Getting UK passport for my Thai son.

[Matty6969]

I am a British Citizen living in Thailand with my Thai wife and 15 month old son.

I want to get a UK passport/ citizenship for my son but so far it doesn't seem that straight forward. A lot of the time I seem to be going round in circles.

I am British by descent (born abroad) since birth. Both my parents are British citizens. My son already has his Thai passport.

Has anyone else in similar circumstances gone through with this and what help/ advice can they give me?

Many thanks in advance.

[lemonjelly]

Have you checked the UK embassy website? I’ll be doing the same soon, you’ll need your full birth certificate amongst other things.

[theoldgit]

Yes not so straightforward for British Citizens by descent, though there are one or two regulars on here who’ve been through the process.

Look up posts by brewsterbudgen, he’s certainly been through the process, apologies to him for naming him without his ok.

[BritManToo]

10 years back when I did it, was dead easy, now it's extremely hard.

Not to mention the Consular birth certificate is now not considered as 'proof of citizenship'.

And they've backdated the 'not proof' to all issued after 1980 (or thereabouts).

 

"Following a Reform Order issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), consular birth registrations for children born since 01/01/1983 and certified copied of registrations issued after 01/01/2014 for children born before 01/01/1983 are no longer considered as nationality documents.Oct 30, 2019"

Edited March 11, 2020 by BritManToo

[brewsterbudgen]

47 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

Yes not so straightforward for British Citizens by descent, though there are one or two regulars on here who’ve been through the process.

Look up posts by brewsterbudgen, he’s certainly been through the process, apologies to him for naming him without his ok.

No problem.

 

Yes, if you are British by Descent, it's not easy.  I was born in Africa in 1960 and although I had lived permanently in the UK since 1961, and held a UK passport since 1968, I was only able to get my son, born in Thailand, a UK passport as I still had my original Certificate of Registration issued in 1968.  There are other ways around it, depending on the year you were born and how long you have lived in the UK.  I used a Specialist Agent based in Pattaya (a sponsor of this Forum) to help me.

[Matty6969]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I started filling out the form MN1 from the Home Office (Application for registration of a child under 18 as a British citizen) but then found that I have to submit my sons biometric data (just his photo I believe) which you can only record at the VFS Global office in Bangkok (unless we travel to the UK). But to get an interview and record his biometric data at VFS you have to complete an online form with Visas and Immigration on the Gov.uk website.

So now in the process of doing this, I'll update this thread to let you know how we get on.

Oh and I wouldn't bother using the £5.48 email advice service from the UK Visas & Immigration as I got fobbed off onto another department ????

Thanks again ????

[brewsterbudgen]

On 3/12/2020 at 1:33 PM, Matty6969 said:

Thanks for the advice guys.

I started filling out the form MN1 from the Home Office (Application for registration of a child under 18 as a British citizen) but then found that I have to submit my sons biometric data (just his photo I believe) which you can only record at the VFS Global office in Bangkok (unless we travel to the UK). But to get an interview and record his biometric data at VFS you have to complete an online form with Visas and Immigration on the Gov.uk website.

So now in the process of doing this, I'll update this thread to let you know how we get on.

Oh and I wouldn't bother using the £5.48 email advice service from the UK Visas & Immigration as I got fobbed off onto another department ????

Thanks again ????

You could skip the Registration process and just apply for your son's UK passport.  Even if you are successful in registering him, you will have to supply all the evidence again for his passport.  Holding a UK passport will mean he is British (or it will be refused!).