blackbelt1092

Hi, everyone!

First post, and apologies if this has been covered elsewhere, but I somehow doubt it. In any case, feel free to call me names and redirect me if I am wrong!

So, I am a US Citizen (born in Virginia), and I'm moving to the UK to study at Imperial College London. I am hoping to permanently relocate after studies and pursue a career in England. My father is also British (born in Wales, lived in England), and by the contorted immigration/citizenship laws, I am eligible to be a British citizen by descent, which would give me the necessary permissions to work and live in the UK as well, I believe.

I have absolutely everything I need for a successful application (documents and all), but there is one problem: my Virginia birth certificate is not a long form, which is required. My father told me that when I was a baby, he tried getting my citizenship confirmation taken care of, but the application was rejected on the basis of my birth certificate not sufficiently proving who I was. I know I could always get another birth certificate (even though it's not lost), but as far as I know, Virginia does not even OFFER long form, so what I have is the best I can do. Any advice on how to approach this? Perhaps submitting additional documentation (driver's license, etc.)? Or do you think enough time has passed that the UK Border has seen this scenario rise up enough to let it go? Or, best yet, am I, in fact, wrong about Virginia not issuing long form birth certificates?

Thanks so much guys, and look forward to reading what you all have to say. Hopefully I can add to some of the great discussions on this website as well!

blackbelt1092

Oh, and if this post would be better suited in a different forum, let me know! What will we do with all these newbies?

sir_eccles

Apply and see what they send you its only $12

http://www.vdh.state.va.us/vital_records/faq.htm

MarylandNed

You are likely a UK citizen by descent and simply need to apply for a UK passport (you do NOT need to apply for UK citizenship). You need to get a US birth cert that gives details of your parents. That along with your dad's birth cert will allow you to apply for the UK passport.

MarylandNed

I would suggest ordering over the phone if possible. That way you can explain exactly what you want. When I ordered my daughter's birth certs in Maryland via mail, I got the short form version back even though I requested the long form. I had to call and talk to a live person so I could explain exactly what I needed.

Bob

Not all states do a long form, but a birth cert stating your parents and your parents birth certs showing they're UK citizens should be enough.

Just apply for a passport and go from there.

Or register your birth with the UK Embassy and get the certificate, though that would be a pricey way of doing things.

eoyn

Hey Blackbelt,

call this number. I did, its the UK passport service, a little expensive, but boy did they help me out. +44 208 082 4721 (Credit Card Line - calls will be charged at £0.72 per minute plus VAT

MarylandNed

Not necessary. The OP needs a US birth cert that names the UKC parent and the birth cert of the UKC parent. An application for a UK passport can then be submitted.

Bluegrass Lass

If I recall, wasn't there another poster who had quite the problem with getting a passport because his US birth cert. wasn't issued within 3months of his birth? He had applied for a UK PP and was rejected around 3 or 4 times before it was finally accepted. Does that requirement still stand, and could it cause an issue for the OP?

MarylandNed

UK authorities are suspicious of US birth certs that are issued more than 3 months after the birth. This is because US birth records can be amended after adoptions - which means that the parents named on the US birth cert might not be the biological parents. Further questions MIGHT be asked if such a birth cert is presented as part of a UK passport application - however, it does not mean that such a birth cert is automatically invalid.

I was able to get a UK passport for my US born daughter using a Maryland birth cert issued 5 years after her birth. No questions were asked. However, in addition to the issue date, my daughter's Maryland birth cert also shows a "record filed" date which is 1 day after her birth. This might be why I had no issues (i.e. maybe this date would change in the case of adoptions).

The issue is further complicated by the fact that birth records are handled by each state - birth cert formats and standards vary.

Bob

Depends on the state.

Some issue birth certs with a date of issue as well as when registered and those will be fine, but some states only have the date of issue, which can be questioned if after 3 months because of the whole adoption issue.

blackbelt1092

My birth certificate was issued at my birth, so there wasn't any (arguably sketchy) lag time between my actual birth and when I got an official birth certificate. I called the Vital Records Office in Virginia, and they said they can offer, at best, a "long form" that is not certified. Well, that's helpful. Except it isn't. Meh.

For everyone's reference, this is an example of a VA birth certificate: https://www.fdeus.com/us/images/Birt...ertificate.jpg. It does have the father's name, along with his age and place of birth, all of which are consistent with my father's UK birth certificate that I know I will need to (and can) send in. Does this change anyone's views?

You guys are so helpful! Really appreciate it; it's especially frustrating that you can't just call the UK embassy, as they say they cannot disclose information about applications on the phone. No other ways of contacting them besides post.

MrMuffin

Your VA example looks just like ours in NH which we used successfully for our kids' UK passports.

sir_eccles

If it has both parents' names and places of birth then it is a de facto long form certificate.

blackbelt1092

Wonderful, thank you! Just wonder why there may have been a complication in the first place...