Re Queens Speech

Re Queens Speech

One item puzzles me:

"Other changes will allow people serving overseas with the Armed Forces to register their children as British"

I've been out of the loop for a good few years, but does this not already happen?

 

Thanks for that Mike. Your quote is not from the actual Queen's Speech, but from James Kirkup's write-up in the Daily Telegraph, per your link. He is usually well sourced and I would be interested in more info as it emerges.

 

There already is the Crown Service provision. I wonder if this means people like NAAFI employees. Not Crown Servants, but working "with the Armed Forces".

Edit: Nope. No10.gov says: It also enables those serving overseas in the armed forces to register their children as British.

Odd. Maybe non-Brits (I'm clutching at straws here!).

 

Not necessarily. Since 1983, any child born in the United Kingdom to foreign nationals is NOT automatically granted citizenship. This was primarily brought in to combat the 'my child was born here, he/she is British - you can't throw my family out!' factor, as it was an immigration abuse loophole. Now there are many qualification/time/immigration + residency circumstances of parents factors to be considered.

 

I had to register my children at The British Consulate in Germany when they were born at BMH Munster back in '87 and '90

 

No. 1 son born BMH Rinteln, 1979 - birth registered at the British Consulate Hannover - UK birth certificate.
No 2 son born Geneva 1981 - birth registered at British Consulate Geneva - UK birth certificate (+ Swiss birth certificate).
Daughter born Rome 1996 - birth registered at British Embassy Rome - UK birth certificate (+ Italian birth certificate).

So nothing new. The option to ask for a Consular birth certificate has been there for a long time. IIRC, for BMHs, it was mandatory to register at the nearest Consulate

It is advisable to register overseas births at the British Consulate to avoid nationality problems two generations down the line.

 

Pretty sure problem was that troops serving outside did not know/bother to register at local Consulate. When the child went to get a passport for themselves, there were many complications because of this failure. My daughter born Malaya 1958 was OK but silly girl lost the Consular document and had mucho problemo.