Traveling with dual national (US-UK) baby to UK - can I do this with just US passport?

[AlohaMama]

Hard to summarise this one in the subject but here is the deal. I live in the US. I'm expecting a baby in June who will be a dual national (British parents, born in the US). We will get the baby a US and a UK passport but both need the birth certificate to be sent off with the application, and both take 4-6 weeks, and we'd like to visit the UK ~8 weeks after baby is born so I don't think we'll have time to get both passports before the trip. I know the US demands every US citizen enters and leaves the US using a US passport, so I was planning on applying for that one and taking baby to the UK using their US passport. Does anyone know if that will cause problems for entering the UK? I'm assuming we'd just enter the foreign nationals queue at immigration and would have to get a visa stamp in baby's passport. We're only going on a holiday (2-3 weeks) so the length of stay isn't an issue.

[SavoyCabbage]

As far as I know, the baby will just be a us citizen coming for a holiday. Especially as you have return flights and a life back in the US. It's possible that the British immigration might think that you are planning to settle in the uk with a baby who has no passport/right to be there, but you aren't so would be able to show that if you were stopped.

if you are traveling without the other parent, it's always a good idea to have a letter from the other parent saying they know you have the child. . Especially if you have different names and/or different passports.

The last time we went to the uk one of my dds was on a british passport and the other on an Australian passport. They didn't ask and I didn't explain.

[howdoo]

You're right, you'll just have a longer queue when you arrive in the UK than if the baby had a UK passport as well. Our DSs have both passports - we use the US one when leaving the US, the UK one when we arrive in the UK, and, on the way back, we use the US one when leaving the UK and arriving in the US. Basically so we don't have to queue!

[Whowouldfardelsbear]

Also be aware that baby will not be entitled to free health care of you need it. I had this traveling from New Zealand to UK. I only has NZ passports for the DC at that point and immigration at the UK border made that clear to me and stamped their passports with "no recourse to public funds". DD2 needed to see a GP during our visit and I had to pay.

[Whowouldfardelsbear]

Oh - and I took the DC with me through the UK passport queues with no problem. I had my UK passport and they obviously couldn't have gone through foreign nationals on their own at 3 and 1. No one batted and eyelid at that.

[blackcurrants]

yes you can- we are UK citizens living in the USA and have done it a few times. no access to the NHS is right, get your insurance sorted.

coming back to the USA is great, you can use the shorter USA lines

[anonymosity]

I think you'll be fine too. But I would travel if you can, with the birth certificate. When I returned to the UK from the US last Summer after a 4 year absence, they questioned my very small children at passport control (asked if they knew their middle names) and explained to me it was due to child trafficking...
I was quite horrified, but as the children clung to me, I was told there were "clearly" mine...and allowed through.

[SquinkiesRule]

I did that with newborn Ds for the same reason, we had return tickets and just came to show him to the family. We went through the UK citizen line and no one said anything, they stamped his US passport without waiting in the long visitor line. Dh and I were traveling on UK passports, as we weren't US citizens at the time.

[Shanghaidiva]

I also have US and UK passports and when I have been with my husband (does not have a US passport) I have asked the immigration official if he can come in the shorter queue with me (when entering US) and this was ok. Also when I was a child my mum was the only one of us without a US passport and she always came through with us as they did not want to split a family up going through immigration. Worth checking on arrival in UK if you can all go through the UK channel together.

[AlohaMama]

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Sounds like we should be ok then. Hopefully I will get the US passport back in time, in which case I'll have the birth certificate with me to take. I knew about insurance from my own perspective, so I'll be getting that anyway.

[SavoyCabbage]

Take a photocopy anyway. The more paperwork the better. They won't ask for any of it if you have it all, it's always the way.

[natation]

IF a group is travelling with a non EU national and the group wants to stay together through passport control at a UK airport, EVERYONE must go through the NON EU queue, if you don't and go through EU, it's up to the UKBA officer to use discretion and you through, or if it is ultra busy, you may be sent back to the NON EU queue. As you'll be travelling with with a baby who MIGHT be a British Citizen (without more info, couldn't say, just because a parent is British does NOT give an automatic right to British citizenship to any children born abroad), then if you bring a full birth certificate with you, not just on arrival to prove you are the parent, but if you are in the UK for more than 2 weeks, then you can submit your passport application in the UK with the US birth certificate, your passport details. You are allowed to do this whilst back in the UK, it is much cheaper than applying in the UK for a British passport. You just need to be in the UK during processing.

One last thing, unless you wish to basically give your money away, do not apply for a certificate of registration of a British citizen abroad (exception is if UK forces and diplomatic staff). This certificate looks like a UK birth certificate but it isn't. It does NOT speed up the issue of a British passport, it does NOT offer any advantages. It is basically for 99% of British babies born abroad, a complete waste of money. IF you choose to apply for one anyway, the consular staff should tell you this. They try and put people off now.

[lljkk]

I'm very surprised about the strong advice to use non-EU queue, is that relatively new (last 5 years?)

I have been told every time (many times) that I should have gone thru the EU line with DH & 1-3-4 kids even though only DH among us had a British passport. I think it's a security issue, too, they want to see for sure which people are travelling with which people.

I still want to chicken out & use non-EU queue, but I can get a Brit passport now so might do that next time.

Once in 2002 we were given grief about baby DD only being allowed a 2 month tourist visa because she only had a USA passport with no residency stamp in it. It was implied she shouldn't be allowed in at all (?!). But we got thru, that was at a provincial airport, I bet they'd be more sensible at Heathrow. And it wasn't like anyone tracked us down to see if she left the country within a month.

Kid passports cost £50 and only last 5 years, I have tried to avoid getting any more than we have to.

[SquinkiesRule]

It's not new lljkk I did it with mine over the years my kids are 24 19 and 8, all have traveled without a UK passport at somepoint.

[natation]

llkkk, at a guess your baby was not given a tourist visa (you can't get a tourist visa for a US national!!!), but given 2 months code 1 because your baby didn't have the obligatory ILR proof in her passport if that is what her status was at the time, it is something which is supposed to be put in order before travelling in / out of the UK if you have ILR. Yes correct if your baby was given 2 months code1 1, it is a concession given to those who probably are legally in the UK but cannot prove it, it is at the discretion to allow entry to anyone in this situation.

It is discretionary that UK residents who are non EU nationals use the EU queue, if it is exceptionally busy, the risk is being sent back to the non EU queue. Yes if a mixed group, use the non EU queue. It depends entirely upon the port though, some ports don't have separate queues or the port has provided such useless signage that you cannot blame people choosing the wrong queue and deal instead in a commonsense way.

[howdoo]

Every single time me and my DSs (with UK passport) and DH (with US passport) have come through UK immigration, it has been fine for all of us in the UK side. Equally, we all come back into the US on the US passports (DSs and DH) and me on the green card. When DH and I were engaged, we still came through the UK immigration into LHR, and they would just stamp his passport. And vice versa. Maybe things have tightened up.

[tadjennyp]

We applied for ds2's US passport at the post office a couple of years ago and it was really fast, back within a couple of weeks. We also got more than one copy of his birth certificate (we're in Oregon) so that we could apply for his British passport at the same time. Agree with not going for the consular registration. V expensive waste of money. Also when entering the US, green card holders and US passport holders were the same queue at all the airports I've been to, so there should be no problem for you there. Can you organise a trip to the passport office while you're at home in order to get a British passport?

[SquinkiesRule]

You don't have to pay for a certificate if you do a consular registration, that makes it a lot cheaper and you can apply for and collect the certificate in UK for under £20 Registering is one more proof of UKC for the kids when they get older, and you have died, they can't remember your place of birth/marriage or date, or all kinds of information and passports get lost. This way they know their own place and date of birth and the registration can be looked up for them and a certificate issued.

[natation]

You can apply for the unnecessary consular birth registration at any time, a long time after birth if you want, both abroad (for certain countries you cannot do it at all) and in London. It costs £170 for the registration and certificate.

You cannot use this certificate to replace a birth certificate, it is not a proof of identity. It is not needed to look up the place of birth or marriage of a parent, that can be done for very little money without the need to spend £170. Indeed if you really want to have one, it can slow down an application for a British passport, as the processing time can be longer than simply issuing a passport without it! I could see the justification for having one if you have given birth in a country where the birth certificate is written in a script which is rare or where that country is unstable and might not exist in 20 years time.

[Want2bSupermum]

You go through immigration with the group you are travelling with. In the UK we go through non-EU most of the time as the line is shorter and then the US line when we return.

When DD was born I let the lady know that we were flying to the UK when DD was 9/10wks old and she expidited our paperwork. We ordered 5 copies of birth certificates. DD has triple nationality (US, Canada and Denmark) and all three were applied for in the first two weeks of her life. That left me with two spare, one for our home file and one to travel with.

I applied for DD's American passport with DH the day after we got home from the hospital (I was in for five days, we filled out the paperwork while I was in labour and submitted it as soon as we had decided on her name!) and we paid the extra for fast processing. We got her passport back in two weeks. For pictures, they are not fussy - have the photographer put your baby on a white sheet on the floor and snap away. DD has her eyes firmly shut. Our local UPS store was well versed in getting baby passport pictures.

For the UK, call the passport people and see what they can do for you. They have an international number and were very helpful. I just renewed my passport using the Liverpool office and they were great. I don't think the one day appointments apply to first time passport applicants but they might have another process in place that would enable you to leave the UK with a British passport for your child.

Be aware that NHS care is for residents only. You, nor your children are entitled to use the NHS without paying for treatment. Check if your paediatrican makes themselves available. When DD had a tummy upset I was surprised to learn that our paediatrican group have 24hr phone coverage.

[AndABigBirdInaPearTree]

BTW we got a passport for our (then) newborn son and had a devil of a time getting photos. We tried five different places with no luck so put a white blanket over a beanbag and took it ourselves and had it printed at RiteAid. Worked a treat and we haven't paid for passport photos of any of us since.

We just got a US passport for him then and got a UK one later. This summer we travelled to the UK and three of us were on US passports (but carried our expired UK ones) and got the two month stamp. One of us flew to LHR the others to another regional airport.

[AlohaMama]

Yeah we did our own photos for ds. I think I'll just get a US passport then and multiple birth certificates. OK now just have to worry about booking flights, having a baby, and traveling 24 hours with two kids!

[Mutley77]

Yep that's fine. Although if you are staying in the US I wouldn't bother getting a UK passport as you will need to pay to renew both every five years and if you are only visiting UK for short trips you won't need the UK one. Your DC will always have the right to get a UK passport when he/she needs it but once she/he has claimed her citizenship by descent she will need an up to date passport to get in and out of country.

We have both for our DC (UK and Australian) and I have regretted the unnecessary expense although now we are going back to Australia to live we do need them to have both.

[natation]

Not quite correct about a child who has had one British citizen passport having to update their passport to get in and out of the UK. You can enter and leave the UK on whatever passport you wish to use. Thousands of British citizens enter the UK each year on passports of other countries.

You don't really "claim" British citizenship by descent, either you are or you aren't and a passport is not necessary to prove it.

Personally I'd get a first British citizen passport and if you let it expire, well no problem to get a new one in 20 or 30 or 40 years time.

[SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker]

Natation, we didn't renew our British passports this time around as we were only going to be in the UK for a month.