Being British

[leftcross]

my half thai baby son has got all his thai paperwork now and is officially a thai citizen.

i want to get him a british passport too, yet a look at the british embassy website says i need to pay 8000 baht for a birth certificate (great british rip-off) AND have my full birth certificate too (never seen it, just got the smaller one)

do i need a birth certificate to get him passport? or can i apply for the passport using my documentation to prove he is half british cos of me?

the embassy website isnt particularly clear so someone with some practical experience would help.......

[the scouser]

Your son is not required to have a British birth certificate, but any claim to British citizenship he does have will be derived through you. Consequently, the embassy will need to see your long birth certificate in order to establish your son's entitlement. If you don't have one, you can obtain a copy from the General Register Office in the U.K.

Scouse.

[leftcross]

cheers fella.

[markuk]

Your son is not required to have a British birth certificate, but any claim to British citizenship he does have will be derived through you. Consequently, the embassy will need to see your long birth certificate in order to establish your son's entitlement. If you don't have one, you can obtain a copy from the General Register Office in the U.K.

Scouse.

I chose to get my son a British birth certificate from the embassy at the country i was in when he was born, cant quite remember why but doesnt it prevent complications later in life? i am sure there was a reason that i did it!!!

Does not having a british birth certificate complicate the british passport issue in the future? in that he will not be on the UK general register and every time he applies it would take longer etc?? really cant remember!!

[the scouser]

If a British child born abroad is ultimately going to live in the UK, there is an advantage to having a British-style birth certificate as it helps prevent confusing bureaucrats who might wonder why none is otherwise held. However, a UK birth certificate per se does not confer British citizenship (non-British children born in the UK will still get a UK-issued birth certificate). For a child born outside of the UK, their entitlement to British citizenship will be determined by the parent who is passing it on and, therefore, it is the parent's birth certificate which is more relevant. Once the child has a British passport, subsequent ones should be issued upon production of the expired document.

Scouse.

[kayo]

so you've a baby born in Thailand (?) with one British parent and you want to obtain a British passport for your son. Fair enough.

I am British. I was born abroad though, in a non commonwealth country to one British parent.

My Birth Certificate is the original one issued by the hospital in the place of my birth.

Using this in conjunction with my one parent who is British, a visit to the home office in London resulted in the issuance of a "Certificate of Registration" as a British Citizen (british nationality act 1981).

It has my full name, with my father's (foreign) surname, my place and date of birth in the foreign country.

And I only got it 12 years after I was born (a bit late) but it could have been issued at any time.

Your own British birth certificate, then, and your child's birth certificate from the hospital, in your case with an embassy (foreign office) approved translation.

With just this one document (Certificate of Registration) I've been able to obtain and renew my passport, get my national insurance, etc etc....

I realise it's not an exact answer here, but I hope it helps a bit.

[leftcross]

thanks kayo.

as an aside, the hospital where my son was born provided the birth certificate and a few photos in a booklet for free.

because they know i am british they also typed up a letter in english on headed hospital note paper saying my son was born at the hospital at the specified time.

they, bless them, thought i could take this to the british embassy and get a passport/real birth certificate.

unfortunately they dont know how painful, longwinded and usually expensive even the most basic administration task turns out to be when it involves the UK.

the thais dont fuss about and there is never any undue bother, they do things on common sense. the uk would do well to learn from them.

Edited November 20, 2006 by leftcross