Question on Citizenship of Child

[KirstyVQT 0]

Hi. I am currently a UK Citizen with US Permanent Residency. My Husband is a US Citizen. I immigrated here in 2008, got my conditional residency in 2008 and lifted conditions in 2010. In 2011 (December) I became eligible for citizenship but due to fees haven't yet applied for it.

My question is that we are expecting out first baby in September 2012 and I am curious to know, is the baby automatically a US citizen, even though I am still a UK citizen? Will I be able to apply for the baby a US passport? And at what point and what do I need in order to get the baby UK citizenship, is there any benefits to this?

Sorry for all the questions, hope someone is able to help

Kirsty

[soheil 9]

Hi. I am currently a UK Citizen with US Permanent Residency. My Husband is a US Citizen. I immigrated here in 2008, got my conditional residency in 2008 and lifted conditions in 2010. In 2011 (December) I became eligible for citizenship but due to fees haven't yet applied for it.

My question is that we are expecting out first baby in September 2012 and I am curious to know, is the baby automatically a US citizen, even though I am still a UK citizen? Will I be able to apply for the baby a US passport? And at what point and what do I need in order to get the baby UK citizenship, is there any benefits to this?

Sorry for all the questions, hope someone is able to help

Kirsty

Hi

first of all pre-congrats on your little one

I don't know about the procedure of getting your baby UK citizenship (as it differs by each country)...also you have to make sure that having dual citizenship is allowed by UK laws (as it is legal in US but illegal in some countries). you have to check this with UK embassy.

As for your first question, US law for citizenship by birth is only "being born on US soil"...even babies of foreign couples who are both here on for example F1 and F2 visas, when born in US, are considered US citizens and get US passport and all US citizen privileges, even though the parents are both foreign nationals. Even babies born on US army bases in other countries are considered US citizens.

The procedure for getting a US passport for your baby is exactly the same as all other babies born in US...I asked my mom, although she doesn't remember correctly, but says that you have to take the birth certificate to Passport office (?!!!)...not sure if such place exists at all, lol

Edited July 4, 2012 by soheil

[GlobeHopperMama 95]

Ditto to the above, US citizenship is conferred both by birth in the US and by birth to a US citizen parent, so you've got both angles covered, your baby will be a US citizen at birth.

To apply for the passport, you have to do the following:

* Get the baby's birth certificate issued from the county or state health department/vital statistics. I was able to get my son's about a week and a half after his birth, just had to wait for the hospital to submit the birth record to the county so they could register it in their records and produce a birth certificate. Make sure it is the full, certified version and contains both parents' names because you need it to prove relationship to the parents as well as citizenship evidence.

* Find out the baby's SSN, so that you can use it on the passport application. This took awhile as I lived in IL and they were taking like 3 months to issue one at the time but I think most states are way faster now, most are like 2 weeks.

* Get passport photos of the baby. This is a challenge with a newborn or little one, but if you have a camera with decent resolution, you can do it at home. Just lay the baby on a solid white blanket or sheet and stand right above him/her. Apparently the baby's eyes don't even have to be open, but my son has been using his newborn passport for 3 years now and we wanted to have a halfway decent picture, so I waited until he was alert. Once you have a decent picture (we usually have to do about 60 takes to get a good one of my son even now that he's 3!), then you can upload it to a site like epassportphoto.com, it will help you size it properly and give you a sheet of passport photos you can print for cheap at any drugstore photo kiosk or whatever.

* Fill out the application DS-11

* Bring the fees

*You and your husband will both need to go to a passport application facility together (or the absent parent can sign/notarize a consent form but it's a hassle) to apply. Most post offices are passport acceptance facilities. You sometimes need to make an appointment or check ahead on the hours for passport applications as it's often like 1-2 hours of the day, highly inconvenient. Both parents need to bring photo ID. We just bring passports for simplicity.

All of the instructions and forms can be found here, along with a locator for your nearest passport facility

http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html

As far as the UK citizenship, my understanding is that your child is eligible to obtain citizenship through you, but it seems complicated to me. This page may help:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/othernationality/Britishcitizenship/bornoverseas/

[NickD 203]

Yep, regardless of the heritage of the parents, even both illegals, only the thing the kid has to do, is to be born here and have that birth registered with your county. A major problem with Blacks in Milwaukee born at home with a help of a mid-wife, births where never registered. One key advantage of using a licensed doctor.

[HelenBradley 28]

Congratulations!

I briefly looked into this when I decided to move to the US with my husband.

Check out the info here: http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-usa/birth-registration/

You have to register the birth with the UK embassy first and foremost.

The UK embassy has lots of good information on things like this and is worth bookmarking for future reference.

Best of luck!