Thread: Registering a birth with the British Embassy

Can anybody tell me what you gain by registering a birth at the British embassy apart from them making money, also is it painful to apply for your Childs 1st passport ?

^I'm American, but the system is pretty much the same. All subsequent paperwork exercises with your child will be much easier if the birth is registered promptly with the Embassy. For the US embassy for the first ppt, you had to take in the kid, the mother, the birth certificate, etc. As long as the kid looked at least kind of half/half, no problem. If the kids looks totally non-foreign, they can send you off for a (very expensive) DNA test. One guy I know went nuts when they insisted he go for a DNA test, but not as nuts as he went when it came back that he was not Dad.

There is no legal benefit of registering your child as you already know Banboy. It even says this on the Embassy web page that it's not a requirement. The passport is easily obtainable by post. No need for a personal visit. Just follow their web site instructions.

Wow! Impressive. If the US had such a system, there would be about two million more Filipinos living there than there already are.

The US system has been good enough for me. My kids got their first passports at 4 months. This was proof of them being Americans. They have had 2 more since, and also have obtained social security cards.

I see it as instant proof of citizenship to another country than Thailand. This summer they will go to the US by themselves. As citizens of both Thailand and the USA. No visa required either way at the age of 13.

Not a money making exercise at all, but a way to quickly give your kids something you dont have. Two citizenships. Take advantage of both passports. When we went to Bali the kids and wife were free on the Thai one. Seems the best of both worlds to me. As I had to purchase a visa as an American citizen.

^Yep. My kids have had American passports and Social Security numbers since birth (practically). I just find it very hard to believe that a country like the UK just sends out passports for babies with nothing more than mailed in documentation. Very strange.

^ If in doubt go to:-http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for-british-nationals/passports/how-to-apply/thailand/first-time-applications

^I already did. You appear to be correct. I still find it strange. But..............

yup, that is all we needed to obtain British passport for my daughter from Brit embassy in madrid.my Brit passport,birth certificate,daughters Spanish birth certificate,took a week .€120 or so,no worries

Registering your child's birth with the embassy ensures it is recorded in the UK's General Register Office. This may be useful in time to come when perhaps the original birth certificate is lost and a certified copy is required. Of course, a copy could be obtained from the Thai authorities but this may seem problematic if the person is subsequently resident in the UK and unaware of Thai ways.
It can't hurt but it has no bearing on citizenship.

Originally Posted by banboy

Can anybody tell me what you gain by registering a birth at the British embassy apart from them making money, also is it painful to apply for your Childs 1st passport ?

A British passport will be if enormous value to your kid, it's an easy process to go through, just get all of yours, wifeys and babies docs together, get the birth certificate translated word for word, lots of places around the embasy will do thus for you and takes an hour or two at most, go togerther with wifey to the embasy and submit the lot, wait for a letter to arrive telling you to go back into the embasy to collect the passport, mine took two weeks I think, and your done