calling expat yanks: anyone applied for a consular report of birth abroad?

[MissTea4Me]

I am filling out the application for a consular report of birth abroad and U.S. passport for my dd, born here (in the U.K.) 6 months ago. The consular report requires the dates of my physical presence in the States when I lived there, and seems to require details of every period out of the country, whether for vacations, study or whatever. I have not lived in the U.S. for 13 years and cannot possibly remember the exact dates when I travelled abroad-- and I do not have my old passport to check.

What I want to know is:

Do I really have to try and detail every trip I took out of the U.S. when I lived there?

If so, can I guestimate the dates?

If I get it wrong or forget a trip, is it going to come back and bite me in the ass?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help; I tried emailing the consulate in Edinburgh but got a long-winded auto-reply that basically said, do not hold your breath for a reply.

I tried calling but couldn't find any way out of the automated info jungle to speak to a human. The website says to send in all the documentation and then give them at least a week to look at it before going in person. I'm an hour away from Edinburgh so reluctant to turn up there on spec.

Have you tried their email address?? I've found that effective in the past.....looks like Scotland has their own address:

[email protected]

I did email them, that's how all this stuff about the proof of physical presence came up.

I had to call london embassy once about something to do with my passport. I seem to remember having same problem as you and ended up calling emergency number for people with stolen passports or consular emergencies. How long before your trip?

Just under a month. I've just emailed them to ask whether I should go in asap or wait until 2 weeks before we're due to leave in order to qualify for an 'emergency passport.'

Dunno if you got this sorted or not but when we applied for DS we just used DH's old passports of proof of his being in the US - they had the stamps in

I did a whole long list of when he left the US etc but the consular offical said if it was just for a vacation then it didn't matter

You really only need to supply enough dates to prove that you qualify to pass on US citizenship.

If you don't know the actual dates, you can provide tax returns, school transcripts etc.

Just be truthful on the application - they are actually quite nice, even though the forms and website have a horrible tone.

As for birth certificates and passport renewals, you do need to provide the birth certificate and all valid passports (UK, US for the child, and both parents' passports) - and it gets more fun - you actually have to show up at the US consulate with the child.

As for emergency passports. I discovered two weeks ago that DD's passport had expired, just over 3 weeks from our trip to the US.

We booked an emergency passport appt at the US consulate for 14 working days prior to travel (15 is the earliest, and all the regular slots were fill up well into the future). When we arrived at the consulate, they told us that there was enough time to get a five year passport, so effectively we jumped the queue (not that I'd recommend this).

We got the passport 9 actual days after the appointment, which was 5 working days, given the weekend and 4th July.