Consular Notification thingy of Birth Abroad

Thanks kolc.  I'm using explorer but maybe it's some pop-up thing that's going wrong. 

I guess I'd better look at the end of June then just to be safe.

Okay, I've gone to the website, checked the right buttons, gone to the calendar, and........nothing.  The calander thingy won't let me pick a date and I can't fill in a date on the form without it.  Am I missing something here?

And also, about how long does it take to get the actual passport afterwards. 

ehile I'm there I want to renew the sixteen year olds passport after her sixteenth birthday(in June) but before her trip to the US in August.  And I'd preferably like to do it after school lets out in the end of July. 

It is probably because the dates you are trying to get haven't been opened yet for appointments. They only open a few weeks ahead of time. Keep checking back.

To get the full passport takes two weeks.

Thanks sweety.  That could be it.   

Mindy, we received Philip's passport exactly 2 weeks after going to the embassy, but I think maybe we got lucky.

What happens if you need to make 2 appointments?

I need to register the birth of my youngst (now 10 months old).

My oldest is 5, his US passport has just expired.

I can make an appointment for one child.  The US embassy website says:

"(2) Each family member seeking a passport-related service requires his or her own individual appointment. At the time you receive your confirmation page to print, you also will be offered the option to make a separate appointment for another individual. "

What are the chances of me getting 2 appointments back to back, or even on the same day, for both my children?  Does anybody have any experience?

Thanks/cloudy

If there are not two appointments on the same day as the report of birth, email the confirmation address you get after booking the report of birth. The person at the other end of the email will be able to assist you.

Just remember it is vital that you have an apointment for both children, otherwise you may get turned away, or face long waits.

We registered our twins and had two appointments back to back - it was no problem whatsoever.  I think we booked online.

By the way, the Embassy experience isn't that bad - just take plenty of food and drink for the little ones.  There is a 'kiddies' corner, with toys and a video, so they should be reasonably happy.

Chris

Now you guys have me scared... I phone them up in the end, almost 2 weeks ago, now. Online I could only get appointments to register the baby at end of June (29 or 30) or July 1.  Those were the ONLY DATES available.

But to get an appt. to get my 5yo a new passport, the only online dates available were in mid-May.

I phoned up, explained why I didn't want to make 2 trips for my children.   "Mandy" said that if I came along with the baby, they would squeeze the 5yo in somehow.  She sent in the snail-mail a written confirmation which is... only for the baby.  On Friday, 1 July (marginally less inconvenient than the other dates). 

Are you teling me that Mandy was wrong, I need to get an appt. separately for my 5yo after all???



The other bit of advice... Mandy said that on the form (for the absent parent to give his permission for my children to have a passport) -- she said that my husband has to ok the 1st passport for the baby *and* the passport renewal for the 5yo.  ALSO, she said to make sure the soliciter put his "seal" or "stamp" on it -- sometimes they just write their name & sign as witnesses -- she said that won't do.

Our local soliciter tried to fob us off with a paralegal to do the form, btw, so we are definitely going to go to a public notary (husband has to take the day off work to go to a town 20 miles away, but it's either that or he travels to London & stays in an expensive B+B there with us, & go to Embassy next day).

Cloudy,

I just got back from my consular appointment the other day.  When I booked (to make a long story short) they only gave me an appointment for my younger two, not my oldest but I brought down all the forms and paperwork to do his stuff as well and they didn't have a problem.  I think a lot depends on who is working and how busy they are though.  They seemed quite sympathetic that we had to travel a long way to get to London and a trip like that with three kids under they age of 5 is an expensive nightmare from hell.

Your post made me realize that Im going to have to make this miserable trip yet again when its time to renew their passports.  Yuck.

Your post made me realize that Im going to have to make this miserable trip yet again when its time to renew their passports.  Yuck.

I renewed my daughter's passport last year by post, have they changed the requirements?

Yes, Leah, children have to renew in person.  But I think adults can still renew by post (I don't know why!).  DH thinks that children get biometric passports but adults don't... because children's faces are changing so their photos aren't up-to-date for long?  I really don't know.

HELP!! - I have an appt on the 22nd of this month to get my daughter and mine US passports. Does anyone know of any close bed and breaksfast places near the embassy that we could stay in and which is the closest train station? We are coming from Manchester.

Thanks a bunch guys,
Joanne & Hope

HELP!! - I have an appt on the 22nd of this month to get my daughter and mine US passports. Does anyone know of any close bed and breaksfast places near the embassy that we could stay in and which is the closest train station? We are coming from Manchester.

Thanks a bunch guys,
Joanne & Hope

Hi Joanne,

There's a Premier Travel Inn about 1.5 miles from the US Embassy http://www.premiertravelinn.com/pti/hotelInformation.do?hotelId=23882.

Gloucester Park Hotel, 55 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London W1U 8JQ. Tel: 44 20 7486 6166 / Fax: 44 20 7486 7500. E-mail : gloucester@fsmail.net.

Also, there's the Boston Court Hotel, 26 Upper Berkeley Street Marble Arch London W1 H7QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1480 394138/Fax: +44 (0) 1480 353145. E-mail: info@bostoncourthotel-london.co.uk.

I didn't check the rates on them, but hopefully you'll find a reasonably priced one.

Cheers,
 Mel

my sister lives in canada and is trying for children at the moment.  the process of consular notification came up in conversation over xmas dinner and i was really surprised that she didn't indend to notify the US consulate in Canada if and when she and her husband have children.  they travel to the US often, and will probably continue to do so if/when children come.  i told her that I was under the impression that if she had children, they would be intitled to US citizenship & US passport (she's a US citizen).  because of this intitlement, the future children MUST travel into the US on their US passport.  she disputed this and said, what are they going to do???

question to the knowlegable women/men on this board: what would happen if she didn't register/notify the US consulate in canada of a foreign birth and then travelled to the US with her children (her with her US passport and the children with their UK passport)?  Has anyone from this board been in the same situation, travelling into the US with their US entitled citizen children who are actually travelling with their UK passport?  Would immigration stop you?  I'm confused. 

question to the knowlegable women/men on this board: what would happen if she didn't register/notify the US consulate in canada of a foreign birth and then travelled to the US with her children (her with her US passport and the children with their UK passport)? Has anyone from this board been in the same situation, travelling into the US with their US entitled citizen children who are actually travelling with their UK passport? Would immigration stop you? I'm confused.

Well, the general consensus is that they must have a US passport to travel to the US.  BUT, to my knowledge and in my own experience no one has been refused entry if they travelled with a UK passport.  That doesn't mean it'll never happen, or that some Immigration officer won't give you a hard time.  Just that I've never heard of it happening.  Anyone?