US or UK passport for child?

When we fly to England (to settle), does my son have to have a UK passport, or can he fly in on his US passport?  We haven't applied for his UK one yet because I figured it'd be easier to get once we're in England (my husband is British, so our son claims dual citizenship).

I believe that if you use his US passport he will also need a visa too (as a dependent on your spousal visa), because he is entering the UK as a US citizen. However, if you apply for his UK passport from the US, then he can enter as a UK citizen and will never need a visa.

I would say it would make things much easier all round for him to have a UK passport before he leaves the US so you won't have to deal with any visa or immigration issues .

I also think it'll be better to get a UK passport before you leave. I had the same dilemma with my US born daughter (I'm a UKC) but we decided to get her a British passport before we left to avoid any hassles at immigration. I've heard that sometimes they can cause a bit of a fuss and you have to get a passport straight away.

Do you know how long it will take to get his UK passport?  I'm applying for his US passport on Monday, but we're hoping to leave in November.  Do y'all think I need to pay for them to be expedited?

And also, if we weren't to have a UK passport for him when we left, couldn't we just show all of our birth certificates, since my husband has a British birth certificate and is also listed as the father on our son's birth certificate?  Do you think I could contact the airport/airline to find out?

Do you know how long it will take to get his UK passport?  I'm applying for his US passport on Monday, but we're hoping to leave in November.  Do y'all think I need to pay for them to be expedited?

As far as I'm aware, it only takes a few weeks for the passport to be issued - I think the waiting time is about 4 weeks or so at the moment (I'm sure petally can offer some more info on this, since she mentioned it in a previous thread), so you have plenty of time to apply for and receive his UK passport before you leave.

And also, if we weren't to have a UK passport for him when we left, couldn't we just show all of our birth certificates, since my husband has a British birth certificate and is also listed as the father on our son's birth certificate?  Do you think I could contact the airport/airline to find out?

I believe it's passport or nothing in order to get through immigration, so a UK passport or a US passport with valid visa in it will be your only options.

And also, if we weren't to have a UK passport for him when we left, couldn't we just show all of our birth certificates, since my husband has a British birth certificate and is also listed as the father on our son's birth certificate?  Do you think I could contact the airport/airline to find out?

No. He needs an actual British passport.  Otherwise he'd need a visa.  A passport is much cheaper and quicker to get. But you have to submit documents and fill out forms.  They're not going to let you do that at the airport.

Worst case scenario is that they admit him on the US passport as a visitor and you get the British passport sorted from here.  It's not as though they will refuse him entry but you will probably get a bit of a telling off from immigration.  I agree that it is much better to sort it before you leave.

Vicky

Do you know how long it will take to get his UK passport?  I'm applying for his US passport on Monday, but we're hoping to leave in November.  Do y'all think I need to pay for them to be expedited?

You've PLENTY of time. I had just over 3 weeks and was told that it takes 4. Once I spoke to a real person at the embassy (after using the $2.50/min line to do that), they couldn't have been nicer and they put my daughter's application to the front and we got it super fast in less than 3 weeks.

We just got our son his British Passport. He traveled twice to England on his US Passport for visits with his grandparents, but now that we are settling there we got him his UK one. We even forgot to send his birth certificate (it somehow slipped out of the stack of papers we sent). They just called us up and asked us to send it. I overnighted it and we had his passport in less than 3 weeks.

Cutest thing I've ever seen by the way since he's only 10 months old in the photo. Very proud as a US Citizen to see my little British Citizen son. 

-Brian

Thanks everyone!  I was freaking out a bit that we wouldn't have time

I wouldn't worry about the timing one bit, nor the paperwork.  I went through some of this last year when the US process was so backed up...it took MONTHS to get DS's US passport, and just under three weeks to get DH's Brit (he was a citizen by descent, just like it sounds like your son is) one through the embassy, and that was with a slight delay for a birth certificate problem.

Just echoing what everyone else has said, but I knwo you can never have enough reassurances in these processes.