British Passport For My 2 Sons!

[callum06]

Will give you some infomation first.

• Have 2 sons, aged 4 and 2 years old.
  
• Not married, but have been together for 6 years.
  
• They have Thai passports.
  

Can my children get British passports even though we weren't married on paper?? I haven't been married before and i don't have any other children. Any advice would be great...

Thanks

[7by7]

See How to register a birth from the British embassy.

Note, though

British fathers are unable to automatically transmit their nationality to children born outside of marriage before 1 July 2006 (see below). If the parents marry after the child’s birth, it is possible that the child’s birth will be “legitimated” by the parents’ marriage. In order for us to establish whether or not legitimation has taken place, both parents need to sign paternity declarations in person at the Embassy and the father to complete a “domicile questionnaire”. Please ask us for the paternity declaration forms.

The purpose of this is to establish whether the father has retained a domicile in the UK (this basically means close connections) and can therefore benefit from the provisions of British nationality law.

British Fathers, who are not married, can now apply to register children who are born abroad prior to 1 July 2006, with the Home Office. Please note this is discretionary. Those applying should expect to receive a decision in approximately 4 months. The fee for this will be £460 payable in local currency plus a Consular forwarding fee of Baht 3,654. Please ask us for form MN1 or obtain it from the Border and Immigration Agency.

You will require an appointment.

[callum06]

See How to register a birth from the British embassy.

Note, though

British fathers are unable to automatically transmit their nationality to children born outside of marriage before 1 July 2006 (see below). If the parents marry after the child's birth, it is possible that the child's birth will be "legitimated" by the parents' marriage. In order for us to establish whether or not legitimation has taken place, both parents need to sign paternity declarations in person at the Embassy and the father to complete a "domicile questionnaire". Please ask us for the paternity declaration forms.

The purpose of this is to establish whether the father has retained a domicile in the UK (this basically means close connections) and can therefore benefit from the provisions of British nationality law.

British Fathers, who are not married, can now apply to register children who are born abroad prior to 1 July 2006, with the Home Office. Please note this is discretionary. Those applying should expect to receive a decision in approximately 4 months. The fee for this will be £460 payable in local currency plus a Consular forwarding fee of Baht 3,654. Please ask us for form MN1 or obtain it from the Border and Immigration Agency.

You will require an appointment.

Cheers!! My eldest son was born in March 2006 and younger son was born in Fenruary 2008...... this should be fun!! Thanks again.

Edited December 7, 2009 by callum06
response brought out of quote - mario2008

[Mattd]

In which case the youngest should get the passport quite easily, the eldest will not get the passport unless you marry first.

Both children must have you named as father on their Thai birth certificates.

My first son was born out of wedlock (1999) and we had to jump through hoops to get his British passport sorted, it took quite sometime and money, but it was worth it in the end.

[callum06]

Cheers!! I think the easiest and most logical way to get them passports is just to get married. The rules concerning British mothers really gets my back up:

British mothers, whether married or not, may transmit their nationality to their children. However, in order to include the father’s name on the birth certificate we require either the parents’ marriage certificate or paternity declarations signed by both parents in person at the British Embassy. Paternity declaration forms are available on request

Doesn't seem right to me!!

[7by7]

the eldest will not get the passport unless you marry first.

Not so, see the information I quoted above. Although it will be easier and cheaper if you were to marry.

[ArthurPewty]

Visit the embassy, pick up the form, fill it out and return it with money, translations and photos, return 1 week later to collect.

I did it at the same time as I got the birth certificate. Simple!

[7by7]

If the child was born after 1st July 2006, or if born before that date the parents were married at the time of the birth, then the process is, I believe, straightforward.

However, in the case of children born before this date to British fathers who were not married to the mother, then it is a little more complicated.

The rules concerning British mothers really gets my back up......Doesn't seem right to me!!

Nor to many people, which is presumably why the law was changed.

I suspect that there are all sorts of complicated legal reasons why the change could not be made retrospective, but I'm not a lawyer so couldn't say what they may be.

[Mattd]

the eldest will not get the passport unless you marry first.

Not so, see the information I quoted above. Although it will be easier and cheaper if you were to marry.

I will retract the statement 'will not get unless married' however if you read the information posted then it appears that it would be far easier to legitimize the relationship by marriage, when I did this I had no choice, however given my experience, then I would still recommend marrying, even then it was not easy and all had to approved by the relevant powers in London.

All in all a choice that only the OP can make depending on his circumstances.

[callum06]

Thanks for the replies. I know that getting married doesn't mean that my sons will receive a passport, but i am sure they will issue the passports after getting married.

I had a friend who was living in Australia, he had two children with his Australian girlfriend. Their children got Australian passports no problem BUT the problem was the British passport. He called up the embassy and they advised him just to get married and the problems would be solved. He did and his children got their passports.

I have no problem with getting married, but I don't see how that changes anything!! Does that make my children more British now??

Edited December 8, 2009 by callum06