expats who had / will have a baby away from their homeland?

[SalBySea]

did you / will you give your baby your nationality or the nationality of the country they're born in?

I was born to ex pat parents and was given their nationality - but then due to family circumstances they moved back home so I did end up being raised in the country that was on my password in the end

I see pros and cons for both

my nationality: its a bit more politically neutral which may be beneficial in times when England might be involved in war etc. Its my nationality.

English: good embassies, and if we never move to my home country, I think it would feel a bit odd to call yourself a nationality of a country that you know relatively little about, If we stay here our baby will probably feel English so would it be odd to not be? then again, who knows if we'll stay? no plans to move right now but my parents didnt intent to go home and they did.

DH is English and doesn't seem to care either way

sorry - passPORT not passWORD

DS has dual nationality, worth it IMO, for the reason you say. If we go to english unfriendly country, he can use his other passport.

my dd has dual nationality, dp is australian

a friend of mine who has dual australian/english nationality told me that it is going to be abolished and she will soon have to choose one.

If you had to choose one for your DCs, which would you choose?

DD is duel nationality, it seems wise to keep her options open as long as possible.

She will have to make choice later though, I don't know if that's the same with all combinations of nationalities, but with this one she can't have two passports after 18.

DP is Dutch.

my dp also has dual nationality, i really dont think they can make you choose, he has a brit passport because his dad is british but dp was born in oz and lived there until he was 25, he is definately entitled to oz passport, as is dd. they might stop giving it to peope but i dont think they can take it away

dp has 2 passports btw, british and oz, both have just been renewed with no problems

Our children have 3 nationalities/passports (mine, dh's and English) and my understanding is that they can keep all three forever.

I dont like the idea of multiple nationalities personally, am eligible myself but never applied. Think its nicer to be able to say "I'm one thing"

the kid could always apply for the second nationality in the future if they want but for now we are just trying to decide what to put on the birth cert.

Any ex pats just picked one and which one did you pick and why?

why dont you like the idea? i am english my dp is australian, we are both part of her. if dd says she is anything she will say british because she was born and will probably be brought up here, but if in the future she wants to live in australia we have given her that option without her having to go through the usual problems to get visas ect.

do you get a choice of what to put on bith cert, i cant remember tbh, i think if you register them here they are british by default? we had to apply for the australian one seperately so really not sure about the actual birth cert.

because I didnt like growing up feeling neither 100% one or the other (even though I just have one on my passport, although I often felt it was the wrong one and I was a bit of a fraud. Dont care now, I know I feel english even if my passport says otherwise - its still a european one so DH and I go through the same channels at customs etc)

and the option is there for the future anyway to get dual if they want it - an option that I have never needed or wanted (woulda made me feel even more disjointed) but its there

We will prob just put one on the birth cert and would like to here about others who chose rather than went for dual from the start. still have a few months to decide, am erring towards English at the moment as that is where it will live, for now anyway, and it'll be the same as one of its parents.

nancy - I was born and registered here and am not British

People in the dual camp - if you HAD to pick one, which would it be?

you have just got me wondering now, just got dds birth cert out to have a look and there is no nationality on it, just her place & date of birth and then parents names and places of birth, so you dont choose until you apply for passports.

No, a birth certificate has no information on nationality. It is just a proof of birth and gives information on the date and place of birth (as well as some parents details).

I think it's great that our children have 3 passports because it gives them more options on later when they're grown up.

But of course I sometimes do wonder where to draw the line... Say my dd (with 3 nationalities) were to marry someone with 3 other nationalities, then their children could get 6 nationalities

my English birth cert does have my nationality on it

my children have duel citizenship (UK/Cdn) I would pick Cdn I think. When I have to tick boxes about their ethnicity I usually tick 'white other' dh thinks this is most strange and I should just tick 'white British'
but they are both! he gets cross

just saw your other thread - thing is, one of the great benefits of having duel citizenship is employment opportunities - and the ability to do THAT opens up further opportunities for any dc with dual citizenship

employment isnt really a factor for us as both our nationalities are European.

Where does your birth certificate have your nationality on it? I've never seen that (unless born overseas and get a British birth cert from a consulate, maybe) and I used to issue passports!

If you were born in UK before 1.1.83 you will be British anyway, by birth. It's only from that date that you had to have a parent who was either British or settled in UK.

my mistake - my british birth cert has my parents birth place on it (which is my nationality which is why I thought it was on there)

I was born before 83 and would have to apply for dual / british nationality - I dont have it, am my parents nationalitiy? My embassy doesnt seem to consider my British despite my place of birth

to me the issue is what identity do you want your DC to have? my DS was born in Britain but is entitled to an American passport through me (an American. DH is English) My dilemma is where to educate him. That will be the big decider in his national identity, accent, etc. And if we switch tack by moving during those school years, there could be confusion for him, bullying, etc.