Consular Notification thingy of Birth Abroad

Thank you!

Hi all! We are just back from the Consulate in Edinburgh. Here are some details that might be helpful to someone in the future.

There is metered street parking in the area. There were tons of spaces, but that might have something to do with it bring a school holiday week. There are a few stairs to enter the building but they were easy to navigate in the stroller. Cell phones and such are not allowed into the waiting room but they hold them at security for you. There are no bathrooms and no vending machines but I think you can eat/drink in the waiting room. The waiting room has counters and windows where everything is done, so you are only in one place.  I wasn't asked for any residency evidence or questions about my years at home. Maybe this was because I was very detailed in the "time spent in the US" section of the application? Whatever the reason I still have a sealed copy of my high school transcript for future use!

The credit/debit card machine was broken so we filled out a paper form and they will email when they put the payment through. This will delay the processing, but they are not sure for how long. The Royal Mail special delivery envelope for mailing the passport back costs £7.50 from the post office.

We were in and out in 40 minutes. The whole thing was painless and it is a beautiful part of town to walk around. Let's just hope the passport arrives in a timely manner. It is nice to officially have another American in the house!

I'm filling out the forms for our appointment.

Does anyone know if I need to fill in the "precise dates of time in the US" section for my husband (the UKC)? 

He has his passports with the entry stamps but has no idea how long he was in the US for each trip...

Yeah I believe you do and my husband couldn't remember either so we just put the full three month visa allowance time.

Also for mine since I moved around a lot and it asked for time in each city which I couldn't remember exact dates, just years so I ended up putting January 1st of whatever year to January 1st of whatever year. I don't think they pay too much attention to it to be honest.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks nlhargreaves.

Luckily I am weird and have all my travel dates, except for cruises.

Today we ventured into central London to register the birth of our daughter.  We were glad that the tube strike was cancelled.  We had three good options for getting there and decided to be wild and brave the tube.

Our appointment was at 8:00, so we were on the tube for the start of rush hour.  We (well, my husband) decided we should bring the pram so that baby could lay down (and he would carry it up and down stairs).  This worked fine for us and since it was still a bit early didn't cause any issues on the tube. 

We got to the embassy at 8:00 and were done at 9:00!  Easy peasy.  No surprises, they did ask for my transcripts (unsealed were fine).  Interview consisted of:

Where were you born?
Did you grow up there?
What was the name of your high school?
What did you do immediately after high school?
When for the first time did you leave the US for longer than a month?
Are you married?
When did you get married?
How long have you lived in the UK?

They definitely don't care about electronics anymore (laptops are the exception).  Had 4 key fob car keys, 3 phones, and a Kindle between us.

It's more than advisable, it's compulsory. Your baby can't move back to the US without their US passport -- all US citizens must enter the US on a US passport.

This is only true if entering by air AFAIK.

We're visiting the US next year and plan to get the  Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) but not passports and enter on those, it's a lot of expense still, without spending more on passports which expire in five years (I doubt we'll be able to go again within the next five years anyway).

Hi - I'm about to go through this process with my son and I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice regarding the Form DS-3053 Statement of Consent, as I'd rather my husband not have to use a day of his vacation hanging out at the embassy!

It says it needs to be notarized, but obviously a notary is a much different thing in the UK. I got a quote from a notary and it seems ridiculously expensive just for someone to witness a signature.

I saw in an earlier post someone mentioned a solicitor's signature was enough - can anyone else confirm or elaborate exactly what has worked? I'm going to call tomorrow - but hoping someone might know.

Thanks!

Well, I tried to call and that got me nowhere. Can't get through to anyone.

I do see it says you can have a British solicitor notarize it, but the form itself is clearly for a U.S. notary. It requires a seal. I'm a UK solicitor, and I have no seal. 

Would just love to hear from someone who has filled this out without paying 70 plus pounds and how they did it...

Thank you!!

It says it needs to be notarized, but obviously a notary is a much different thing in the UK. I got a quote from a notary and it seems ridiculously expensive just for someone to witness a signature.

Just in case you haven't, you should check the Notaries Society website for other notaries in your area. Their prices seem to vary wildly.

http://search.thenotariessociety.org.uk/

I've had things notarized by UK notaries for a US house sale and for a US power of attorney and didn't have any trouble with either of them. I realize that's not exactly the same as your situation, and I'm sorry I don't have any more information.

Thanks camoscato! There are only two near me - one quoted £90  and I'm waiting for a quote from the other.

I'm hoping there is a less ridiculously expensive option...

If you're anywhere near Letchworth, I know a guy who is reasonably priced.

Does anyone who has done this lately know if appointments on the day are still given out first come first served? I know when I went with my first daughter 2 years ago, we were told very helpfully by someone on this forum that you just show up on the day and get in line and they hand out numbers by who first comes through the doors etc regardless of what time slot your appointment was.

Anyone know if this is still the case? Would hate to show up in the freezing cold with  a 6 week old baby standing around outside at 7am to get in and out fast if they won't see us until our time slot (which is 8:30 or later I think I have to check!)

Thanks!

Hi - I was just there. I waited outside to go through security for about 20-30 minutes. Once you're inside they give you a number, and I stupidly just sat down waiting for my number without reading the instructions on the number slip...you're supposed to queue immediately at one of the booths to check in and hand them your paperwork.

So, I waited almost an hour before they called me up. After that it was about another hour - really not that bad - I'm not sure how much extra time I added on though! Plenty of room to sit though, and you can take your phone in now so that was nice. They complimented me on all my paperwork being in order, sounds like missing forms, etc. can delay things - so just make sure it's all filled out!

If anyone else is wondering about the notary thing - I emailed the embassy and they said an address stamp could be used instead of a notary seal. So, the solicitor at my husband's company signed it and put their company address stamp where the notary seal would go. No problems at all - they didn't ask me anything about it, even though I had their email and all sorts of back up evidence ready. They didn't ask for my transcripts or anything either.

I was really nervous about the whole thing - used to dealing with the awful DMV in my hometown in the US, so I was convinced I'd be wasting a trip to London having missed some obscure requirement - but in fact they were very nice and all was fine.

One thing - I brought my mom with me, but didn't realize you have to book an appointment for anyone accompanying you. I didn't go back to check the website - don't know where this info is provided, but just a heads up for anyone. In the end, it was better for her as she didn't have to wait the two boring hours

Also, I wore my baby in a wrap and that worked out well.

Good Luck!

The Embassy website says they only accept official marriage certificates when you register the birth of your child. My wife and I were married in the Church of England and our certificate (the only one we ever received), which was filled in by hand by our vicar, is headed "Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage Pursuant to the Marriage Act 1949". As I understood it, this would have been filed with the local registry office as an official document. Anyone know if CofE marriage certificates are acceptable?