Passport For My Son

[markdav13s]

I am sure this question has been asked before but i have searched the forum and can find what I want.

I have got my son a Thai passport using the form por kor 14 ( sole guardian) no problems

I then went to the brittish embassy to get his brittish passport and they say I need a copy of my ex wifes idcard signed even though I have sole custody and there is no chance of getting a copy of her idcard. Is there a way around this?

also they said that i need to register the birth before I can apply for a passport which is more expense. i have looked at other websites and even the foreign and commonwealth office and the Brittish embassy in bangkok websites state that its not compulsary to register the birth. Its not a problem to register but i just want to get his passport quickly and funds are a bit tight at the moment. can I get his passport without registering the birth and if I can can I register the birth later?

Also does anybody know any other links on this site about the steps to take to apply for the passport, things i need to do.

Thanks

[sk1max]

I'm pretty sure you need to register his birth first, when you do that they will issue a British birth cert, and then you can apply for the passport, I'm not sure you need the wife's ID card, but if they say you do, then guess what? The staff at the embassy are pretty helpful, and you should lay your cards on the table and follow their instructions/advice. You son will need the birth certificate so best to bite the bullet and get it done. Good Luck

[markdav13s]

Thanks for the reply but I dont understand why they say I dont need to register. but others say I do.

"

Registering a birth

If your child is born outside the UK you can register the birth with the nearest consulate or with our consular department in London if you've returned to the UK. You don't have to do this, but if you do your child will be given a British style birth certificate and the birth will be registered at the general register office in the UK. This is called Consular birth registration

Consular birth registrations are not required to register your child as a British citizen or to apply for a British passport as British nationality is passed from parent to child. Your child will need to have an automatic claim to British nationality in order to register their birth in this way.

Please refer to the Home Office for more information on British nationality

We recommend consular birth registration because it means you'll be able to get extra copies of the consular certificate from the General Register Office in the future."

[markdav13s]

oh now i see. so at the embassy im not registering his birth but registering him as a british citizen.

but can someone tell me about the id card of the mother as i am sole guardian and the mother will never give me a copy of the idcard with her signature on, also are there any topics already on the forum about what needs to be done to apply for the registration and passport like translations and things.and do I need Biometric photos if so where do i get them done?

thanks

Edited June 22, 2010 by markdav13s

[sk1max]

I think you should relax a little a take it step by step. Registering the birth within the jurisdiction of the British embassy is what you'd have to do if he was born in the UK after the process you get the birth certificate. Go and see the staff at the embassy and explain the situation, they will tell you exactly the documents you need, if my memory serves me correct you don't need you wife's docs. to register the birth but I'm pretty sure married couples need to supply docs. from both parents for a passport. But once you have the birth Cert. you can probably get the passport through the mail from the UK, I'm not sure about this but it may be worth exploring.

[MikeyIdea]

Good that you got a passport, also get an original Thai birth certificate, at the same amphur as the child was born only.

If you talk to the embassy staff face to face and show them legal evidence that you have sole custody (let them touch the evidence that you have sole custody), then I doubt that they would refuse acting on the grounds that you don't have mothers id card. It's sometimes a question of "protect yourself", what paper can you offer them instead of the id card to make them process what you ask for risk-free? A Thai form is not liked at the British Embassy of course (they can't read it...) but a translation, a certified translation should fair better

Good Luck

[chris5346]

hello mark,

how did you get on ?

did you have to obtain a birth certificate first ?

look forward to hearing from you,

chris

[dantilley]

I did this about 2 years ago, and no need to register the birth with the UK authorities, which is good because it is unbelievably expensive at over 20,000 Baht for a simple bit of paperwork.

Not sure if it's different as a single parent though, but certainly or us - using my documents, my wife's documents and our marriage documents - it was enough.

[chris5346]

hi ,<br>i think were going to get the birth certificate now also my mother has said she will pay.<br>going to try and do it all in chiang mai if poss.<br>myself and the babys mother are still together - we're both divorced thou wheather that makes any difference.<br>i'm getting my uk birth certificate sent from the uk and my divorce papers.<br>fingers crossed because we want to goto uk asap.<br>thanks for helping<br>

[chris5346]

hi ,

i think were going to get the birth certificate now also my mother has said she will pay.

going to try and do it all in chiang mai if poss.

myself and the babys mother are still together - we're both divorced thou wheather that makes any difference.

i'm getting my uk birth certificate sent from the uk and my divorce papers.

fingers crossed because we want to goto uk asap.

thanks for helping

[bkk_mike]

You don't need to register the birth at the embassy.

You just need to apply for a passport. The Thai birth certificate (assuming you're named on it) and certified translation, along with your own long-form birth certificate and the other stuff required on the passport application form should be all that's needed. (I'm not saying it wouldn't be easier to get the consular birth certificate then use that in the application. It's just that it's seriously expensive to do so.)

[dantilley]

(I'm not saying it wouldn't be easier to get the consular birth certificate then use that in the application. It's just that it's seriously expensive to do so.)

That's the crux of the matter, the insane prices charged by the Embassy.

[sinbin]

You don't need to register the birth at the embassy.

Bkk_mike is spot on. A passport is proof of identity, not a birth certificate. Registering the child with the UK authorities isn't a legal requirement and a waste of 8,000+ Baht in my opinion. Just get an authenticated copy of the Thai birth certificate. I never registered my children, but they all have UK passports. Saved me over 24,000 Baht.

[chris5346]

thanks for info,

if i had to pay i would do as you suggest but someones offering to pay so i'll get the birth cert.

also i want to use the nhs in uk so birth certififcate will help.

do you know if the uk birth certificate etc needs to have the same name as the thai birth certificate ? my baby is called nisachon eva rose - we call her eva so i was thinking of just eva rose for the uk documents ? baby has uk surname.

[chris5346]

thanks for info,

if i had to pay i would do as you suggest but someones offering to pay so i'll get the birth cert.

also i want to use the nhs in uk so birth certififcate will help.

do you know if the uk birth certificate etc needs to have the same name as the thai birth certificate ? my baby is called nisachon eva rose - we call her eva so i was thinking of just eva rose for the uk documents ? baby has uk surname.

[sinbin]

If you register the child with the UK Embassy you won't get a UK birth certicate. You're being misled if you think you do. You only get one original birth certificate and your childs will be Thai. Full stop.

[Mario2008]

Perhaps I'm reading your statement wrong, but the child is not Thai full stop. The child is Thai because the mother is Thai, the child can also be British if the father is British (under certain conditions). Both countries allow dual nationality in the case a person has it by way of birth.

[dantilley]

Yes, but he's talking about getting a British birth certificate, not having British Nationality.

Edited September 14, 2010 by dantilley

[sinbin]

Yes, but he's talking about getting a British birth certificate, not having British Nationality.

Exactly. The OP thinks that by registering the birth with the Embassy he will get the child a UK birth certificate on top of the Thai one. Not going to happen, and 8,000 + Baht down the drain. As I've said before, just get the passport. That is the proof of nationality.

Edited September 14, 2010 by sinbin

[bkk_mike]

There are a couple of reasons for doing the consular birth registration.

1. Ease of getting a new birth certificate if you lose your current Thai ones, and you're not in Thailand.

2. If you have a long lost near relative - brother/sister/father etc. closer than first cousin, then the consular birth certificates can be useful if the relative dies without a will at some point after you're dead as the "heir hunters" will include consular birth registrations in their search for heirs.

But if you know where all your close relatives are, and are in contact with them, that's unlikely to be an issue. (It's really for the case of an unmarried childless brother with money that you've lost contact with and not seen in years...)

Other than that - as far as I'm concerned, it's just a waste of money. (I'm not saying I wouldn't consider doing it at some point if we were moving back to the UK or to some third country, but while we're living in Thailand it's a basically pointless expense.)

[bermondburi]

I was at the embassy two weeks ago doing some stuff and I asked the woman there about all this. I wanted to know what the advantages were to register the birth. She told me that the only benefit is that you can obtain a birth certificate for the child in the UK. The embassy does not issue a birth certificate. It is a lot of money for nothing IMO.

Regarding the passport application, it is not needed to register the birht. They need your long birth certificate, mum's ID, Thai passports and marriage papers. The child's Thai birth certificate does have to be translated but you do not need to get it certified. The embassy verifies that the names are the same themselves. The name as it appears on the Thai birth certificate will be used so make sure it is spelled correctly in Thai .

Don't worry about the biometric photos. With the application form you get some other help sheets that show you the example size that the head has to be in the photo. Just show that to the guy who takes the photos and you can't go wrong.

Don't know how this works for sole parents but if you are the legal guardian then I don't see how they can deny you. It might be worth going to the amphur where the baby was registered and the Thai birth certificate was issued as they must have a record of your wife somewhere.

Good luck with it all !

Edited September 23, 2010 by Mario2008
illegal advise deleted