Passport or birth registration for child
 

Hello everyone, hope you can help me with this query.

I'm a British citizen, now living in Chicago for the past 6 years on a marriage visa as a permanent resident. My wife and I just had a baby girl 8 months ago and I want to make sure she has UK citizenship and a British passport for the future. However, I'm not sure if she needs it now while we live in the US. I've been looking into the application process while we are here and it seems expensive, and that the best option could be to wait until we next travel to the UK and to then apply in person for her first UK passport. Does that seem correct to people here?

Also, looking at other posts on here that refer to similar situations, can people advise on whether/how I should at least register the birth with the UK, so that this saves on headaches and extra expense later (we may not travel back to the UK for a year or two)? At present she has a US birth certificate and US passport as her ID.

I didn't find any of this information easily through the government websites so hope you guys can help. Also, I was further confused on those sites by a situation regarding my own status making things perhaps more complicated as I was not born in the UK myself (I was born in India in 1982), and neither was my father, but both my parents (and my father's parents) are/were British passport holders. Does this change what I need to do in terms of my daughter's process?

Thanks in advance!

Re: Passport or birth registration for child
 

I have found this website to be a great source of information for immigration issues in/for the UK

http://www.talk.uk-yankee.com/

Hope this helps

Re: Passport or birth registration for child
 

While you say you have a British passport and claim citizenship, it may be worth checking you are actually a British citizen or perhaps a British subject? I can't remember but recall it can make a difference to you passing on citizenship. Being born overseas yourself may complicate matters.

Your daughter will need a US passport to travel. It is worth getting the certificate of registration sooner rather than later. Save getting the Uk passport for when she is at least 16.

Also you should also consider US citizenship for your self.

Re: Passport or birth registration for child
 

Chances are, if you haven't gotten citizenship by descent, have already passed it on.

No, you don't need a UK passport for the baby, congrats by the way! Will need a US one though for travel and that will be fine for getting into/out of UK and can always get a UK passport while on holiday to save money.

Registering the birth, again doesn't need to be done, but this I feel is probably worth doing, don't need to get a certificate of registration though, to save money, as you can get that for a fiver or whatever from Births/Deaths register in the UK while on holiday.

The advantage to getting the registration done, it makes it easier to prove entitlement to citizenship in the future, in case they don't have a UK passport or have one lost/stolen, so that they can prove citizenship, without needing to find your passport/birth cert, which years from now might be very hard to get, especially if you were dead, especially as a US issued birth certificate might not be accepted if issued after 3 months of birth, which means also finding hospital records for the birth and/or insurance information to show that you were the parents at birth.

Re: Passport or birth registration for child
 

Unless your parents were British diplomats or in designated service then it sounds like you are a British citizen by descent. You cannot apply directly for a British passport or consular birth registration.

As a result your child is not a British citizen, however can be registered as British by Home Office registration if you meet certain requirements. You need to visit:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...ritishcitizen/

and read the information on Section 3(2) registration. Then follow instructions.

There is an age limit of 18 for this kind of registration.