a bit, when they see that you used a different passport when travelling in one direction. Just have both passports on you, and explain he's a dual citizen, and they will have no problem with it. :)

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Thanks, I am the father BTW, his mother is Finnish just to complicate things even more, and of course she also wants him to have a Finnish passport.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

I guess so, I called the British consul this morning, you get a recorded message referring you to a ' premium rate' 900 number ran by an independent company. Cool Britannia, my arse as Mr. Royle might say.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Don't waste your money.

Part one of the task is here: http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...6&L3=1&a=25315

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

And part 2 here: http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...6&L3=1&a=25299

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Does anyone know what is the advantage of registering the birth? We have the same situation and now have both US and UK passports for my daughter born in the US. I didn't register her and just applied directly for the UK passport which I got with no problem at all. Should I register her now or is it just a waste of money??

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Presume it will result in a record @ http://www.gro.gov.uk/. Don't know whether just applying for a passport will do this. Also, no idea what the advantages of this are.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

I wanted to know the benefits of registering a birth as well but no-one could come up with an answer when I asked some time ago.

I just know that it is not necessary to register the birth with the UK Embassy but that my son is entitled to both British and American passports, (lucky bugger - and not one brush with the USCIS for him)!! :p

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Maybe it means that if you register a birth at the British Embassy it will mean that there should be no delays in getting a National Insurance number (normally issued in the UK when the child turns 16) if in years to come the dual US/UK citizen decides to live and work in the UK or pay voluntary NI stamps?

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Yes, the main thing is to get a US passport. The only way he will lose British citizenship is if he renounces it when he is over 18. All my kids have US passports and travel on those. Me and the wife have british passports so when we get to immigration we just go to which ever line is shortest!

I guess if you register the birth in the UK now it will probably save having to fill out some sort of paperwork later.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

We were told that the only advantage to registering the birth was that if at some time in the future (say after I'd popped my clogs) the kids needed to prove their right to british citizenship, then having registered the birth would make it easy, rather than having to dig thru looking for my birth certificate etc. and proving it all over again. But we were also told that taking out a British passport now and maintaining its validity, would also achieve the same thing. And lets face it, who lets their passports lapse these days...?

And last time I looked the fee's for registering the birth were more than double the fees for getting a passport - huh??

And don't get me started on that $2.10 a minute premium rate line!! If I pay that much at least I want the silly tart on the other end to tell me what color her knickers are!!! Oops, sorry, time for bed...

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Incidentally it's not always automatic for the child of a British father to be a British citizen. The two most common exceptions are (assuming the child is not British from the mother are):

1. Father is not married to the mother; or
2. Father is British 'by descent'

In many cases it's possible to register the child as a British citizen in these cases, but there are time limits so it's important to act quickly. Never assume the child is British unless it has a consular birth cert and an individual British passport (or a Home Office Certificate of Registration).

There have also been cases where the father is a British subject and not a British citizen. British subject status is not transmissable.


A consular birth certificate is well worth obtaining, as well as a British passport. It will save a lot of hassle later on.


Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Approach the Finnish authorities to have his birth registered with them, and to obtain his Finnish passport.

Finland has allowed dual citizenship without restrictions since 1 June 2003, so there is no problem with your son holding triple US/British/Finnish citizenship.

Bear in mind that:
- he will likely have to go through a process to retain his Finnish citizenship in early adulthood
- check whether there is a military service obligation in Finland, and whether non-resident Finnish citizens are liable.

Laws may change by the time either of these issues become relevant. For the time being you can look at:
http://www.uvi.fi/netcomm/content.asp?path=8,2477,2553

Your wife can naturalise as a US citizen while keeping Finnish citizenship, as you can keep your British citizenship.

Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Hi there,

We just had a baby :) so I've been researching this too. I figure the advantage of registering the birth with the British Embassy is that you get a certificate proving British citizenship that doesn't expire. I'd rather have that for our daughter, than a 5 year passport that we'll have to keep renewing. We'll be getting her an American passport to travel on, so I figure she doesn't need a British one too.

I guess it just depends on whether you want some documentation that easily shows that your child is British. We don't plan on living in the UK in the future, but I feel better having something that will prove her British citizenship.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

I did this a few months ago. My wife (USC) and I (UKC) had a boy. I downloaded the form to register his birth from the embassy website, and passport application form. We applied for his US passport first, and when that arrived sent the registration of a birth abroad form, or whatever it's called, to the embassy together with the passport application form, photos, documents and lots of MONEY!

It took about 4 weeks from posting to receiving the document and his passport, all very efficient. As for Finnish nationality contact the Finnish embassy.

All the info you need is here:
http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...=41016&a=25315

and:

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...=41001&a=25297

PM me if you need specific advice!!! Happy to help.

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

A British consular birth cert is well worth having because not all US birth cert documentation is easily accepted by the UK authorities. Especially if the first passport application is made many years into the future.

Incidenatally you don't get a 'citizenship cert' if the child is automatically British at birth - Britain doesn't issue citizenship certs to those automatically British - what you get is a consular birth certificate. As far as I am aware these are only issued to British citizen children.

Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

So my grandson...who has unmarried parents the father being a Brit...may not get British citizenship so easy.....?? the baby is 3 months old.....

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

It won'd be a problem provided the father applies for the child to be registered as a British citizen. The child is not British until registered, and the application *must* be made before the child is 18, otherwise all claim to British citizenship is lost (unless parents marry).

There is no information available on the British Embassy website but I can assure you the facility exists.

This is the information published on the website of the High Commission in Canberra, which is useful as a guide:
http://bhc.britaus.net/passports/pas...ult.asp?id=376

He should write to the British Embassy and ask for the relevant forms and information in order to register the child as a British citizen under s3(1) of the British Nationality Act.

There will be a fee involved. The forms and documentation need to be submitted to the Embassy, and will be forwarded to the Home Office in the UK. After a few months, the Home Office will send back a Certificate of Registration for the child.

Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Thanks for that...... :)

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

2.10 actualy isnt that bad - there are other countries out there charging more for there own citizens living overseas - but most of the info is actualy easy to find on the www site - the 2.10 is for the people who cant be bothered to look for a few mins!

Ant

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

I have been trying to register our daughter's birth and are struggling as I have lost a divorce certificate from a previous marriage. We are both British citizens and have all other certs. The 2.10 per min help line was hopeless :mad:

Anyone have any experience of this or ideas as to how to register her birth? would we have more luck if we were in the UK?

Thanks

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

try this web page - it may help

http://www.britainusa.com/sections/a...=41016&a=25315

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

well I was told that you do not need to register the birth and to get a certificate was a complete waste of money..the British embassy in Washington told me this..they just said it's best to get the child a British passport, this is all the proof you will need that the child is a U.K citizen in his own right.

they do say that if you travel use the U.S passport, unlike the Brits the U.S has a big problem with one of their citizens travelling with another countries passport dual citizen or not


Lionheart if I was you I'd just get a U.S and a U.k passport for my child :)

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

That's not correct.

While a British passport on its own is usually enough, getting a consular birth cert will make life significantly easier if the passport is ever lost (otherwise there is a risk of having to prove citizenship again which can be a nightmare).

Not all US birth cert documentation is accepted at face value by British authorities, especially many years later.

It's inadvisable to have only a *single* document proving your citizenship, if born outside the UK. Also, as someone else pointed out, passports expire - consular birth certs don't.

Also incorrect. The US has no problem with US citizens holding or using another passport, provided one always shows a US passport to American officials and abides by US travel restrictions (eg no travel to Cuba without permission).


Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

er okay so apparently everything was wrong lol I was just repeating what the person at the embassy told me "shrug" :confused:

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Just because someone at an embassy says something doesn't make it correct.

Lots of people have been misadvised in various circumstances by embassy officials (not just British ones) over the years.

As a general rule, I would not accept information from any kind of public enquiry line as definitive unless it can be verified some other way (eg by checking against a website, or the actual legislation).


Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

The embassy website is down currently but if you need to know how to get a UK birth/marriage etc cert, you can follow this link:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...re_to_get.html

Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Working fine from Southwest US! Got roos in your ISP?

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

I get a message:

"The BritainUSA website is unavailable this evening due to essential maintenance work.
Please check back Thursday, July 28th 2005."

Jeremy

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Weird that. I'd just been to the links about 2 mins before you posted -- and all was good! Do you think they know we were talking about them?

Re: British citizenship for US born son?
 

Thanks, this is the site I have been using, but it also insists on the original divorce certificate.

I am going to apply in the US anyway. If that fails, I will try next time I am in the UK. :)