Taking my Brit born child to the US

Edited to add:
I know I'm coming off as a uber biotch and I'm going to stop reading this thread because it just gets under my skin.  I try to not stir up trouble on this site, I don't want to start now.  It's just my opinion and I guess I'll just keep it to myself as everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

No you're not. It's a debate. I didn't start this thread hoping for a debate but that's what makes this a good forum. We can agree to disagree and not hold grudges. 

All I want to do was take my 6 year old son to the US for a few days to visit my brother and sister and maybe to Chuck E Cheeses.  I think I'm going to take the chance and take him on his UK passport.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

We have been down this road (thread) before:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=18784.0

In fact, I stopped posting here for quite a while after that one...

But it's very interesting reading.

Beyond income tax requirements for US/UK dual citizens, there are also inheritance tax considerations.

I would never renounce my American citizenship. I just can't see why the US gov't is pushing it on our young children.

Hi,

I totally see your point.  The only thing I'd add is in the long run, having dual citizenship could wind up being beneficial for your children in that it gives them more choices about where to live and work as adults.

Look at all the trouble most of us on this forum have had to go through in order to live where we want with who we want.  I'd imagine having British and US passports would've made a lot of our situations much easier.

good luck,
Carl

If you renounce your US citizenship  you are still allowed to enter the US.  I knew an American lady in Singapore who became a Singapore citizen as she has no intentions of ever living in the US again and she goes back to visit family all the time.

I don't know why the US government requires anyone who is entitled to US citizenship to become a US citizen and I am not going to argue either for or against it but I think you are being short sighted and perhap selfish by denying your child his US citizenship.  For one you are now denying his access to the US and if you risk taking him to the States on his UK passport you may jeopardize his US citizenship altogether. Not  allowing him his rights to a US citizenship will close doors for him when he is older.  What if he chooses to studying, work, live in the US, you are just making if that much more difficult for him.  As for being drafted, if this becomes an issue when your son reaches 18 it should be his choice, if at that time he wants to renounce his US citizenship then he can.  As for filing taxes, that doesn't mean he will have to pay taxes, it all depends upon where he is living, how much he is making and the tax agreements the US has with that particular country.  Again this should be his decision to make when he is old enough.
I'm sorry but I just don't see how you can deny him what is rightfully his.

As for all the inconvienciene of going into London to get his passport I can't really think it is nearly as bad as all the paperwork and stress you had to go through when you applied for your visa to reside here.  If you can go to all the trouble for yourself why can't you go to the trouble for your son.

I apologize in advance if this has upset you, that is not my intention here.  My intention is to try and get you to see the bigger picture.

For goodness sake people. Read her posts!!! She isn't denying them the the opportunity to claim their citizenship at some point!!!

I don't think Ricki intends to deny them that opportunity ever. Her point, and IMO it's a good one, is that children as young as hers (the ones in question are 6 and 3 I think) are TOO young to make a decision about whether they even want to claim their US citizenship. I think what she's suggesting is that until they reach the age of 16 or 18 or whatever, why on earth can't they travel to and from the US on their British passports - being that they ARE British citizens?

What the US is saying is that like it or not, you ARE a US citizen from the get go so pay up and shut up.

As for all the inconvienciene of going into London to get his passport I can't really think it is nearly as bad as all the paperwork and stress you had to go through when you applied for your visa to reside here.  If you can go to all the trouble for yourself why can't you go to the trouble for your son.

Please everyone understand I have NO INTENTION of denying my son his American citizenship. When he is older he can make that decision for himself. A lot of parents on here feel the same way especially those of us with sons.
And for the record when I applied for my visas nearly 8 years ago it was VERY easy. I never attended a single interview, all the forms were simply downloaded from the internet, I got my required signatures and posted it off with a cheque and my passport. Nothing could have been easier.

For goodness sake people. Read her posts!!! She isn't denying them the the opportunity to claim their citizenship at some point!!!

I don't think Ricki intends to deny them that opportunity ever. Her point, and IMO it's a good one, is that children as young as hers (the ones in question are 6 and 3 I think) are TOO young to make a decision about whether they even want to claim their US citizenship. I think what she's suggesting is that until they reach the age of 16 or 18 or whatever, why on earth can't they travel to and from the US on their British passports - being that they ARE British citizens?

What the US is saying is that like it or not, you ARE a US citizen from the get go so pay up and shut up.

Yes that's it exactly! Thank you for reading my posts! 

So if you were living in the US and your kid was born there you would be totally OK with him having USC and NOT UKC?

My issue with  this thread and all the ones like this is that YOU are part of the equation and YOU being his mother have given him USC just like your husband has given your son UKC. It's not where you're born but to WHOM your born is how citizenship is decided.

The difference is, if they were living in the US and wanted to visit the UK, the UK government wouldn't "force" the child to have a UK passport in order to do so.  The British citizenship is not thrust upon the child in the way the US citizenship is.

It's comparing apples to oranges because they're not really the same.

The difference is, if they were living in the US and wanted to visit the UK, the UK government wouldn't "force" the child to have a UK passport in order to do so. 

From my own personal experiences, the US Government does not FORCE your child to hold a US passport.

Heads up: A friend of mine recently returned from the states (at the end of November) and got pulled over the passports, as one of her kids didn't yet have their US passport. The official was sound about, it, however, she did note that they are becoming more strict about this law and she was warned that they will be enforcing it more with more vigor than previously (which was like, not much at all). Given all the debates about immigration currently raging in the states, this explains why immigration checks are sticking more to the letter of the law than before.

So you could risk it on the child's British passport but then you'd probably run into hassle over custody issues (not your own personal ones but it the two of you traveling on different passports would be a red flag that would raise questions).

Good luck whatever you do. I understand your point of view but my advice would be to bite the bullet and get the passport, and let your kid decide what he wants to do when he's old enough.

All the best.

Thanks for getting this back to the original question, Stella. Good info to know.

i think what the law says, and how the law is inforced are completely different.  my american sister brought her candian born baby, with with candian passport through seattle immigration over xmas last year.  she was hassled by immigration- your child is entitled to US citizenship, therefore, he must travel on a US passport.  but in the end they let her & the babe in.

another point of clarification- even if you don't make over $80,000 worldwide income, i *think* you're supose to file US taxes.  not sure if they're be a penalty, becuase you wouldn't owe anything.

the UK has proposed to change their tax laws- taxing on worldwide income for non-domicles.  scary stuff.  

ricky- whatever decision you make is fine.  go to chicago-play at chuckechees- enjoy!

The difference is, if they were living in the US and wanted to visit the UK, the UK government wouldn't "force" the child to have a UK passport in order to do so.  The British citizenship is not thrust upon the child in the way the US citizenship is.

It's comparing apples to oranges because they're not really the same.

As I understand it, if a dual national, you must enter the country of your citizenship on the passport of that country. Admittedly I am not up to speed on where the children of dual nationals fall under this but as things are changing with regard to their own passports anyway (for example no longer being able to be listed on the parents' passport), if this doesn't apply to them currently it will in the future. I know in Ireland we need to enter the country on our Irish passports; we could enter on our US passports but what would be the point? And that would be seen as us claiming our US citizenship over our Irish citizenship while in Ireland, which doesn't work. Others will correct me but I imagine it is the same for the UK.

So in a sense, if you are a dual national and want to travel between the two countries, you're 'forced' to have the two passports.

I think in a way, because of the 'free travel' between the countries, i.e., not needed a visa for short stays, it seems easier to not bother about both passports. But I reckon if using the British passport meant having to go through a visa process, many people would get the US passport to save the hassle. (Not necessarily Ricki, just in general).

This is only an opinion, but I think, after reading the law and information about when I put together the advisory about registering your child, that they want it mostly for a paperwork thing.  For example Ricki, I think if your son went on his British passport, but later on decided to assert his right to US citizenship, they would pull the record on him, see he entered on his UK passport when travelling to the US and it might get confusing.  Or if they didn't find his trip to the US, they would still have two files for him, one as a non-citizen, and one as a citizen.  If any official saw the two files on him, they may spend a load of time chasing it up to find out if it is the same person.  Either way, it may take a lot of time to sort out, and I think that is what they are trying to avoid by having people do it early.  I think it's not wanting to have two or three files for one person.  I think it's also so they can keep a total of how many people could enter the US legally to stay as a citizen at any one time.  I don't know if it's arrogance or just wanting to keep the numbers accurate. 

I personally feel parents will do what they feel is right for their child in this matter, so please don't think I'm trying to tell anyone what to do about their child's citizenship.  I'm really not.  I apologise if anyone thinks I'm trying to advocate for one side or another.