The baby is officially a dual citizen! She even has two passports. (Yes, that’s right, my three month old has two passports.) They both have the same photo, which totally reminds me of the beginning of The Bourne Identity – you know, that bit where Matt Damon wakes up and has no idea who or where he is, and then he discovers that he has about a dozen passports. Except instead of Matt Damon, they all have pictures of Vin Diesel.
(I was pleased to find this. It’s nice to know that someone else thinks their baby resembles a bald 46 year old man. And how incredible is it that even babies take terrible passport photos? I take about seventeen photos of this baby EVERY DAY that are all way cuter than this one.)
I wanted to register the baby as a US citizen as soon as possible. Because why delay? Registering someone as a US citizen born abroad is a fairly straightforward process up until the age of 18, but it didn’t exactly seem like we’d get any more motivated to do it as time went on. Besides, we’ll eventually be taking a transatlantic flight. With two small children. Which will be hell. But at least we’ll get to all stand on the short line at immigration.
Incidentally, the US requires that American citizens enter the country on American passports, so these steps really had to be done at the same time.
The application is pretty straightforward. The only catch is that after filling it in, you have to go and register the birth in person. We got all worked up about having to go to the American Embassy in London, and then found out that residents of Scotland go to the American Consulate instead. In Edinburgh. So that was easy.
I made an appointment online, then printed out three forms: an application for a report of birth abroad, a passport application, and an application for a social security number. The first two had to be completed but not signed, while the third had to be completed and signed, and all three had to be mailed to the Consulate at least seven days before our appointment.
The timing can be tricky, because appointments are only available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and only through the end of the following month, so it’s not possible to plan too far ahead. Also if both parents can’t be at the appointment, there’s another form that needs to be filled out and notarized, and that added a level of complication that we just couldn’t handle, so the spouse had to arrange a few hours off work. But, better than having to arrange a trip to London.
My in-laws had been to a few grand events at the Consulate. They told us to keep an eye out for the lovely back garden. I was all geared up for a warm American welcome. Or at least coffee and donuts. Alas, we didn’t get past the hard chairs and service windows in the front room. It had more of a post office than a DMV feel (read: fine, and not utterly demoralizing), but still. (I really wanted a donut.)
That said, everyone was very nice to us. Filling out visa applications is nerve-wracking, because any tiny mistake can theoretically delay or even invalidate your application. I carried that mentality into this application, so it was a bit stressful too. And despite my best efforts, sleep deprivation guaranteed I’d make some mistakes. (Like when the application asked for the mother’s full name at the time of her birth, I really should have realized that “her” referred to me – the mother of the applicant – and not to the baby. Who, of course, didn’t necessarily have to be female. In other words, they wanted to know my maiden name, not the name I was using in mid-December.) But instead of sending your error-filled application back to you, the lovely consular officials white out all of your mistakes, photocopy the form, and tell you what to write when you come in for your appointment. It’s like they wanted us to get it right.
So now I’m the only member of the family with a single passport.
The baby’s passport and certification of birth abroad arrived with a handy fact sheet, which answers the important question of whether she can be President of the United States someday. The answer is, maybe. The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether someone who is a citizen at birth is a natural born citizen. I’m assuming that by the time she’s old enough for this to be an issue, it will have been resolved in her favor.
life begins at zero 