Passport for Newborns

[iantojjackh]

The story is set in modern times.
Main character is a British citizen; born and raised. Also he was born after Jan. 1 1983.   He has lived his whole life in the UK except for the last three, almost four years. Spent one year travelling the world travelling and the rest of the time was spent in the US. In that time character got married and had

Comments

[chesneycat]

Seconding what the others have said - the father can get either type of passport. Both my sons got UK passports soon after birth, but bear in mind that consulates are few and far between. He may also wish to officially register a birth abroad with the consulate, but a standard US birth certificate should be good enough for most things. Passports by post usually take 3-6 weeks in my experience, but can take longer in busy periods. My oldest was ten days old when we did his passport photo, and we received the actual passport before he was a month old. The usual rules for photos are softened for infants - a neutral expression is not required, and they don't even have to have their eyes open iirc. The one possible sticking point will be the witness for the documentation - it'll need to be countersigned by someone who's known the father for several years. Birth and marriage certificates of the parents are also needed to register the birth abroad, I believe, but you can look all that up.

[redheadforever]

Could the kids have a dual- citizenship passport?

America is starting to drastically change her general outlook and getting a DC passport through ancestral ties is currently seen as a sound business/travel/employment move.

[goose_entity]

there is no such thing as a "dual citizen passport". (I have two passports - UK and US - and my baby son will shortly be in the same position)

[chihana11]

I am also both and enter the UK on my British passport and enter the US with my American one. There are no dual citizen passports.

[attimes_bracing]

This used to be part of my job - can only answer UK side:

1. UK Passport eligible yes - by descent through Father. Father's nationality would have to be proved.

2. Passports are independent of each other. Some countries do not allow dual citizenships but the UK and US are fine. If the twins were to enter Government service in the US they would have to renounce their British citizenship.

3. Would not make a difference what the father's connections were.

You might find this page https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth/y useful which is the Gov.uk page for registering the birth of a child born abroad to a British parent. This would get you a British birth certificate which would make the passport process very much easier. Expect passports to take a few months as the Foreign Office was in the process of having all passport processing done back in the UK.

[lilacsigil]

It used to be descent through father but now it's either parent.

[attimes_bracing]

I am aware of that - I was answering the specific question of an American mother and British father.

[lilacsigil]

Sorry, I misinterpreted your comment! My cousins and I went through various issues getting UK citizenship - I was okay because it was through my father, but their heritage was through their mother.

[lilacsigil]

The only difference that the father's connections might make is that the consulate will probably expedite things for him - bring papers to him rather than making him queue, etc. It won't change the actual requirements, but there shouldn't be any problems getting the children British passports.