Partystar

I was born in Australia, got issued my Aussie passport in Aug 1998 (I was 16) while living in England, it expired in Aug 2003. I've never been told or seen anything that says I can't have it renewed, so I'm hoping it's a straight forward process.

Taffyles

You beat me to it. My hubby held 3 British passports for his old job in UK- he travelled the Middle East and Africa constantly.

JAJ

Lots of Australians discover that they lost their Australian citizenship many years previously.

How did you get your British citizenship?

You should use http://www.citizenship.gov.au as your primary reference for Australian citizenship matters. There is a special section for overseas Australians.


Jeremy

Partystar

Both of my parents are British.

JAJ

In that case it's ok, in that you almost certainly got British citizenship (by descent) at birth. Even before the 2002 law change, Australia was ok with dual citizenship in this circumstance.

Is your husband also British? If not, your child would not necessarily be British (as you're British 'by descent').

Now if you're living in the U.S. you can take out American citizenship when qualified and keep Australian - this would not have been possible prior to 4.4.2002

There's no problem having all three (U.S., British and Australian), either for you or your son.

Partystar

Cool, that's good to know, thanx!

My husband is American, but our son was born in England to an English mother (albeit by descent), so I shouldn't think it would be a problem for his British citizenship, would it?

Ozzidoc

Shouldn't be if you held a UK passport at the time (ie were a citizen).
I'll be in similar shoes....aussie born, now UK citizen, still aussie too....UKC partner going for GC.
Our kids will be laughin'

Partystar

Yep, I've always had a UK passport.

JAJ

Not a problem because he was born in the UK. He's British (and 'otherwise than by descent').

If you have other children born *outside* the UK then they won't automatically be British. You may be able to register such a child as British (by descent), but will likely have to do so within 12 months of birth (unless you return to the UK, in which case other options may be available).

Start by reading Home Office leaflet BN4 (unless you don't plan to have any more kids):
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tizenship.html

In particular, read sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 15.

If your husband had become naturalised British when living in the UK, then things would be simpler for any future non-UK born children you may have.

Partystar

Thanx for the info. Yes, we do plan on more children. No, hubby didn't naturalise, he was there with the USAF. I don't want to live in America, so hopefully next kid will be born in England or Aussie!

nun

I'm a UK/US dual citizen and just travelled for the first time since they started
"scanning" the info on your passport. I was a bit worried that the computer might flag something as I left the US on my US passport and entered the UK on my UK passport. As there is no recognition of my US citizenship by the UK and visa versa, I thought the computer might notice my change of citizenship over mid-Atlantic. But everything went without a hitch, no questions, just like in the old days before biometrics

Bob

Well there wouldn't be a problem, because that's what your meant to do, well you could have used your US passport in the UK as long as the reason for the visit was a holiday, which you couldn't do in the US.

JAJ

So the bottom line is that if your next child is born in the UK he or she will automatically be British, however if it's born outside the UK then you'll have to jump through some registration hoops pretty quickly (or move back to Britain later).

A lot of people miss these time limits, either because they don't get around to it or they think their child is British when it is not.

As far as the U.S. is concerned, your child is an American citizen, you may want to think about the pros and cons of becoming a U.S. citizen yourself before leaving the States. It is something you may find useful later on, eg if your child wants to live in the U.S. as an adult and you want to join him (or just spend extended visits, longer than the 3 months you get on the visa waiver). There are also tax issues (both positive and negative) to consider.

Celtic_Angel

If you are British born and bred and happen to have a kid outside of the U.K I'm lead to believe there are no time limits...and your child is a U.k citizen...by decent.


er okay just scrolled back a bit .. you always worry me when you talk like that lol....if the U.k parent was only a U.k citizen by decent then yes the child will not automatically be a U.k citizen unless they are born in the U.k ( this is a concern I have for the grandkids but of course that is something their parents will have to worry about )

JAJ

If the UK born parent is a father not married to the mother then the child isn't British automatically either. Child can be registered as British without problems but there is a time limit - age 18.



If your children have British passports and consular birth certificates then there's nothing to worry about.

The people who need to worry are those who have not documented their child's citizenship status, as in some cases they end up with a nasty surprise when they are told their child is not British. Sometimes it's too late to fix the problem if they have missed a time limit.

Same goes for any other country.