Registering a child's birth
 

Just looking for pro/cons about registering a child's with the the British Embassy....

It costs $123 plus $78 for each certificate.

www.britainusa.com even states its not neccessary, so I'm wondering if its worth the $200. You can simply apply for a British Passport for your child without registering the birth.

Just looking for opinions and experiences of what is best...

Thanks.

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

Did it to be sure our girls had some form of British birth certificate. No idea if they'll actually be useful anytime in the future, but thought it a case of better safe than sorry.
Be sure to do it within a year of birth though. Also, for our second child, we needed to provide the hospital record of my wifes admission to prove we were the biological parents. This was because we were a bit more laid back than with our first and got the US birth certificate later than six weeks after birth, which apparently means the embassy then looks for additional proof. This would be true for a passport too, I believe.

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

I asked about the pros and cons previously and never got any answer.

I chose not to register my son's birth. It did not have an impact on his getting a UK passport nor, on coming back to the UK, my application for child benefit for him, (using his US birth certificate).

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

handy to have a birth cert saying which country your born in...and also, if you lose a passport, hell of a hassle to prove that your a citizen of the UK, so handy there too...and it's also another means of proof if you need it for whatever reason if someone wants an original, easier to get a certified copy, than have to send off your passport and be without it...

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

You can manage with just a passport - BUT it means your child will need to prove his or her British citizenship (through parents birth and marriage certs normally) again in future when renewing passport. For example, a first adult passport is often treated as a "new" application even if old passport is valid.

And a real hassle if passport is ever lost and needs to be replaced quickly, won't be possible if it's not easy to prove British citizenship. A passport would be issued eventually, but not quickly.

So set all that hassle against a cost of $200 to give your child a *lifetime* proof of citizenship.

It's also the case that a British style birth certificate will make things easier dealing with United Kingdom schools, employers, insurance companies etc as your child gets older.

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

As long as the child acquired British citizenship at birth, there's no time limit for application as far as I know. Better to do so as soon as possible though.

Re: Registering a child's birth
 

Thanks everyone.

My daughter is now 8 weeks old... I'll do it as soon as possible. Just wanted to check I wasn't throwing $200 away! Seems the wise thing to do.

Cheers again!