Baby's Nationality - Dual???

[jpkeswim 0]

So my husband and I are currently living in the UK and I have fallen pregnant. I am only 10 weeks but we plan to have our child in England. This child would in turn be a US and Uk citizen. CORRECT?

Can you please give me some advice. Would he or she also have a passport for each country?

Thanks

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

Yes, your child can have dual citizenship. I believe you have 60 days to register a "USC birth abroad" while you are still in England.

[Amby 490]

Congratulations!! You can do the same with having a child in the US to a UK parent. Just register the birth at your nearest consulate if you ever have one here too.

[lucyrich 20]

Each country writes its own citizenship laws, and they're not necessarily coordinated, so you look at each citizenship separately.

According to INA 301(g), if one parent (I'm assuming you) is a US Citizen, and the other is an alien, a child born abroad will be a US Citizen if the USC parent has spent at least five years in the US, and at least two of those years were after turning 14. See your nearest US embassy/consulate for the procedure for filing a "consular report of birth abroad" in order to document the child's US citizenship. When you've got proof of the child's US citizenship, you can also apply for a US passport. Again, see the consulate.

I'm not familiar with UK citizenship law, but I'm pretty sure he/she will be a UK citizen because of being born in the UK and/or because of having a UK citizen father.

As for passports, your baby will only have the passports you apply for. But since he/she's a US Citizen, US law requires that the child present a US passport when dealing with US authorities, regardless of what other citizenships or passports he/she may hold. So in order to travel to the US, you'll need to get a US passport for your baby. Again, I don't know about UK law, but they might have some similar requirement, in which case you'll have to get a UK passport before dealing with UK immigration/customs authorities. Even if they don't absolutely require a UK passport, it might nevertheless make travel through the EU easier, so it may be worth doing.

See the dual citizenship FAQ at http://www.richw.org/dualcit/ for more details and discussion.

[James 2]

So my husband and I are currently living in the UK and I have fallen pregnant. I am only 10 weeks but we plan to have our child in England. This child would in turn be a US and Uk citizen. CORRECT?

Can you please give me some advice. Would he or she also have a passport for each country?

Thanks

I had to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for our daughter before my wife and I were actually married, and it was not difficult at all -- so it should be even less difficult for you. The web pages of the consulate should have the requisite info.

I'm sure it won't be much different for you, but there was no need to wait to apply for a passport (or social security number) for my daughter -- I had to apply for them simultaneously with the Consular Report of Birth Abroad.

[deathtouch 0]

Yes,

when my wife gave birth to our son in the UK, we registered the birth at the registery office, then a few years later (my wife is american, Im english), when we were doing the visa thing, we went to london where we registered the birth abroad (this was in 2004, it may have changed) my son has a UK and US passport, and most importantly, he can play football for man united

[Mononoke28 135]

... or... football for the Denver Broncos.

[neiks 19]

Our child was born in Canada. We have not applied for the US Birth Abroad as we would have to go to the nearest consulate in Canada to do this and we would have to travel 12 hours. We have applied for the baby's US passport. The USC has to complete an affardvit that the child is his/hers and that he has lived in the US for a certain number of years. We will eventually apply for the Record of Birth Abroad.

[zyggy 9]

However... she will not be able to do what you did neiks because she'll be in the UK and you were in Canada... You were able to apply for a US Passport for the child because the child was in the US and you had the ability to apply for a US Passport in the US... what you did won't work from the UK...

In her case, in order for the baby to be able to enter the US, she's going to have to apply for the Consular Report of Birth abroad and get a US Passport for the child...

Edited May 5, 2007 by zyggy

[neiks 19]

However... she will not be able to do what you did neiks because she'll be in the UK and you were in Canada... You were able to apply for a US Passport for the child because the child was in the US and you had the ability to apply for a US Passport in the US... what you did won't work from the UK...

Ah, yes, my bad.....ignore me.

[homesick_american 1]

So my husband and I are currently living in the UK and I have fallen pregnant. I am only 10 weeks but we plan to have our child in England. This child would in turn be a US and Uk citizen. CORRECT?

Can you please give me some advice. Would he or she also have a passport for each country?

Thanks

Your child will not automatically be a UK citizen just by being born here. If the father is a UK citizen, then you're fine. If he's not, the kid most likely won't be either unless you're on indefinite leave to remain. Friends of mine from Chile on student visas had a unique situation when their son was born in the UK; he was not a UK citizen but he was also not a citizen of Chile, since he was not born there. The kid was basically stateless and couldn't get a passport. They brought him back to Chile with them when he was 6 months old and that's all straightened out now, but the UK isn't like the US...being born here does not automatically confer British citizenship.

In order for the child to be a US citizen, being born to you (a USC) is good enough.

Good luck with everything.

Edited May 6, 2007 by homesick_american

[homesick_american 1]

I'm not familiar with UK citizenship law, but I'm pretty sure he/she will be a UK citizen because of being born in the UK and/or because of having a UK citizen father.

I'm sorry, that isn't correct. Being born in the UK does not automatically confer British citizenship.

British citizenship by birth in the United Kingdom

Under the law in effect from 1 January 1983, a child born in the UK to a parent who is a British citizen or 'settled' in the UK is automatically a British citizen by birth

* only one parent needs to meet this requirement, either the father or the mother.

* "settled" status usually means the parent is resident in the United Kingdom and holds Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or Right of Abode. Irish citizens are automatically deemed to hold ILR.

* Special rules exist for cases where a parent of a child is a citizen of a European Union or European Economic Area member state, or Switzerland. The law in this respect was changed on 2 October 2000 and again on 30 April 2006. Details

* For children born before 1 July 2006, if only the father meets this requirement, the parents must be married. Marriage subsequent to the birth is normally enough to confer British citizenship from that point.

* where the father is not married to the mother, the Home Office will usually register the child as British provided an application is made and the child would have been British otherwise. The child must be aged under 18 on the date of application.

* where a parent subsequently acquires British citizenship or "settled" status the child can be registered as British provided he or she is still aged under 18

* if the child lives in the UK until age 10 there is a lifetime entitlement to register as a British citizen. The immigration status of the child and its parents is irrelevant.

* Special provisions may apply for the child to acquire British citizenship if a parent is a British Overseas citizen or British subject, or if the child is stateless.

Before 1983, birth in the UK was sufficient in itself to confer British nationality irrespective of the status of parents, with an exception only for children of diplomats and enemy aliens. This exception did not apply to most visiting forces, so, in general, children born in the UK before 1983 to visiting military personnel (eg US forces stationed in the UK) are British citizens by birth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_citizenshi..._United_Kingdom

[RAKASA 0]

I'm a little confused about this issue. I was just about to post a similar topic when I found this one. My husband is Moroccan, I am USC and we currently reside in the US. We have just found out we are pregnant and I was wondering if the child would have dual citizenship? Is it something we "apply" for after birth? Does it happen naturally?

Also, after reading the FAQ listed here and the "Dual Citizenship" portion of the USCIS website, I'm still not clear on whether my husband *can* become a dual citizen if he decides to naturalize. I understand that the US allows it, but I'm not sure of where to find the info if Morocco allows it.

That being said, if there comes a time we decide to live in Morocco (retirement or something), can I become a dual citizen of the US/Morocco?

Any help out there??? Sorry if this is already out there, but I'm just not finding it/getting it. Thanks for any help you all can provide.

Me

[zyggy 9]

The would depend on whether or not Morocco allows dual citizenship or not... You either have it or you don't. Contact the Moroccan Embassy to find out more infomation.

For registration of your child check here http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/childreg.cfm

For your marriage to be valid for Moroccan purposes, it had to be declared to the consulate within three months

http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/marriage.cfm

ANd here for FAO's

http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/faqs_main.cfm

Edited June 29, 2007 by zyggy

[RAKASA 0]

The would depend on whether or not Morocco allows dual citizenship or not... You either have it or you don't. Contact the Moroccan Embassy to find out more infomation.

For registration of your child check here http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/childreg.cfm

For your marriage to be valid for Moroccan purposes, it had to be declared to the consulate within three months

http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/marriage.cfm

ANd here for FAO's

http://www.moroccanconsulate.com/faqs_main.cfm

thanks for the info! I'll follow these links and see where they take me.

Me