durham_lad

Good advice.

Our son was born in the UK and we got him a UK passport when we went to the USA while he was 4 years old, 29 years ago. I renewed it until after he had left home and he didn't renew it when it expired in 2002 (he was age 20 at that point and a US citizen). This year I offered to renew it for him and he was dead keen so I helped him to apply. As it had been expired 14 years earlier we had to go through a first time application, with birth certificate, details of us his parents plus a person who'd known him to vouch for him and his photo. The original birth certificate we had was the short version so we had to apply for a certified copy of the long version.

It was all a real pain and we submitted the application and documentation over 6 weeks ago. He told me today that it has finally arrived.

morpeth

Yes that is why I mentioned sensationalist press as I am not in UK so I cant judge from first-hand observation. I always find it amazing the difficulties in countries for people with advanced skills to immigrate or get long term visas. The US is a good example of this. It is much easier for unskilled person to cross border than a skilled person to enter legally. Doesn't make any sense to me for so many unskilled people coming in often with very little education. I am baffled how thus us considered beneficial.

yellowroom

I think we're missing each others points and I'm afraid I must disagree with you there if you are making blanket statements. It's actually very hard to stay legally in the US long-term.

If you are a regular person who wants to immigrate to the US, you have to either have an existing family connection (no skill requirement), or you need to have skills and/or a willing employer and/or lots of money. Or be a refugee. If you are fortunate enough to have been born in the right country, you can enter a lottery.

It's my understanding that most countries have similar categories of immigration. None of them is easy as they all involve either luck and/or money and/or hard work to get the skills/qualifications needed.

BritInParis

As you say, it's sensationalism. Total immigration into the UK in 2014, for example, was 632,000 of which 14,065 were successful asylum seekers, around 2.2%.

Providing your wife fulfils the requirements for a visitor visa then there's no reason why it wouldn't be granted. Becoming a US citizen however may be easier as a long term solution.

The unskilled workers you speak of are likely those being sponsored by a family member or simply working illegally. Skilled workers are unlikely to pursue the latter since they generally have a legal path to immigrate.

yellowroom

I think your sums are out - 14065 out of 632000 is 2.2%. Don't want your very good point undermined by maths!

It's still a very small proportion of people out of the total though, and given what the poor buggers have gone through it's a no-brainer to offer them a safe home.

BritInParis

Sorry, yes, you're correct on both points! Suitably edited.

morpeth

Did you mean " hard to stay legally" or "illegally". If you meant "illegally" I can only speak from observation in three states, it is fairly easy to live and work in US illegally

I am not in immigration expert, so can only speak from observation. For example, I ran a company and we had to bring in employees from overseas, and sometimes even after their employment ended we would later help them immigrate if they wished. We dealt often with US or Canada. if person had skills or education in general we found Canada much easier to deal with and seemed the government there encouraged skilled ( let alone wealthy immigrants) or educated immigrants. US on other hand was much more difficult and expensive.

morpeth

Thanks for providing the 2.2% figure , that certainly puts things in perspective. 632,000 seems to me a very high figure for country the size of England.

As far as skilled workers are you referring to US or UK ? In US yes they do for certain professions have a legal path, but due to the difficulties involved or time-delays some just choose to overstay visa or cross the border. We had so many difficulties bringing in geologists for example.

Had one interesting situation. We offered an internship to a recently graduated geologist from UK. He couldn't find job at the time due to downturn in industry, so wanted internship extended, and begged for a job and didn't want much compensation. So we arrived at amount we could afford. Then we wanted sponsor him on a work visa- immigration said we had to pay him twice as much otherwise they wouldn't approve his visa because that was what they figured him as a "special skilled" person should make even though he had little experience ( but a lot on our project). We looked at situation and found way to do it, but had to double his salary.

BritInParis

The US. The same rule does apply to the UK although with the notable difference that freedom of movement means that legal unskilled labour migration is possible from within the EU.

Makes sense as it stops you from employing someone from outside the US on the cheap to do a job that an existing citizen or permanent resident could perform.

apidae

Hi. I'm pretty confused, and I've been reading through this thread and still having a hard time understanding.
If my baby is automatically British even though born in the USA, since I am British, then why do I need to have her birth registered in the UK, if I can get her a passport regardless? Just so she can prove it when I'm dead or if I lose my birth certificate from Gravesend kent?
thanks and sorry for being totally oblivious!! I'm going back home for 2 weeks in April, not sure if I should get baby a UK or USA passport for it.. and if i should pay the £170 to have her birth registered!!

Wintersong

Pretty much, yes - it may make things easier down the road for her. You have until she's 18, though, so no need to do it just yet. My kids are 10 and 7 and I haven't registered their births with the UK.

Bear in mind that as a US citizen, your daughter MUST exit and enter the US on a US passport. There's no either/or when it comes to UK/US passports - your choice is to get just a US passport for her or to get both US & UK.

Edit: Obviously you can also register her birth without getting her a passport!

Shirtback

I got my overseas-born Brit children (now adults) British passports as babies. For the first 2, I didn't even know registering their birth with the UK was an option; & for the 3rd, the British consulate in Montreal specifically told me "not necessary/we don't do that, just get a passport". So I did.

MarylandNed

UK consular birth registration is not an option for children born in Canada and some other countries (e.g. Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa).

It is not required for children born in other countries, but it is probably a good idea for children born in the US. This is because birth cert standards vary widely across the US. Also, US birth records may be amended in adoption cases which means the biological parents may not even appear on the birth cert. Because of this, the UK is particularly suspicious of US birth certs issued more than 3 months after birth. If you try to use such a birth cert for a UK passport application, you may be asked to provide additional documentation proving who the biological parents are (e.g. hospital records). UK consular birth registration solves these issues and will make it much easier for the child to prove UK citizenship later in life.

Shirtback

Thank you for the detailled info, particularly pertaining to the US.

It's interesting, & good to know, that options/requirements (to a certain extent) vary by country.

KkksMm3

I'm in the process of applying for British passports for my three children. I was born in the UK, my husband is American, but we live in the US and our three children were born in the US. Do I also need to register their births too? I was under the impression I didn't have to do that if I was getting the passports, but seeing this post is now making me wonder.