JAJ

Wrong ... in many instances, acquisition of British citizenship is automatic under the law and you are only applying for evidence of citizenship, not citizenship itself.

A conclusive view of who is and is not a British citizen can only be given by the courts, however the Home Office do try to act within the law ...

There are some instances where a person is not a British citizen automatically and needs to apply for registration with the Home Office.

Toontje

Okay. But, hypothetically speaking of course, what happens when the application for evidence is denied?

TracyTN

Right - didn't mean to imply that. I was talking about the paperwork to register the child as British citizen.

ian1976

I have just done this to register the birth of my daughter born a couple of months ago. Here is the info I used:

http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...-registration/

Bob

just noticed it was $107 per copy on top...puck a goose up the arse but that's a tad steep....on the other hand, registration has gone down a bundle in price since our little one was born...still not bothered with it yet though, will do eventually I suppose.

ian1976

Yep, it's almost $300 once you add up registration, one copy and postage!!

I think you need more documentation once the kid is over 3 months old, that's why I did it so soon after birth.

Bob

Not really.

Ozzidoc

According to the the birth reg application form you need to send hospital notes if you are applying more than three months since baby was born.

JAJ

Not a common occurrence, if the statutory requirements are met. If it does happen and you think their interpretation of the law is wrong, you can ask;

- ask for someone else (supervisor/manager) to review; or
- make a formal appeal to an independent tribunal. Not possible for a denied passport application (because there is no law), but the facility is there if you apply for Right of Abode; or
- go to court.

Jerseygirl

Gingerert

Isn't that for cases of adoption?

JAJ

It's if the birth certificate was issued more than 3 months after birth. This includes replacement in the case of loss.

People who wait until later to apply for proof of British citizenship often face terrible problems because US birth certificates issued later than birth are not accepted as evidence of parental relationship, and other evidence such as hospital records is often lost/destroyed/unobtainable.

hobbes79

That's not quite right.

"*If birth certificate is issued 3 months after the date of birth you will also need to send copies at hospital records."

As JAJ says, it's applicable to a situation where you're using a birth certificate re-print.

I only know this since I'm filling out the paperwork for our daughter... now

JAJ

And that reason for this is that most US states will reissue a birth certificate in case of adoption. When a child is adopted outside the UK, the process for obtaining British citizenship is different and usually requires Home Office registration before age 18.

So a US birth certificate doesn't establish a natural parental relationship (unless printed near the time of birth), hence they want other information.

Which is usually difficult or impossible to obtain later on when records have been lost or destroyed.

The only other option for people in this situation is a. to get something from the state birth registry confirming that there is no adoption on file, and b. apply for a Right of Abode stamp rather than a British passport (because a passport can be refused on a whim with no right of appeal, a Right of Abode stamp cannot).

And yet people still don't want to pay the fee to get a British consular birth certificate straight away, avoids all problems later on.

ian1976

Thanks for the info. That explains that then. Glad I went ahead and got it done regardless of my reservations about the fees!