manny7

This is not strictly US visa or immigration related but am looking for some guidance in regards to our new born son (4 weeks old):

My wife and I have been in the US since 2008 on L visas and just had out first child born in New Jersey. My wife and i are UK citizens. Would be grateful for help on any of the following questions:

Passports and Citizenship

- My son would be a US citizen as i understand and in order to apply for a US passport we need his birth certificate. There was a spelling error with my wife's first name and we are trying to correct it. After dealing with a very rude and unhelpful officer at the dept of health in Livingston NJ. We completed the paperwork at the third attempt and are told the correction could take 3-6 months. Has anyone had this experience and is there anything we can do to speed up the process? We are also worried that the officer will not send our paperwork as she was incredibly unhelpful and rude. She also charged as $35 of which $25 was for the correction and $10 for a notary fee, but only gave us a receipt of $25. I'm considering following up in writing to the health dept us to keep a record.

- Will we be able to apply for a passport with my wife's spelling error on the birth certificate?

- how would we apply for a British passport for our newborn in order for our son to have dual citizenship?

Bank Accounts

- Can anyone recommend any US bank accounts to open for a newborn. Are UTMA/Custodial Savings Account the only accounts available for newborns?

Thanks in advance!

fatbrit

You've missed a few things...

* US birth certificate
* US social security number
* US passport

* UK passport
* UK consular registration of birth

The US birth certificate is a state affair, the ssn and passport federal affairs. ssa.gov and state.gov

The UK stuff is @ http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk

Lots of discussion of these issues on this site -- use the search feature.

The birth certificate shenanigans might cause issues with the British authorities.

manny7

Thanks for the quick reply, don't fully follow what your advising but thanks for the weblinks and i'll continue searching this site.

We recieved a SSN for our son already. Its the US passport we want to get done first. Do we need to correct the birth certificate with the correct spelling of my wife's name before we can apply for a passport for him?

Pointed noted on the British authorities.

fatbrit

I'd guess yes. My wife just had her US passport application returned with a minor error. Guess it'll be another month before we hear from them again after correcting it. Luckily, we weren't going anywhere.

S Folinsky

First, congratulations on your son.

Second, I hesitate at your use of the term "rude." I was not at the clerk's office. In my experience, dealing with bureaucrats may be daunting and difficult but outright rudeness is actually a rare exception. I find it amazing how far a smile with a respectful "I'm sorry, I do not understand" will go.

On the receipt, it would be more accurate to say you did not get a receipt for the separate notarial fee. I would be more annoyed at the New Jersey requirement for notarization rather than the more common declaration under penalty of perjury.

As an aside, my other half was born in New Jersey and I just looked at the birth certificate she obtained in the 60's to obtain her first passport. It does not name her parents [e.g. the now infamous "short form."] As of April of this year, it would not be acceptable.

I think that your son does not need a corrected BC to get a Passport, but I can envision that later on [like decades from now], it may cause problems on applications where the information is relevant. [BTW, my father's Ohio BC from 1921 has his name in Yiddish. He has never corrected it -- but it did cause problems when he went into the Coast Guard during World War II and later when he went to get his first passport in his late 40's]. So, getting the matter corrected may not be a bad idea.

ian-mstm

To clarify, your son is a US citizen.


Your son already has dual citizenship... he's a USC by virtue of being born in the US, and he's a UKC by virtue of you and your wife both being able to automatically pass citizenship to him.

What's lacking is documentation... but that's not the same thing!

Ian

manny7

Thank you all for your replies.

S Folinsky - I acknowledge and agree with you and my use of the term "rude" was not appropriate in this regards. I do wonder however when you are polite and ask clarifying questions like we did and get little guidance and then see other people treated differently (albeit different requirements).

fatbrit

Worth a read:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/UK_Passport_In_The_US

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Britis...h_Registration

manny7

Great, thanks again Fatbrit