... to think the Home Office is trying to extort ££ by threatening my baby

[notlost]

First, I am not British and neither is DH (not a sin, believe it or not), but we are indefinitely settled in London and DD was born here. Since we are not British she cannot have a British passport, regardless of where she was born, so we got her an American one. Now the Home Office is saying that since she is "declared American" we need to get her a visa that is EXACTLY the same as ours - that's right, an ADULT work permit, to the tune of £585.

AND THEY WANT TO COLLECT MY 6 MONTH OLD BABY'S FINGERPRINTS AND DNA FOR THEIR F-ING DATABASE AND MAKE HER CARRY ONE OF THOSE BIOMETRIC ID CARDS.

They have told me I have to do this within the next two months or risk her being deported and a permanent black mark on her immigration record.

Isn't it enough for them that we have to pay the same taxes as everyone else, but don't get access to any kind of public benefits (including the child tax credit)? Wasn't it enough for them to make DH and I pay £600 for PERMISSION to get married? Why do they have to treat my baby like a criminal??

I wish I could complain to my MP, but as a foreigner I'm not eligible to vote and am therefore no-one's constituent.

Merrylegs "Then your baby would be entitled to be a British citizen."

I am a bit confused by this, the British passport authority says that children are only eligible for a British passport if one of the parents is British. We are settled here indefinitely but cannot be naturalized yet, so neither of us is British.

YANBU, bloody stupid BS rules.
We have the same BS when we go to the states. We own a property there, have to pay HUGE amounts of tax there, local high schools etc but we can only go there for up to 90 days a year. Crazy

Well, guess what? If I wanted to take my Scottish husband to the US he'd not only have to give fingerprints, but also have a whole medical, at our expense. And we'd have to pay to go to London for his visa and pay for that, too.

I see zero wrong with requiring foreigners to submit fingerprints, pay for visas, etc. ALL of them.

Don't see why babies are exempt, mine weren't from paying for their US paperwork.

F*k me, I never got no $1000 handout from GWBush in 2003, (SIGH), wonder if It's too late to apply? .

From the UK Border Agency website:

If you were born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983, you are a British citizen if at the time of your birth one of your parents was:

• a British citizen; or
• legally settled in the United Kingdom.

Legally settled:

Living in the United Kingdom with permission to stay here permanently (this includes indefinite leave to remain).

'I knew about not claiming public benefit, and wholly accepted it, before and after having DD. It's just that they are getting a lot of money from us, directly and indirectly, but now they want more.

A baby born to British, or any nationality, parents in the States would be entitled to American citizenship. I didn't expect citizenship (especially as we can't apply for citizenship ourselves for another ~year), but I did expect that an infant who was born here would be allowed to remain here with her parents until she was older. Or, at least able to walk on her own.'

Well, she can. With the proper visa.

As far as benefits, well, hell, I'm glad you accepted that because it's a real insult when foreigners come here and expect to be supported in any way by the taxpayer.

Your DD would apply for ILTR as a dependent.

here

YABU - No harsher (in fact a little more lenient) than the US policy on immigration and visas. USA takes fingerprints on entry to just go on holiday FFS.

I have indefinite leave to remain, DH is a British citizen. DD has British citizenship but only because DH and I are married. Hence the wedding while 7 months pregnant.

And Merrylegs is right. If you have ILR, your baby is entitled to naturalisation even if you are not eliglible for another year.

Sorry - I thought it was if one parent was British OR had ILR, then kids born here could have citizenship. (Am Canadian and have ILR - maybe diff for US?)

'Because otherwise, I'm gonna be extra mean and say if you don't like it, go back home. Yes we are legal aliens, living in an era of great security fears. Legal Aliens in the USA are treated no less rigorously, AFAIK. And as for their treatment in other countries...'

I couldn't agree more!

They are charging everyone for visas. And if your application fails, you have to pay to apply for another one.

It's not like they're singling anyone out.

This applies to any non-EU/EEA national.

The rules are the rules.

Same as the US rules.

I don't live in London and had to travel at some expense to a consulate to get my children their US passports, birth certificates and SSNs because the law in the US says they have to enter and leave the US on American passports.

I'll have to do this every five years with them in tow to renew their passports.

If I don't like it I'm free to return to the US.

All first-time applicants for a UK passport have to be interviewed, even if they were born here and never left.

If they don't like it, tough, they can stay here and not get a passport.

Those are the rules and every nation has them.

Merrylegs, same here. I am Indian, DH, Canadian, and when we got ILR, DD was eligible to get her British passport straightaway, and we had to wait for the requisite 2 years.

She now is dual British/ Cad.

weblette thanks for that. I do wonder what that means re: the warning they stamped in her other passport.

And as far as US immigration policies, I was not aware they fingerprinted babes in arms, and I have actually been in the Homeland Security interrogation rooms (re: my time in the UK). But is the UK really aspiring to imitate US immigration policy?

I don't mind if the Gov decides that all my particulars need to be in their would-be criminals database, but I do mind them collecting same on my infant.

Hell, if she goes on a rampage before her first birthday she would still have enough DNA in common with me for them to find her .

Thinking back to the last time I went to the US, only to be slung into the sin bin at LAX alongside a Kiwi drugs dealer for 2.5 hours because they had failed to retrieve an index-sized green visa waiver card from my passport the previous year, and were accusing me of being a visa overstayer despite the fact I'd just flown in from London, I'd say there's bureacratic idiocy on both sides of the pond.

No, Slug. Sorry, but your DD has citizenship based on your immigration status at the time (ILR) not via marriage. Am not married to DP, but DCs are British based on him being British and me being legally in country (with ILR)

But think I will apply for British citizenship. Seems a bit lame to be the only one in the family without British citizenship.

duchesse I was probably in the sin bin with you for carrying my current and expired passport (with visa inside - £400 to transfer it to the new passport)... LAX is notorious for flagging up anyone and everyone, so much so that I try not to fly through there anymore.

Not to mention for some reason the agents at LAX have a rotten attitude, almost without fail.

Where is your US hometown, Notlost? (NosyQuestion).

ilove, it is in your best interest to apply for and obtain nationality as soon as possible.

the government is making it more and more difficult to obtain, a trend which will continue as well as making it harder and harder to stay on ILR or get ILR, and the cost will continue to rise.

when i did it it was £268, now it's like £800.

the exam has gotten more difficult as well.

and of course, the cost of passports is increasing.

plus, it's just one less hassle, particularly if your children are also dual nationals.

Yabu

The rules are complicated and expensive, no matter what country you refer to

If you want to live here, you will have to jump through lots of hoops

Just like I would have to (and spend £££) to go and live in Australia which had been my dream until I realised I would be thousands out of pocket before I even stepped foot in the country

Its rotten, but there ya go

'But is the UK really aspiring to imitate US immigration policy?'

Yes, yes they are.

I don't mind

I'm from San Francisco and DH is from Orange County (yes, THAT Orange County - he totally speaks like a valley girl too, it's cute).

This whole kerfuffle is probably my fault... I spent so much time trying to figure out the American side of things - going so far as reading court judgements on citizenship and finding out that she MUST travel to the US on a US passport - that I took for granted that a baby had residence in the country of her birth. American bias I suppose, since that's the way it would have worked there.

I hated the American paperwork because some of the forms wanted you to write the date as numbers, others wanted you to spell it out, forms said 'attach pages as necessary' and then when I got to the Consulate they forced me to fit it all in the one tiny box, you could use 'N/A' on some forms but not others, DH had to go in person with me or have a sworn and witnessed statement from a solicitor (because the US and UK have a child abduction treaty), plus the travel was a nightmare.

But hey ho, them's the rules. You can be fined for taking a person entitled to US nationality into the US without a US passport.

And they're cracking down on people who do this.

I can do Valley Girl talk when I feel like it (LIKE).
I should get British citizenship too, but can't stomach the £700 (or is it MORE, £800??, now??) fee.