[jodymo]

Can't believe I only just thought of this! If i'm British and the hubby is Canadian and we are having the baby in Hong Kong - what nationality will the baby be?

I'm planning to take her back to the UK soon after birth, and know Brit babies need a passport, but will she actually be British?

Where do I look to check this stuff?

Cheers

[somebodyfamous]

She can be British because you are British. Britain allows dual nationality but I dont know about Canada, if Canada allows dual nationaliy, then your baby can have 2 passports. If Canada doesn't allow it, you'll have to decide which country you want your baby to hold a passport of!

[nanzbier]

my daughter has both taiwan passport and us passport. check with both consulates to see what is required.

[carang]

canada allows dual nationality, as does britain...i have both passports. your child shouldn't have any rights to HK PR if neither of you have it.

[RebeccaMB]

Can't speak for UK, but do know for Canadian passport ... i JUST did this for my boys, so the memory is FRESH

Canadian parent has to apply for cdn passport AND cdn CITIZENSHIP for child. If you can prove you need to travel shortly (just give them an itinerary for ANY travel --don't have to prove it's paid for), they will issue the passport within 14days or so. BUT it's only good for 1yr, as the child is NOT TECHINCALLY a Canadian Citizen (yet).

You also have to "apply" for citizenship, which takes (in my experience) a minimum of 6mths. This application gets sent off to Halifax adn then back (if approved) to HK. Child gets a credit-card sized Citizenship card. ---SHOCKING to me that they'll never get a Cdn birth certificate --- ahh..oh, yah ... they weren't BORN in Canada!! --had to remind myself of that one!!

NEXT, once you get the letter from the consulate that the citizenship is in, you take the 1yr passport back in, collect this new *card* and immediately apply for the *extension* on the 1yr liminted passport. Now they'll extend the passport for another 2yrs (so it becomes a legit 3yr infant passport). Once again, this will take a min. 2wks

Don't bother renewing your child's canadian passport BEFORE tehy're 3yso if you can manage, cuz after that, the passports are good for 5yrs. If under 3, it's only good for 3yrs. ... just a $$ and convenience issue

and YES Canadians can hold dual citizenship. I have it, my boys all have it and i'd suspect over 250,000 HK-Cdns have passports from Cda and HKSAR , and maybe even another to boot. i remember reading somewhere that Canadian passport holders are teh largest "foreign nationals" in HK ... ..

BE AWARE tho, that if your (Cdn) child is born outside of canada, HIS/HER children may have NO CLAIM to Cdn citizenship, if THEY THEMSELVES are NOT born IN canada ... May or may not be an issue, ... and as one consulate official stated, "you're worrying about your grandkids!! that's likely 30yrs down the line... by that time maybe NONE of us will have passports as we now know them." ... ?i don't know .. but something to be aware of

oh, and you'll have to provide proof of your (or dh's) canadian citizenship ... not just your passport ... like a birth certificate, i suppose

HTHs!

[RebeccaMB]

SORRY for the double reply ... but there was anotehr bit of info about Right of Abode at teh bottom i forgot to type (it was in my head as i hit submit)
:-)

[kashismum]

Originally Posted by RebeccaMB

SHOCKING to me that they'll never get a Cdn birth certificate --- ahh..oh, yah ... they weren't BORN in Canada!! --had to remind myself of that one!!

You can get a UK birth certificate for a child born outside the UK if you want. No legal requirement to do so and it is not automatic - you need to apply and pay. The same may be true of Canada - you''d have to check.

[somebodyfamous]

you dont need a UK birth certificate to apply for UK passport if your child is eligible to be a UK citizen.