Consular Notification thingy of Birth Abroad

I might be wrong about this, but I thought if one parent is not a US citizen, only the US parent has to appear. ??

If only one parent is at the appointment for gaining a passport for the child, a DS-3053 form must be filled out by the parent who is not present and be signed before and notarised by a US notary public, a British notary public, or a British solicitor. The absent parent must also submit proof of identity such as a current passport. The full list can be found at: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/acs/passports/2parentsig.html .

http://www.uk-yankee.com/articles/advocacy.php?itemid=81

I might be wrong about this, but I thought if one parent is not a US citizen, only the US parent has to appear. ??

According to the US Consulate website only one parent has to appear but the form mentioned (DS-3053) must be filled out by the other parent and notarized - unless there is only one parent on the birth certificate.

thanks everyone- waiting now to get an open date to book an appointment.

Glad to know dh doesn't have to go, will be a bit of a pain but it's obviously necessary if we're ever to take dd to the US.

I may have missed this, been reading posts all morning, but do our kids need a UK passport? They were both born in the US (12/95 and 6/04). I'm American hubby is British. They are getting their 1st passports, a US one, later this summer for our trip in Dec to visit the UK over the winter holidays. We never told the UK of their birth. Do you need to tell the UK of the births? If so, are we too late?

They don't have to have UK passports but if they are coming here on US ones, just make sure they have the correct visa/visa waiver. If they were born outside the UK & you want to register them as British citizens I believe you can do so any time up to their 18th birthday. After that I think they have to file an application for citizenship by descent.

I may have missed this, been reading posts all morning, but do our kids need a UK passport? They were both born in the US (12/95 and 6/04). I'm American hubby is British. They are getting their 1st passports, a US one, later this summer for our trip in Dec to visit the UK over the winter holidays. We never told the UK of their birth. Do you need to tell the UK of the births? If so, are we too late?

From the British Embassy

Note to British-born parents applying to register the birth of a child;

Although we welcome applications to register the birth of children born in the USA to British-born parents, you should be aware that this is not obligatory. A registration certificate is a useful document to help establish a child's British nationality, but it is perfectly acceptable to apply directly for a British passport, without first registering the birth. However, we recommend that British parent's, currently working in the USA on UK Government service should register their child's birth using the form on this website.

However, this might apply to your situation also:

Please download and complete this form if British nationality is coming through the male line; the child was born prior to 01 July 2006; and parents subsequently married after the child's birth

They don't have to have UK passports but if they are coming here on US ones, just make sure they have the correct visa/visa waiver. If they were born outside the UK & you want to register them as British citizens I believe you can do so any time up to their 18th birthday. After that I think they have to file an application for citizenship by descent.

My kids do not need a visa right? They are not from a country listed on the  http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/visadatvnationals page.

My kids do not need a visa right? They are not from a country listed on the  http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/visadatvnationals page.

I believe that that page refers to countries where a visa has to be applied for before entering... my understanding from reading various threads on this forum is that Americans do need a visa, but the visa is issued at the time of entry to the UK by the act of stamping the passport.

If they are on US passports and just coming for a visit of less than 3 months no they do not need a visa. I wasn't sure the purpose of the trip, just covering all bases!

If they are on US passports and just coming for a visit of less than 3 months no they do not need a visa. I wasn't sure the purpose of the trip, just covering all bases!

Wonderful, I was getting worried I had loads of work to do! Thanks.

My goooodness....!! How slow is the appointment calendar website?! It takes about five minutes to show me each month and when it does, the dates are all taken It's a good thing we're trying to do this now as I had no clue about the little one only being able to travel on her American passport if she's entitled to one.

We've got a trip to California to visit some family in December. I hope they have some room open for her appointment or she'll be travelling illegally with her British passport!

If there are any other slacker parents out there who haven't registered their children's births and are worried  about it then don't.  We registered our middle and youngest today and it went really well.  The middle one is a month away from her 18th birthday so I was a bit nervous but it didn't seem to be a problem.  There was another kid there who was the same age doing the same thing and his parents didn't even have an appointment. 

It did take a couple of hours so be prepared and I have to say that the cost of it really starts to add up.

But at least that is one more thing off my list of things that need dealing with.

That's good to know Mindy, thanks for the info.  I'm going to move this to the sticky thread about birth registration so we don't lose it.

okay, I read the first 4 pages, then skimmed the rest (I've got a slightly cranky newborn complaining at the moment) but I don't think I saw this mentioned so I'll go ahead and ask:  approximately how far out do we need to book the appointment for registering the birth?  I've looked on the appointment page on the embassy's site, and it shows they have no appointments available for the next few months.  Beyond that (July or so) they just haven't made the dates available. 

So, we've no chance anytime soon of getting in, though it isn't a pressing issue as we won't be traveling anytime soon.  However, I would like to know how I'm supposed to make an appointment when there's nothing available to book in advance.  Is this a matter of stalking the website until they open up July/August/etc appointments?  Is this typical?

thanks!