Do overseas Americans register their child birth abroad with the US embassy?

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No-Donut-8692@reddit

Outside of the new world, a child born in a country doesn’t get citizenship just for being born there so registration for proof of US citizenship is necessary to avoid functional statelessness.

Additionally, the process is just soooo much easier when the child is, well, a child. Some parents have the opinion that they’ll wait until their child is an adult to decide whether they want to make use of their US citizenship or not. However, such children often find it nearly impossible to put together the documents necessary to get a social security number issued as an adult (delayed enumeration typically requires proof that the child on the birth certificate was alive each year from infancy to adulthood).

Finally, despite our complaints about bureaucracy, our embassies are fast. It took far less time to get our son his US passport than his local one.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

This is one issue that supporters of ending birthright citizenship wouldn’t think they would be suddenly dealing with lots of undocumented stateless children should birth right citizenship be abolished there are many who desire to enter the US and have their kids enter no matter what they don’t really care whether their kids become citizens or not.

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MissingGrayMatter@reddit

Yes, of course. They’re automatically citizens, you’re just informing the government that they exist.

My partner and I both pass down our citizenship automatically. His country technically doesn’t allow dual citizenship, but it’s permitted for minors because it’s automatic citizenship, and you can’t renounce citizenship for children. They’ll have to choose which citizenship to keep when they are 21, I believe.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

I hear for places like Japan they say to always chose local citizenship as they have no juriscation on another country’s claim out of thier juristication they only have say in whether or not to stripe away your Japanese nationality or what ever country. I be curious if one doesn’t choose what usually happen I am assuiming it is assumed they kept original nationality.

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eyetracker@reddit

Japan allows dual citizenship until the age of majority which is 20 there. At that age you are supposed to choose which to keep. Apparently they aren't diligent about enforcing it so people just say they renounced the other one but don't actually do it.

Other countries have have disadvantages of keeping it, like male South Koreans have conscription if they keep citizenship.

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nyc-to-tpe-2022@reddit

But Japan doesn’t have birthright citizenship.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

Obviously the poster means that the child got local citizenship at birth likely due to the spouse being Japanese.

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Suppafly@reddit

They should, but technically they don't have to. Getting their citizenship figured out while they are kids is much easier than waiting until they are 18.

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nyc-to-tpe-2022@reddit

The vast majority of countries do not offer birthright citizenship, so if you don’t register the birth with the American embassy then your child is a stateless alien and can never leave that country, as they won’t have a passport. To name just one gigantic logistical hurdle.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

Understandably if the kids would become an undocumented alien if left unregistered and get the parents in immigration hot water with local equilaivant of “ice” as the parents have condition of stay most parents would register. But what if it’s optional in thier situation and they have right of abode in new country and not planning to return to Us anytime soon?

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nyc-to-tpe-2022@reddit

Can you think of some countries where that would be the case? With right of abode?

I’m thinking of my case: Spouse and I are American. My child was born in East Asia. If we had never registered her with the embassy for a CRBA, she would be a foreigner in this country, without any country, without any passport, without an ID number in this country. She is still a foreigner in the country of her birth. She’s remain a foreigner, we just wouldn’t be able to leave the country.

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Maleficent_Cash909@reddit

Ie if the parent(s) also Canada citizen(s) or PR at least and the child was born in Canada and have no desire to move across the border. The border had historically been lax until the 21st century and once families could verbally declare citizenship w/o demanding actual proof of citizenship like a passport or birth certificate or otherwise be held for a record search unlike today and if both parents are citizens it was a no brainer The child is legally a citizen so they often didn’t check or ask about the child.

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ThanosSnapsSlimJims@reddit

Yes, they do.

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Either-Youth9618@reddit

I suppose it depends on several variables, especially, as you mentioned, if the country the child is born in will give that child citizenship. I'm an American and I have lived in China and South Korea. Neither country has birthright citizenship so the Americans I know typically registered their kids with the US embassy so the child would have US citizenship. Personally, I also would even if my child was eligible for local citizenship.

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PAXICHEN@reddit

The child has us citizenship regardless. Registering the birth is a formality.

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Maleficent_Cash909@reddit

It’s interesting back in the days piror to 21st century North American borders were pretty relaxed and allowed families to cross by verbally declaring citizenship they wouldn’t even doubt the kids after asking the parents as the kid would pretty much be a citizen if both parents are citizens it was possible for an undocumented citizen child to cross over without ever having any birth certificate. Not sure how many undocumented birth citizens as opposed to “aliens” still living like this today. I know the Amish try not to report thier births at all.

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MyUsername2459@reddit

It's an important formality, because it can be hard to prove that US citizenship and invoke its rights and protections without it.

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Either-Youth9618@reddit

Yes. By registering, I meant getting the child a US passport and US birth certificate. I would do these things shortly after giving birth.

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Ok-Growth4613@reddit

If youre born on a us military base you are technically born on us soil. My cousin was technically born in West Germany.

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sgtm7@reddit

That is a myth and NOT true. While the U.S. military controls the U.S. military base, the land remains the sovereign territory of the host country. You must show your claim to U.S. citizenship in the same way as any other U.S. citizen born overseas. If you are outside the United States, you need to apply for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or a U.S. passport at a US embassy or consulate. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/replace-certify-docs/requesting-a-record/faqs.html

And despite the common myth, US embassies and consulates are also NOT considered US soil.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

It’s interesting how military bases appear to be defecto countries of their own operating even in the same country.

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TheLizardKing89@reddit

If youre born on a us military base you are technically born on us soil.

Not true.

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PAXICHEN@reddit

Well…if the US MILITARY base is in, North Carolina… 😂

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eightcarpileup@reddit

I had two friends (siblings) that I graduated with that were born in W Germany and it was always their “fun facts” to share when we were forced to introduce ourselves.

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Ahlq802@reddit

Yes, we have an appointment for our 7 mo at the US embassy in sweden this month.

I am US Citizen my wife is Swedish.

It is about giving my son as many opportunities throughout his whole life as possible, however or wherever he chooses to live or visit.

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sweetbaker@reddit

The only ass pain for your son is the headache of US taxes. It can make foreign retirement accounts a huge pain because they may not be covered by a tax treaty.

But that’s something that can be discussed/decided much further down the road for him.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

It appears Swedish can enter Us visa free for business or tourism, however I be curious if they can get visa to the us for study or other none permanent reason that requires a visa instead of claiming citizenship which can be difficult if parents are no longer alive or papers required such as apolstiled certificate of birth and parents certificate of citizenship and marriage that the consulate may require are hard to find or require searching records in various US counties.

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ChatBot42@reddit

Two of my kids were born in another country and we did register them. Their actual birth certificate is a "Report of Citizen Birth Abroad".

In this case, they were dual citizens until they were 18 and then would have had to assert their citizenship in that non-US country, which they did not.

I don't know if it is required per se, but in our case we knew we would be returning to the US so we did it and never considered not doing it. 🤷

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sgtm7@reddit

I was born in the UK, to a US Air Force father and a British mother. I never claimed citizenship at age 18. I joined the Army at age 17. At around age 23 while stationed at Fort Hood, I was called to S2 and I was asked why hadn't I claimed a citizenship at age 18. I told them, that as a Sergeant in the US Army, that had been serving in the Army since age 17, and that had already reenlisted and gave my oath to defend the Constitution of the USA, it should be obvious what citizenship I am claiming.

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ChatBot42@reddit

You don't have to be a citizen or even desire citizenship to join the US military.

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genesiss23@reddit

A child of a us citizen who meets the requirements to pass on the US citizenship is always a citizen.

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sgtm7@reddit

Because I was born in the UK, and my mother was British, I was/am eligible for UK citizenship. They were saying I was suppose to actually declared it at age 18. I didn't know wtf they were talking about, and it never came up again.

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Maleficent_Cash909@reddit

It surprising if your mom is British and you were born inthe UK your citizenship wasn’t conferred on your birth certificate.

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Maleficent_Cash909@reddit

It’s not really automatic if only one parent is a citizen though the single citizen especially the mom would need to prove they had lived in the US long enough to transmit citizenship to the child. It can be problematic if the country does not provide citizenship by birth and the spouse isn’t a US citizen nor a citizen of the country the child was born in.

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Kevincelt@reddit

Most people do as far as I know since it doesn’t hurt to get a powerful citizenship and give you and your family much more options. I know I definitely plan on doing this in the future. At minimum it gives your child the option to choose where they live in the future and have access to everything in the US if they want. Plus if you think there’s even a small chance of moving back to the US, it makes it a billion times easier to move and live in the US when you have citizenship already.

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justaclumsyweirdo@reddit

FYI it /can/ hurt in some cases. A lot of people know that the US is relatively unique in taxing citizens who live abroad, and you had to file taxes (even if you might not end up owing). But they also require foreign banks to do extra reporting for US citizen clients, to the point where many local banks simply decline doing business with you to avoid the hassle. It can also make it hard to invest for retirement: your local pension might not be recognized as tax-free by the IRS, while US IRAs/401ks might not be recognized by your local tax authority.

One particularly bad case is for US citizens in Europe: - can’t invest in American ETFs via EU brokerages, since they don’t conform to certain EU regulations - can’t invest in American ETFs via US brokerages, since they don’t like people with residential addresses abroad (and even if they let you keep an account opened while you previously lived in the US, they typically restrict you from buying more shares after you’ve left) - can’t invest in European ETFs, since the IRS treats them as “private foreign investment companies” which have incredibly (punitively) high tax and filing requirements

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AnythingFine2445@reddit

My son was born in Australia. Like most countries they don't give citizenship to people just born there, so I had to register him with the consulate, otherwise he'd have no citizenship 😄

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MerryHappyExcited@reddit

You have to! Ours are signed by the consulate. My father also got our SSNs ASAP after we got our CRBA. My father only reported my older sis’s birth a few years later with mine and he got some flack from the embassy for reporting hers late, apparently?

My other country gives citizenship based on jus sanguine (in our case, from our mother) and didn’t allow dual citizenships at the time of our birth, so our local birth certificates only stated that we’re local non-US citizens. The US embassy didn’t care at all and we still got our US citizenship with no issues :)

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RearAdmiralP@reddit

I did a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for my kid. Why wouldn't I? It was easy to do, and there are tax benefits. Also, when we travel to the US, he can enter on a US passport. If he decides that he doesn't want the US citizenship later, he can always renounce.

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Accomplished_Cell768@reddit

Extremely common. You get tax benefits for it and will need that documentation for citizenship reasons and to get a US passport. The only reason I could see someone not doing it is if their child is eligible for another country’s citizenship which the parents prefer and that country does not allow for dual citizenship.

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TheLizardKing89@reddit

Even most countries that don’t allow dual citizenship usually have exceptions for people who are dual citizens at birth.

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PAXICHEN@reddit

My daughters were born USA/German citizens at a time when Germany didn’t allow dual citizenship to be acquired (with a few carve outs) and one of those carve outs is if you were born with both.

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Jcs609@reddit (OP)

Understandably many countries unlike the ones in the Americas don’t offer citizenship solely by birth but require at least one parent to be a citizen first. In which they don’t have a choice as the country would require the entire family to leave if the parents terms of stay expires it would cause immigration detention if they don’t. But if they have permanent residency in the country and child has citizenship like many who move in the US it appears things may be different.

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Technical-Prize-4840@reddit

I think most of the time, a US passport is the stronger, easier to get passport. I mean it is ranked 10th in terms of access.

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mushroomrainshower@reddit

And has the might of the US military and economy behind it.

Messing with a US citizen can be really bad for international countries.

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beenoc@reddit

The US military will get involved to a large extent if American citizens are kidnapped or murdered by foreign criminal organizations (cartels, terrorists, etc.) But if you break the local laws (even if what you did is perfectly legal in the US and those laws are seen as barbaric here - drugs in Singapore, LGBT in Saudi Arabia, etc.), you're SOL.

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anneofgraygardens@reddit

lol

this reminds me of when I was in the peace corps. A guy from the embassy came out and told us, essentially, to follow local laws because if we broke them they weren't going to do anything for us. The might of the US military indeed.

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city_druid@reddit

International countries?

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PabloPicasshooole@reddit

Oh, my sweet summer child

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MetroBS@reddit

Very rarely do people leave the U.S. with no intentions of ever returning

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Maleficent_Cash909@reddit

It’s quite unlike immigrants to the US often with a burn the bridge mentality and want little or nothing fto do with thier old country if all possible.

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lyralady@reddit

Yeah chalk me up to another army brat born in Germany with citizen born abroad papers. Actually, the military hospital told my mom she wasn't in labor enough (they uh, didn't take into account back labor) and told her to go home. So I ended up born at a German hospital and also have a German birth certificate, although obviously not citizenship.

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Zaidswith@reddit

Most countries don't provide citizenship unless the parents are citizens so this isn't even a choice in most of the world.

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rademradem@reddit

Yes. US citizens will also apply for a US social security number for their new baby through the embassy or consulate if they are not going back to the US anytime soon. This ID number is required if any US government paperwork or tax forms need to be filled out including the new baby.

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