Consular Notification thingy of Birth Abroad

One bit of advice that I don't remember reading on here (but it had been a while, so forgive me if I'm duplicating information):

I had all my documents gathered and complete and thought I was all done, but I'm one of those neurotic types who reads every bit of instruction available.  It was after linking through several different links that I realized that since my DH wasn't going to be coming with me, I had to have a form notarized with his signature saying that he approved of DD getting her US passport.

I very nearly missed this bit and would have been stuck at the embassy needing to come in to London another time had I not discovered it.  We had to scramble to find someone to notarize it for us.  Do keep in mind though, that it says "notarize" which is more difficult in the UK, but it also says your solicitor can do it.  My solicitor is not a notary, but he used his stamp that he uses for certifying documents (which is really more of the UK equivalent of what notaries do in the US) and the embassy had no problems with accepting that. Her passport arrived today after only about a week.

So, I had another Patently Stupid Question™® to ask in relation to doing passports for the baby.  So erm.... what -does- one put in for hair and eye color and the like?  My little one actually has hair, but y'know... eye color changes.  We don't want to get in trouble for filling out data incorrectly not once, but twice ('cause getting her British -and- US passport), and I've not found anything of use in that area, so I'd love to hear what you lovely ladies (and few gents) have to say on this.

Hmm, I didn't remember doing those questions, so I just went in and looked and it looks like they've changed the application format for passports in just the last few weeks.  How odd.

I would just put the answers as close to what they are now.  People know that babies change, if you have questions on future passports, you can just say that they changed after she got a little older.  They have you show pictures proving the change from the first baby photo anyway when you renew, so that will show the transition and show that you weren't lying.

Wow! I just want to thank this site for the link I found to the U.S. Embassy's website as to this being a mandatory thing...

I never realised that it was mandatory really, but thought we would go into London 'eventually' and specifically to apply for our son a U.S. Passport (we have since applied for him a British one!)! We meet the 'transmission requirements' under the following clause:

"Child born in wedlock to one U.S. citizen parent and one non U.S. citizen parent on or after November 14, 1986: A child born outside of the United States to one U.S. citizen parent and one non-U.S. citizen parent may be entitled to citizenship providing the U.S. citizen parent had been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years, at least two years of which were after s/he reached the age of fourteen. This period of physical presence must have taken place prior to the birth of the child."


My son is 3 1/2 months-old...So, I guess he can already be a dual citizen then? His having a U.K. Passport on the way will not affect his getting a U.S. Passport as well then--nor his automatically qualifying for U.S. Citizenship as the son of an American mother?

I guess we will have to make an appointment very, very soon since a few months have already gone by since his birth and they say to do it, 'as soon as possible'! We do have a lot upon us at the moment with our moving to a new town in a fortnight's time, an illness in the family and a busy life overall. Heck, I love a good excuse to go to London and to, "Whole Foods" anyway! So to the U.S. Embassy we will go!

Your child was a dual citizen at birth.

This is not new and is covered extensively in the following topic:
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=4481.0

I am not sure where to post about this...

I just got an e-mail from the US embassy (er, I think?)  We have an appointment at the US embassy on June 9th. I thought that we brought all of the filled in forms, passport photos, etcetera... to the appointment? This e-mail I received said otherwise:

PLEASE MAIL YOUR PAPERWORK TO US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND WELL AHEAD OF YOUR APPOINTMENT DATE. This will reduce your waiting time at the Embassy and assist our staff with processing your child's Consular Report of Birth Abroad and passport application in a timely manner. The documents required are as follows:
      1.  Original Consular Report of Birth Abroad application form(DS-2029);
2.  Original passport application form(DS-11);
3.  Original Social Security form (SS5) (if child is under the age of five years).
4.  Copy of child's long-form birth certificate;
5.  Copy of parents' official marriage certificate, the state certificate issued and sealed by the civil authorities;
6.  Copy of parents' divorce decrees, if applicable;
7.  Copy of both parents' passports.
Please do not mail the passport photos ahead of your appointment; these should be brought with you when you attend the Embassy.
As we will soon be changing our procedures for passport applications, we would be grateful if you could complete the passport application form (DS-11) for your child online by following the attached link: https://pptform.state.gov/FraudAbuseNotice.aspx  When prompted for the applicant's Social Security Number please enter: 000-00-0000
 
Due to the high number of applications we are unable to confirm receipt of your documents.
Please mail the documents, including a note with your appointment date and time, to:
        Passport and Citizenship Unit
        American Citizen Services
        American Embassy
        5 Upper Grosvenor Street
        London
        W1A 2LQ
        Attn: BW
NOTE:  All original documents should be brought with you to the embassy on the day of your appointment.
 
 

Huh? So I have to mail everything now? Do I even have time? Urgh. Is this how it has always been done?

 

I am not sure where to post about this...

I just got an e-mail from the US embassy (er, I think?)  We have an appointment at the US embassy on June 9th. I thought that we brought all of the filled in forms, passport photos, etcetera... to the appointment? This e-mail I received said otherwise:


Huh? So I have to mail everything now? Do I even have time? Urgh. Is this how it has always been done?

I received the same email, but I never sent anything off. I just took it all with me as I didn't feel comfortable sending all that through the mail.

Don't worry you don't have to do it.

I received the same email, but I never sent anything off. I just took it all with me as I didn't feel comfortable sending all that through the mail.

Don't worry you don't have to do it.

Phew. They didn't say anything to you? Good. I would much rather bring everything on the day rather than running around town making copies and posting in the mail. I mean, they won't even let you know if it was received? And you still have to bring the actual documents on the day anyway? What's the point?

Phew. They didn't say anything to you? Good. I would much rather bring everything on the day rather than running around town making copies and posting in the mail. I mean, they won't even let you know if it was received? And you still have to bring the actual documents on the day anyway? What's the point?

They never said a word about it to me. I think they might do it just so they can get a jump on processing so it might lessen their workload...not too sure.

Also - Form DS-2029 appears to be all funky in its layout on the PDF file? How am I supposed to fill out that mess?

Ooh!  I wish I'd been given that opportunity.  My appointment was last minute, so I didn't see any email like that, but I brought it all the same day--picture spending around five hours just sitting around the waiting room in the embassy with a fussy little one who's bored to tears.  I could only bring so many snacks and toys in my bag.  A large portion of that wasn't waiting to be seen, but waiting after they took my documents from me for them to process them.  I'd have definitely mailed them in ahead of time given the choice.

Ooh!  I wish I'd been given that opportunity.  My appointment was last minute, so I didn't see any email like that, but I brought it all the same day--picture spending around five hours just sitting around the waiting room in the embassy with a fussy little one who's bored to tears.  I could only bring so many snacks and toys in my bag.  A large portion of that wasn't waiting to be seen, but waiting after they took my documents from me for them to process them.  I'd have definitely mailed them in ahead of time given the choice.

You're not allowed to leave while they process them? I remember at the UK Embassy, when we were getting my spouse visa, we were allowed to leave and go back.

Our appointment is at the latest time.

We mailed ours and were out in exactly 2 hours.  Not sure if it that made a difference or not, but there were definitely people there who had been there much longer (but could've been there for a totally different reason, y'know).

I'm starting to wonder if I should mail it out. Hmmmm. Urg! 

We mailed ours and were out in exactly 2 hours.  Not sure if it that made a difference or not, but there were definitely people there who had been there much longer (but could've been there for a totally different reason, y'know).

I'm starting to wonder if I should mail it out. Hmmmm. Urg! 

I didn't mail mine and was in & out in just over 2 hours.