Registering An Overseas Birth/Passports-Uk Children.

[tubber]

Not sure if this is the correct forum so maybe the mods can move it.

I have recently applied for UK passports for my kids. I am a British citizen, my wife is Thai.

Documents needed for passport applications :-

Before processing an application, Original documents are required plus one photocopy of each supporting document. All originals will be returned at the time of application. We require translations (ie official translations from a licensed translator) of any document(s) not in English.

We need to see:

· -Child’s official birth certificate, issued by the Thai District Office. We will follow the names as they appear on the local document.

· - Documentary evidence of father and/or mother’s nationality status – UK FULL VERSION birth certificate, naturalisation or registration certificate.

· - Parents’ marriage certificate.

· -For children born on/after 1 July 2006, it is no longer a requirement for the parents of the child to be legally married.

· - Evidence that any previous marriages of the parents have been dissolved – divorce or death certificate as appropriate.

· - Both parents’ passports.

· - Child’s Thai passport (if applicable).

· - We need the full version birth certificate of the parent transmitting nationality (ie with both parents’ names on it). If you do not already have your (full) birth certificate, you may obtain if from the General Register Officer http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

-

I think that website is only for England and Wales. I got an "Extract of an Entry in a Register of Births." from Scotland. There is also a website "Scotland People" or something, the link is on the British Embassy Bangkok website. A4 sized with parents names. If your wife doesn't have a passport her ID card and a certified translation will suffice.

One of my children was born prior to 1 July 2006 and I wasn't married to the mother. In addition to the above you need to complete a domicile questionnaire (which has some truly bizarre questions) and both the mother and father have to sign paternity declarations witnessed by Embassy/Consulate staff.

The question I have is, why do the Embassy/Consulate tell you to register the birth. Well they don't actually tell but when you apply for a childs passport they tag it on to the price and you have to fill in more forms. The price for birth registration plus passport fees is 14,026B per child. For 3 kids that would have been 42,078B.

It states on the "How to Register a Birth Form" and on the British Embassy website.

"If your child is born outside the UK and is British 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 document and the birth will be registered at the General Register Office in the UK. This is called Consular birth registration

This is not a UK birth certificate and should not be used as one. It should not take the place of the locally issued birth certificate.

Consular birth registrations do not confer British nationality and 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.

There is no requirement for a consular birth registration to be done for any birth that has occurred overseas. The original birth certificate issued by the authorities in the country in which the birth took place, along with a notarised translation if necessary, is sufficient for all purposes in the UK (including passport applications).

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

From what I can see there is no reason to register the overseas birth, in which case a childs passport application on its own is 5,426B, which makes the birth registration 8,600B per child. For three kids that is 25,800B, is there something I have missed or is there really no benefit to register the overseas birth? I have contacted the Home Office but don't really expect a reply.

[tubber]

I forgot to add that I did not do this at the Embassy in Bankok. I have been trying for years to get information, forms, interviews etc out of them. I went to a Consulate outside Bangkok once to ask what they require, went again with the wife and all the documents they requested. Finished in a few hours. From what little information I could get from Bangkok you have to hand in all the paper work and arrange an interview at a later date so the procedure is a little different. You can not pay by cash at the Consulates and have to pay by Bank Draft which is the only inconvenience. I try to avoid the Embassy in Bangkok as I find it quite intolerable and bears more than a passing resemblance to a zoo.

[DannyDakota]

You don't need to register the births as indeed you have quoted in your post.

You can obtain a British passport without it and you can do it all by post - I just did it for my son.

Download the correct form from the website, fill it in, get the childrens photos correctly signed on the back by someone of repute, get birth certificates etc and translations and send it off.

You can pay with a postal order made out to 'British Embassy Bangkok', assuming you are in Thailand.

The Mrs also wrote a letter saying she gave permission for our son to have British passport.

I am not aware of any difference between England & Wales and Scotland. Yet!!

[tubber]

I have also just done it, I was wondering what the benefits of registering the birth were or if there is any? If there is no benefits why would anybody do it? If your child was born before 1 July 2006 and the parents were unmarried you have to do it in person at the Embassy, domicile interview, paternity declarations etc. The legal/judicial system is different in Scotland as opposed to England/Wales so I presume the way they register and keep records of the births is different ,hence the different websites.

[evadgib]

The main advantage is that copies can be obtained from the GRO in UK in later life if needed.

[themikeymeister]

Hi Tubber

Could you post the link to the website where you got that info. I am in the process of obtaining a UK passport for my daughter.

Thanks

[tubber]

The main advantage is that copies can be obtained from the GRO in UK in later life if needed.

Thanks for the answer evagib, can this be done when the child is any age or is there a time limit? Why would this be necessary if as they state;-

"This is not a UK birth certificate and should not be used as one. It should not take the place of the locally issued birth certificate."

" The original birth certificate issued by the authorities in the country in which the birth took place, along with a notarised translation if necessary, is sufficient for all purposes in the UK (including passport applications)."

Am I just being thick here?

[tubber]

Hi Tubber

Could you post the link to the website where you got that info. I am in the process of obtaining a UK passport for my daughter.

Thanks

themikeymeister

British Embassy in Bangkok website: http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/living-in-thailand/

There is another page for passports. One of the few email replies I got back from the UK Embassy in Bangkok had this attached Copied and pasted.

Before processing an application, Original documents are required plus one photocopy of each supporting document. All originals will be returned at the time of application. We require translations (ie official translations from a licensed translator) of any document(s) not in English.

We need to see:

· -Child’s official birth certificate, issued by the Thai District Office. We will follow the names as they appear on the local document.

· - Documentary evidence of father and/or mother’s nationality status – UK FULL VERSION birth certificate, naturalisation or registration certificate.

· - Parents’ marriage certificate.

· -For children born on/after 1 July 2006, it is no longer a requirement for the parents of the child to be legally married.

· - Evidence that any previous marriages of the parents have been dissolved – divorce or death certificate as appropriate.

· - Both parents’ passports.

· - Child’s Thai passport (if applicable).

· - We need the full version birth certificate of the parent transmitting nationality (ie with both parents’ names on it). If you do not already have your (full) birth certificate, you may obtain if from the General Register Officer http://www.gro.gov.u...t/certificates/