Consular notification and passport stuff/ Birth announcement

I just had my son Huw on June 19th and am now just starting to look at what i need to do to get him a passport and what not. I have skimmed over the sticky on this but am still stressing.

 I have looked at the appointment stuff and can't get an appointment till September 3rd. A bit ridiculous in my mind. I am not sure how to go about this. We live in Bristol and will have to drive over with my husband who is disabled and a baby who cant walk  I have a hard enough time getting the two of them around Bristol where I know where I'm going. What have you done when you have gone and done this? Have you stayed over night or just made a day trip out of it. Did you pick morning or evening appointments? How long is this line to get in? How early should I show up? I know there is a Marriott hotel near but its £177 for the night! I really am not sure what to do and am stressing myself out over it. I would happily take any advise

I don't think your husband is required to go with you, so that may help.  Read through the rules and I think there is something about him providing a notarized letter or affidavit saying he is the father and approves of you making the application etc.  I know my friend went on her own last year, BUT her husband is also American so that could be why.  Something to look into.

You should definitely be able to do it in a day and not need to stay over.  I think from most people's experience it takes about 4 hours for the appt.  I think the queues are always best in the morning, but you will be going in the "american citizen services" side and that queue tends to be shorter than the one for immigrants applying for visas to the US.  We had an appt first thing in the morning and barely waited in a queue at all.  We waited inside sitting down for ages, but that is standard. 

It's not far from Paddington station (which I think is where trains from Bristol come into - correct me if wrong).  If I were you, I would check on train times and see how early you could realistically get into London and choose an appt time as early as that would allow you.  If you aim for mid morning....you will be out mid afternoon and on your way back home before rush hour.  It's easy to get from Paddington to the embassy.  You could walk about a mile or so if it's nice, take a bus or a quick taxi ride for less than £10.  I personally wouldn't bother with the tube, as it's not a direct route and you would still have to walk to the embassy. 

The facilities for a changing a baby are fine inside.  There is only a vending machine, so be sure to bring whatever food you might need and formula if you use it. 

Not sure how wheelchair friendly the embassy is.  I know there weren't ways to get the pushchair around, so I had to get it up several sets of stairs.  There must be a way if you have a wheelchair, but I didn't see it.  Maybe you can call and ask about provisions for wheelchairs (who knows, maybe they have to meet with you somewhere else and then you won't have to wait as long ).  Some of the tube stations are wheelchair friendly, but many aren't as well.  I'm not sure about how you get around there--it might be easier to take a cab from Paddington, which is wheelchair friendly.

I didn't take my British husband with me if that helps any.  I did have to get a letter signed by my husband and a solicitor friend certified it for us.  (It says notarized, but the certified stamp our solicitor used was just fine).  That was for the passport bit--saying it was okay with him to give her a passport.

I also did it as an overnight trip from Cardiff (not too far from you) since I made an appointment in the morning, but I have in-laws in London that I could stay with.  You'd probably have to get up fairly early to do it all in one day, but the trains from Bristol to London are pretty frequent.

Also, keep checking on appointment times.  I got one a few days out from my appointment.  It may have been a cancelled appointment.  Don't stress about it all though unless you have to have a passport soon.  I waited quite a while because it was difficult for us to get down to London, and we didn't have any problems getting it all done still.

The Embassy is NOT wheelchair friendly, to go up into the room where they do the Consular Notifications you have to go up a flight of stairs, also to get into the building. I was down there on the 28th of June (made the appointment in April, you will have to do them when they have them, as I don't think they do Consular Notifications everyday) and it is actually pretty easy. From Bristol you can just do a quick daytrip into London (we did a daytrip when my son was born, left the house at about 11 am and was home at 9 pm. We live in Manchester) and this one, the whole embassy appointment took about 2 hours. We got the passport in 5 working days. I say make an afternoon appointment, maybe at like 1 pm if you can do, and just do it! I promise! Its not as difficult as you may think. Also, you can bring whatever you have with you into the Embassy, you only have to leave mobile phones & electronic devices outside. Good luck!

I also agree with Cadenza, if you don't need your passport to travel asap, don't stress out about it. We didn't get my sons until he was almost 3....

Congratulations on the birth of your son!

Congrats on the birth!  Just wanted to re-iterate what the others said.  There is no real deadline so don't stress about trying to get it done right this second (unless you need the passport for something specific).  It will be a lot easier to travel with the baby once he is a few months old anyway.

Thanks guys (sorry for the late reply)

I am not in too much of a rush need it by next march. I think we will have an issue with the wheelchair stuff then. I will now ring the embassy and say what should I do their is a note on the website is to let you self be known if you need help. You never know they might have other entrances or advice on what to do. Since my husband is disabled I should be able to park quite near to the embassy. Is there any streets near by for parking or a NCP? I am not to worried just has to be done by the end of this year.