British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Hello.

I am a US/UK dual national (living in the US) applying for my first British passport, and I have a few questions, with which some of you may be able to help.

I understand the application goes to the embassy in Washington.

It appears that I need to submit my current US passport with my application. I don't want to be without my passport for even a few weeks. I called the 900 phone number, and was told I could submit some sort of official copy of my US passport, which could be obtained from the British Consulate in NYC.

I tried to call the consulate in NYC, but never got a person...

Can I just show up at the consulate, and have them make this copy of my current passport while I wait? Do I need an appointment?


I was born in England in 1958. I have lived and traveled there often over the years, on US passports.

Curiously..., one of the things I am supposed to submit with my application, is the passport (or other document) I used when I left the UK the first time - well, that was in 1959! I probably traveled under a parent's passport...

Any ideas how to handle this?

Thanks.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Welcome to BE.

Have a search, there's been a few old threads on people getting UK passports for the first time...

Anyway, without saying where you were born and how your parents got UK citizenship and if they were married or not, it'll be hard for people to answer you...

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

I was born in England - Southampton to be exact.

Because this was before 1983, I am a British citizen, regardless of the status of my parents - who were Americans.

I am mostly trying to find out more about the certified copy of my US passport...

I didn't see anything about this in the search.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Noooo, never just turn up. Consular staff are always busy dealing with a variety of problems (be it arrests, deaths, hospitalisations, rapes, murders, lost passports, I could go on) so it's always best to have an appointment. Leave a message and they will call you back, but please be patient - your emergency doesn't necessarily make it ours (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). So please bear with us.

I would just send the passport to Washington. You will be without it for a week at most.

Hope this helps.

Dean

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Wow. Thanks!

What do you think about the other problem - my not having the passport with which I left England 49 years ago, if I even had one then.


Can I just write a letter explaining the situation?

My current U.S. passport has the stamp from when I left England the most recent time - about 1 year ago, but apparently, that's not what is needed.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

I would write a covering note. You'll need to supply the other information as outlined on our website www.UKinUSA.fco.gov.uk/Orlando.

Dean

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Thanks very much!

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Dean yesterday a poster was asking about counter signing the photos to be sent for his PP renewal. I couldn't find it on the UK Embassy website or on the renewal form or notes where it says you do not require a counter signature if your appearance has not changed.

Do all photos have to be signed now?

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

No, it's still the same as before. If your appearance hasn't changed greatly, then you don't need a countersignature.

Dean

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Oh good. Thank you for confirming. :)

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

Many, if not most, similar applicants will be in the same situation - document lost long ago.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

You're British provided that your parents weren't diplomats.

U.S. military personnel were (and are) generally not diplomats, so their pre-1983 British born children are generally British citizens. Visiting forces are not generally diplomats. (children of "enemy aliens" were covered by a different provision, and this does affect some people born in the occupied Channel Islands during the Second World War).

Any children of your own? If so, children are probably British already, or eligible for British citizenship.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

not diplomats.., service men, or even enemy aliens...,

dad was working in the oil business. i spent most of my life - until i went to college in the US - living either in england, or on the continent.

i'm not sure when it changed, but i know that for a long time, the US didn't recognize dual nationality with most other nations. friends in similar situations got second passports anyway, from their country of birth, but i always thought it was risky.

I do have kids, but they don't feel the same connection...

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

It's more of a case they expect you to act as a US citizen to US officials and not regard the other citizenship, if those countries don't care, then it's not an issue...the oath ceremony isn't legally recognised by other countries generally, certainly not by the UK.

Re: British Consulate in NYC - appointment?
 

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/ explains the U.S. position.

You'd be strongly recommended at least to get British consular birth certificates for your children => will make it easier for them to get British passports later on. For additional reassurance, you could at least get them first British passports as well.

As British citizens by descent, they will not be able to pass on their citizenship automatically to their own children (ie, your grandchildren) unless such children are born in Britain or a British territory.