Okay, as many know, I have both Thai (by birth to two Thai citizens) and US citizenship (by birth in the US). My question is, when reporting the birth of my inbound child (ETA May 2007) for US citizenship, what would be the best course of action? After googling and finding some info at travel.state.gov....

You need to bring:

(1) an official record of the child’s foreign birth;

(2) evidence of the parent(s)’ U.S. citizenship (e.g., a certified birth certificate, current U.S.

passport, or Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship);

(3) evidence of the parents’ marriage, if applicable; and

(4) affidavits of parent(s)’ residence and physical presence in the United States.

to the US embassy. Well, as most inter-Thais do, I have both a US and Thai passport.... but in my case, the surname on my US and Thai passport (and hence Thai id card) are similar but legally different. Growing up stateside, I used a legally shortened version of my Thai last name for convenience.... Let's say "Heng" shortened from "Hengsathienthai." And until now, there have never been any issues with having a Thai passport and id card with Hengsathienthai and a US passport, driver license, SS card, bank accounts, etc. with the Heng last name, entering and exiting Thailand on the Thai passport and entering exiting the US with my US passport.

What kind of issues do you think this will pose in relation to reporting the birth of my child? For one, the Thai birth certificate will have the child's last name as Hengsathienthai with his/her father's last name as Hengsathienthai (as per all of my Thai documentation). Would my US (Travis County, Texas) name change certificate be enough to demonstrate that Heng and Hengsathienthai are one and the same? Or am I in some kind of unique loophole, blind spot.... unable to transfer citizenship to my soon to be born baby? Do I need to legally change my name back to my original last name?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

-Heng

oh yes, and what exactly is this?

(4) affidavits of parent(s)’ residence and physical presence in the United States.

Title deed to my home in the US? Utility bills? I spend about 11 months of the year in Thailand and 1 month in the US and by all practical purposes, my physical residence would be Thailand.... my child and future children's residence would also be Thailand (this isn't me trying to get them visas and citizenship to emigrate or anything).

?

Heng, just go into the US embassy in Bangkok, which is located halfway between Guadalupe (the drag) and Manchaca (pronounced with two syllables). Turn right, and they'll explain it like some bartender on East Sixth Street. I doubt, however, that the toilet wall has grafitti saying, "Long live Baldemar Huerta," who died last month (Freddy Fender).

Other than that, mai kojai, and I hope you had a happy Loy Krathong. Congratulations on proving your fertility. Did I tell you my twins were born in the Catholic hospital in Austin?

Wahoo, the next great step in "evolution" has occurred!

Seriously, Heng, congratulations and best wishes to all the little Henglets. Sadly, I have no idea at all what the answers to your legal queries are. Maybe you can get him to goo-goo with a Texas accent?

"Steven"

See also BIRTH REGISTRATIONS.

Thanks PB, Steven, and Vinny.

Vinny, have you gone through the procedure? I'm wondering when we get my kid's birth certificate done, if I should use my Thai id card or my US passport name as the child's father. Will using my Thai id card name disqualify or perhaps add unneccessary red tape with the US Embassy?

Thanks PB, Steven, and Vinny.

Vinny, have you gone through the procedure? I'm wondering when we get my kid's birth certificate done, if I should use my Thai id card or my US passport name as the child's father. Will using my Thai id card name disqualify or perhaps add unneccessary red tape with the US Embassy?

Congratulations’ on the future arrival, Your best bet would be ( if you want the little one to get a US passport/SS ID ) is to use your USA passport name as the father on the birth papers and make sure you get the english translation attached to it, You need only to show that you lived in the US for at least 5 years under the age of 15 , and 5 years after the age of 15 ( school transcripts and SS/tax statements are the most easy ) They just want to make sure that you are an american citizen by birth yourself or grew up acually in the US. If you want I can scan the apps for you and post them.

Good Luck.

Strap

Thanks for the opinion, Strap. No need to post the apps, I'll just pick them up from ACS.

Just a quick update... ACS has said that it doesn't matter which ID I use at the local Thai birth registration, my Thai id card or my US passport. The important thing was my own eligibility to transfer citizenship as Strap mentioned: 'that you lived in the US for at least 5 years under the age of 15, and 5 years after the age of 15'. ACS also mentioned that they also used discretion for Americans who were clearly 'born and raised' Americans and that 'proof' was typically only an issue for cases where the parent(s) were naturalized US citizens.