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Original poster

Getting a British passport for new born in Switzerland

21 replies

marcusjames · 25/09/2013 12:24

My wife and I are living in Switzerland but due to return to UK early next year. Recently we've had some exciting news i.e. her pregnancy, but this will mean potentially delaying our move until after the birth.

The issue is that, after reading the websites, it would appear that it takes 6 weeks for a passport for a newborn.

My company will extend my assignment until the birth, but I doubt a further 6 weeks after. We would also like to move our belongs back before the birth.

Is there a way to either speed up the process, or return home without a passport?

Many thanks

OP posts:

LIZS · 25/09/2013 16:40

iirc you send the Swiss birth certificate off to consulate (Geneva) it is a relatively quick process - think dd's took about 2-3 weeks or so - but the process may have changed in 12 years ! You won't be able to travel without one but may be able to take the documents in and have it done by appointment. Otherwise could you/dw move back sooner to UK and deliver the baby here.

Umlauf · 25/09/2013 16:45

Were in the same boat but in Spain, it looks like all passports now have to go through the uk so will take 6 weeks, but there is the emergency travel document you can get from the consulate that costs a fortune and covers just one trip!

runningmad · 25/09/2013 17:34

You cannot get an emergency travel document without having been issued with a passport.

Friends who have gone through passport issue in the last 12 months since the system was introduce of all British passports being made and issued in the UK, they have been between 2 weeks and 2 months in getting first issue passports for children.

RaspberryRuffle · 25/09/2013 21:20

Go to the website UKinSwitzerland, there is a link to passport information. It says your application will take at least 6 weeks.
If you/your wife would be in a hurry to get back to the UK could you consider going back before the bitrth (v unpredictable I know but the journey could be done by train?).

EmBeEmBe · 26/09/2013 07:20

Our daughters took 6 weeks, but we were able to get her an emergency travel document before that - thankfully! Have everything you need ready and photocopied, notarised or whatever before the birth, and get passport photos done ASAP. We did ours on cream sheet lying in her basket... Took about 300 goes to get one with her eyes open and looking at camera though!

SavoyCabbage · 26/09/2013 07:23

Can't you get her a Swiss passport and she can travel on that?

LIZS · 26/09/2013 07:59

No, rules on Swiss passports are very strict . Being born there to expat parents means nothing in terms of residency or right to citizenship.

EspressoMonkey · 27/09/2013 22:15

It only took 10 days for DD's British Passport and that was in August. We sent the forms via the Consulate in Paris too.

The problem is more likely to be the Swiss birth cert. Make sure you have all your paperwork with you in your hospital bag and stress to the admin people that you need the birth cert urgently. DDs came in 8 weeks, my friend's 15 weeks!! Just because of one small error which took ages to put right.

luxemburgerli · 28/09/2013 17:12

Sorry to hijack OP, but we are in the same position. I was wondering, do you know how long the baby is entitled to be in Switzerland without having a visa/permit specifically for them? Obviously you can't get a permit without proof of the baby's citizenship, so... just wondering really!!

LIZS · 29/09/2013 17:13

dd was just added to our auschwies (sp) at the Gemeindehaus. If parents are EU then it should be fine anyway. I thought we got dd's CH birth certificate almost instantly but we didn't need any notarised documents then.

ng1412 · 30/09/2013 08:30

We have been through this v recently as DS is 4mo and was born in Switzerland although we live in France and are English.

We had to take all the relevant docs with us to the hospital a few weeks before birth. (They will give you a list.) Then immediately after DS was born the nurse came round, asked us to confirm the full name and we signed that it was correct. Then we got a call from the certificate issuing office, I think about a week after DS was born. I went down there, paid the fee and got an international birth cert.

Then my DH applied for the British passport, now from memory it took about 3 weeks from submitting the application. Could be quicker in your case as we did it in the busy summer period.

HTH, let me know if you need any further info.

luxemburgerli · 30/09/2013 19:14

Thanks LIZS, that sounds easy enough!

SmokedMackerel · 30/09/2013 19:25

Ours took less than 6 weeks. One thing that can hold things up is having the baby's photo countersigned, I think it has to a British passport holder who has known you two years. So if there is nobody who can sign for you in Switzerland, you may and up having to post passport pics and form back and forth.

NanoNinja · 03/10/2013 03:06

We did this last year. The Swiss certificate took about three weeks. Once we had this we had to send all the documentation for the British passport to Paris. We were advised that this could take three weeks, but we had it back in a week, iirc. The problem was getting the photo countersigned. I think this needs to be someone who has known you for a minimum period, is on a list of designated professions, and is a uk citizen (Swiss, eu or commonwealth also possible though). Obviously also someone who has met the baby.

Oh, and on permits - a baby does need a permit. I forget the process, but this was relatively quick. Probably different if you are going straight back to the UK.

woolymammoth · 04/10/2013 19:46

Nano: did you need to obtain a British birth certificate too or was a Swiss one good enough?

We have a Swiss one for our daughter and I was under the impression that she needed a British birth certificate to get her British passport...

Sorry for hihacking OP. Hope you're getting somewhere with your passport problems!

runningmad · 04/10/2013 21:00

You can only get UK birth certificates if born in the UK or born in a British military establishment. There is no such thing as a British birth certificate, are you thinking of a certificate issued to a British citizen born abroad which is registered with GRO in London, well it's not a birth certificate but it does indeed look similar to one and it is in 99% of cases unnecessary and often slows down the issue of a British passport first issue for a baby.

woolymammoth · 04/10/2013 21:22

That's exactly what I was thinking of. Thanks for clearing that up,

My next question was going to be about getting the Swiss one translated but I've just checked in our Zivilstandsdokumente and her birth certificate is already in English as well as the other 4 official languages. Swiss efficiency at it's best!

Now to try and get some suitable passport photos from a very stubborn little toddler...

luxemburgerli · 06/10/2013 13:47

hi woolymammoth,

i just got my UK passport photos done in one of those little photobooths in the bahnhof. I just thought I'd warn you in case you're using one too - there are two options to choose from when you first sit down - EU passport or Swiss passport. For a UK passport photo, you actually want to choose the "Swiss passport" option. The EU option prints photos where your head is slightly too big, and the Swiss option makes them the right size for the UK requirements.

woolymammoth · 07/10/2013 09:02

Thanks for the tip Luxemburgeli!

I'll probably take her to a photostudio near us and make sure I get Swiss size ones. They take LOTS of photos until they get a suitable one- had to go there when she 3 weeks old to get her ID card. The extra cost (25CHF IRRC) will be well worth it against the potential nightmare of wrestling her in a photobooth on the station platform

SquidgyMummy · 07/10/2013 14:04

DS was born in France and we got a passport from the consulate in Paris, took about 3 weeks, although this was almost 3 years ago so not sure if the rules have changed.

However, we used Passpics for the photo. you just send a digital photo (we photographed DS on the bed in hospital) and email it to them. They do all the jiggling around for the correct passport size.

luxemburgerli · 07/10/2013 14:57

Some great tips woolymammoth and SquidyMummy. I'll bookmark this thread for when it's my turn with the pics!

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