Pete H

My kids are American and was wondering if I should register them as British too. I was going to leave it up to them when they were adults. Is there any benefit to registering them?

I'm British Mom is American.

username.exe

If you leave it until they're older, I guess the rules could change in the intervening period?

sir_eccles

It isn't up to them. If you were able to pass on your British citizenship then they are by default dual citizens already.

What registration does is provide a permanent record of that fact. After you are gone or if your house is destroyed by flood or fire, the extra evidence needed for them to acquire a British passport may not be available. This way they just contact the gro and order a copy of their British birth certificate.

SanDiegogirl

Where were YOU born? If you are British by descent then your children do not get British citizenship and passports automatically.

Pulaski

Register them as British and as adults they can take advantage of being British (whatever that may mean twenty or thirty years from now ), or entirely ignore it, as they choose. But if you do nothing it can become much harder to prove that they are British as they get older, records get lost, you may die prematurely, and then getting sufficient records together to apply for a passport could be a real challenge. Register them now, and they're set up for life.

dc koop

Do kids born of British/American parents feel any identity with Britain? My daughter doesn't. She's been to the UK about three or four times with us and she likes it well enough but she told me she had no desire to move or settle there. That's understandable. My mother came from Ireland, married an Englishman. I've never been to Ireland and have no feeling of kinship or attachment to the Emerald Isle whatsoever

Pollyana

Still useful to have the option though. I know a few Aussies, born and bred in Australia, but they have British citizenship through their parents and although none of them feel British they reckon its good to have the option that ione day they can go to the UK and stay/work/live whatever. And if they marry a Brit that passport will be invaluable with the horrendous Spouse Visa rules these days.

robin1234

Quite frequently there are questions on here and UK Yankees from British citizens (with a British parent) who wish to migrate to the UK having never lived there. Maybe they have grandparents or aunts and uncles in the UK to make the transition easier.

My kids moved to the U.S. aged 8 and 6. The younger moved to England after college, been there (or here I should say) ever since. The older is much more "American" in weltanschauung and lifestyle, but she keeps her British passport up to date, all her friends know she's British ... and she constantly checks job postings in her field in the UK!

BritInParis

Registering them now provides a permanent record of their British citizenship a copy of which can be ordered by anyone at any time for £9.25 from the GRO. Proving British citizenship in order to obtain a British passport gets more difficult the older a person gets particularly once they become an adult. Others have given you some good examples so early registration is very helpful if you want to get them British passports in the next twenty years or so. They can also take advantage of this in later life, for study, work, extended holidays, retirement or they may ignore it altogether. Or it may prove very useful to your grandchildren in 50 or 60 years time. In any case if you do it now then it's done. If you leave it then it may never get done or the rules will change or the option to register will be taken away altogether.

Pete H

Thanks, I'm going to register them.

MarylandNed

It takes some time for the record of British citizenship to be recorded at the GRO - usually sometime during the calendar year following the calendar year of registration. So for 2016 registrations, the GRO certificate can usually be ordered sometime during 2017.

Meanwhile, a much more expensive (£65) birth registration certificate can be ordered at the time of registration. Looks like this is still called a "consular birth registration certificate" even though foreign births are no longer registered with British consulates/embassies - they are now handled in the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth


Service (Fee)
Register a birth (£105)
Copy of a birth registration certificate (£65)

You must also pay for your documents to be returned to you.

Postage destination (Fee)
UK address or British Forces Post Office (£5.50)
Europe (excluding Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine) (£14.50)
Rest of world (£25)

MarylandNed

You can still take advantage of a citizenship without feeling any connection to the place. That citizenship can open doors and maybe even help you develop a connection later.

For example, my oldest daughter was born in Canada. We moved to the UK when she was 2 and then to the US when she was 4. She was raised in the US until almost 18 and considers herself to be American. She decided to take advantage of her Canadian citizenship to pay domestic tuition rates at a Canadian university (Canadian citizens qualify for domestic tuition regardless of where they came from). This is her 5th year in Ontario (she also took a year out to work there) and she seems to have developed a connection to the place. She is planning to stay longer to continue her education after she graduates this spring.

She also has British and Irish citizenship. Although she feels no strong connection to the UK or Ireland, holding those citizenships could open doors for her later in life.

BritInParis

Thanks, I am aware of all that. It doesn't change the fact that a copy can be ordered from the GRO for £9.25 the September of the year following registration. It is still a consular birth certificate because it is issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for a birth that happened overseas. It is exactly the same document that was previously issued locally by British embassies and consulates. That the staff who performed this registration are now longer based overseas is irrelevant to whether it can be called a consular birth certificate or not.

mrken30

In an emergency evacation as happened in Lebanon , the British were evacuated before the Americans. Certainly is useful to have 2 options sometimes.

Pollyana

Indeed. Its things like that whch can't be forseen.