Advice on child's passport & citizenship

I'm a US citizen who has been living in the UK for 12 years now and just received my dual citizenship in January of this year. I had a daughter here in the UK in 2016 who holds a British passport. My question is - if I want to travel to the USA with my daughter, can she travel on her British passport or do I have to apply for dual citizenship for her and then an American passport? I seem to recall reading somewhere that if you have a child in the UK and they're eligible for American citizenship, then they can only travel on an American passport to and from the US. Is this true? I can't find wherever I read this!

American citizens can only enter the US on a US passport. If she meets the requirements of being an American citizen born abroad then she is an American citizen, whether or not you choose to document that with the Consular Notification of Birth Abroad and a passport or not. There's no "eligible for" or "applying for" in this case -- she is an American citizen.

The specific law is at 22 CFR § 53.1 (a) - It is unlawful for a citizen of the United States, unless excepted under 22 CFR 53.2, to enter or depart, or attempt to enter or depart, the United States, without a valid U.S. passport.

I thought she still had to apply for American citizenship? So I could just go ahead and apply for her American passport??

I thought she still had to apply for American citizenship? So I could just go ahead and apply for her American passport??

No, she was born an American citizen.

You just need to make an appointment at the US Embassy to report her birth abroad (so they can officially record it) and to apply for her US passport and Social Security Number.

See here:
https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/citizenship/consular-report-of-birth-abroad-crba-and-first-u-s-passport/

From that page:

A Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) certificate is official evidence of U.S. citizenship issued to a child under the age of 18 who was born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent(s). It documents that the child acquired U.S. citizenship at birth.


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No, you do not need to apply for citizenship for her because as far as the US is concerned she is already a citizen whether or not you choose to acknowledge it. This is what can cause issues at the US border.

For the US passport, you'll need to get a Consular Notification of Birth Abroad, which is the official paperwork documenting citizenship for children born abroad to US parents. It is -- or at least was, pre-covid -- possible to apply for both the CRBA and the passport at the same Embassy visit.

. It is -- or at least was, pre-covid -- possible to apply for both the CRBA and the passport at the same Embassy visit.

It still is. I did it with my son in January. It is a relatively easy/painless process.

As has been mentioned, she is a US citizen from birth, just undocumented.

CRBA appointments gains you the certificate, passport and SSN all in one appointment. Passport takes around 3-6 weeks to receive from the appointment date and SSN currently is taking 16 weeks.

However, people have managed to get in on a UK passport and ESTA but all it takes is a newbie Border Officer, or an extremely strict one, or one just having a bad day to be turned around as is it is the law and I'd class these people as just being fortunate.

Side note: you're missing out on $1,400 of child tax credit per year while your daughter remains without an SSN.