tht

THIS... it’s like when you buy lovies for your toddler.... you buy a pair and a spare.... I ordered additional copies of everything so I have multiple “originals”.

As others note the GRO certificate is useful because it also details the basis for your child’s claim to citizenship.

bullettoothtony

Thank you for all of the replies. Sorry I have taken so long to post again....I chalk it up to being a new parent and disorganized.

I understand that the full long version of the birth certificate is crucial and I have that. I did indeed get multiple "originals" so i can easily send it. On the gov.uk website it is stated that the following original documents are also needed (I have deleted documents that are not applicable)

• hospital, medical or insurance records naming the parents as the birth parents (if the birth was registered more than three months after it took place)
  
• the long version of the parent’s birth certificate showing the child’s grandparents’ details (for parents who were born in the UK)
• the parents’ marriage or civil partnership certificate (if applicable)
• change of name documents (if either parent has ever changed their name)

Have any of you ever sent any or all of these?

tht

my situation was different to yours, so I had to send other documents (you removed from the list), but I did have to send the originals for the relevant documents. I paid extra to courier it all because some are originals I only have one of. I did receive them all back OK.

BritInParis

- As it says only required you should only provide these you registered the birth more than three months after it took place.
- This is only necessary if you were born on or after 1 January 1983.
- This should be provided if you are/were married to the other parent of the child being registered.
- This is only required if your name differs from what appears on your birth certificate and isn't already covered by a marriage certificate you are submitting.

Blue York

Me and my wife plan on registering our child's birth in the US ASAP and then applying to register the birth in the UK when this service reopens.

Regarding the long form birth certificate unless I am reading incorrectly is this only for the parent (UKC) and not the child ....per the note:

"You must send the original versions of:

.The child’s full local birth certificate - it must have both parents’ names

.The long version of the parent’s birth certificate showing the child’s grandparents’ details (for parents who were born in the UK)"

The state we are in does not do long form birth certificates but the version they have does show the parents names and birth places on the certificate. Additionally, does my USC wife need to send her birth certificate or just marriage certificate and passport copy?

Blue York

Where did you see that the long form birth certificate was a requirement when registering unless I am reading it wrong I though this was concerning the parent (UKC) and not the child born abroad ....per the note from the website:

"You must send the original versions of:

.The child’s full local birth certificate - it must have both parents’ names

.The long version of the parent’s birth certificate showing the child’s grandparents’ details (for parents who were born in the UK)"

The state we are in does not do long form birth certificates but the version they have does show the parents names and birth places on the certificate. Additionally, does my USC wife need to send her birth certificate or just marriage certificate and passport copy?

tht

My case is not a good example for you as I was born outside the UK prior to 1981 to a British mother and German father, and my citizenship was registered by the Home Office and not by decent prior to the 1983 Act. I did send my original certificate of registration.

I looked back at my cover letter, I also sent my original foreign birth certificate (both my parents names were on it, our original marriage certificate, one of my sons original long form NY state birth certificates.

I also included a photocopy of one of my British passports and my wife’s US passport, but did not send her credit card size NH birth certificate.

BritInParis

“full local birth certificate” = long form birth certificate. Your state will do a long form certificate but you may need to especially request it. Your wife does not need to send her birth certificate if she has no claim to British citizenship.

MarylandNed

I sent long-form birth certs for myself and my wife as well as our marriage cert. I also sent documentation from the hospital where our daughter was born. Her birth was registered immediately but we got the short-form birth cert for her. We didn't obtain her long-form birth cert until a few years after her birth so I was advised to send in documentation from the hospital that proved who the birth parents were. As one of my old bosses once said, "when dealing with government bureaucracy, always use a nuclear bomb to kill a fly."

Blue York

Thank you for confirming, we will definitely inquire into that.

Just a general question for registering a birth in the US whenever asked for place of birth for immigration/SSN etc as an example I have always said Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

For our child's birth certificate I wrote parents place of birth as Edinburgh, United Kingdom. I assume this is fine?

BritInParis

Yes, that’s fine. Depending on the state it may just list the country.

Blue York

It was a blank form that we completed and wrote down our answers in uppercase the questions were

Birthplace - State or Foreign Country

Birthplace - City

By listing UK it does not effect the process of registering her birth in Scotland? I believe when we register her birth in the UK the British authorities also send these records to the National Records of Scotland to have the birth registered in Scotland too. I assume that they review the application and my Scottish birth certificate when determining whether to forward as opposed to the UK portion on the child's birth certificate .. hopefully this won't cause a fuss when the General Register Office registers the child's birth and notes Edinburgh is in Scotland etc and forwards it to Scotland for processing too.

BritInParis

It’s a non-issue. The last time I checked Scotland was still part of the United Kingdom and the birth will only be registered by the FCO in Milton Keynes. The GRO/NRS will receive copies for their records, they won’t re-register the birth.

Blue York

Thank you, when I last emailed them a few months ago they said the General Register Office will send a copy of the birth registration to the National Records of Scotland Office (you will notice that the consular registration certificate will have an ‘S’ in the marginal notes which denotes that the record will also appear in the Scottish records). I guess that even though it says UK I am sure they will look at my birth record of my actual Scottish birth certificate to ensure it is being forwarded.

This is thinking way, way ahead if Scotland were to become independent one day (per the SNP white paper) Child born outside Scotland to at least one parent who has Scottish citizenship = Automatically a Scottish citizen (the birth must be registered in Scotland to take effect).

This is why I am hoping that the GRO definitely forwards it to the National Records of Scotland. When I contacted the NRS previously they stated the the British overseas registration unit forwards birth abroad certificates to them on an annual ..or quarterly basis (can't remember which one)

Blue York

​​​​​​​Do you know how they determine if it should be sent across to Scotland I assume it's not just based on the country that is listed in the child's birth certificate as our childs says UK instead of Scotland. I guess they look at my original Scottish birth certificate too?