Birth Registration

E

EYM

Registered User
Another question from a first time mom-to-be :)
I plan to register my baby for both Hong Kong citizenship and UK nationality. I did some research online and both require the birth to be registered with 42 days of the birth. Does anyone have experience of this process? Which office shall I go first or it doesn't really matter as both HK and UK recognise due nationality?
Many thanks!
 
You need the hk birth cert before you can apply for the uk passport.

Unless you're chinese your baby won't have duel nationality, they'll just be British.
 
Thanks Aquarian.
I thought the babies born in HK will be Hong Kong citizen regardless of where their parents are from? Can I then use the dad's Chinese passport for the baby to be HK citizen and my British passport for the baby's British nationality? and the HK birth cert is issued at the hospital right?
Sorry but this is so confusing and definitely doing my baby brain in :P
 
EYM said:
Thanks Aquarian.
I thought the babies born in HK will be Hong Kong citizen regardless of where their parents are from? Can I then use the dad's Chinese passport for the baby to be HK citizen and my British passport for the baby's British nationality? and the HK birth cert is issued at the hospital right?
Sorry but this is so confusing and definitely doing my baby brain in :P
Click to expand...

No, you have to go to the birth registry within 42 days to register the birth and get the birth cert. (You can do it later but you'll have to pay).

Yes the baby can get uk nationality from you.

As I understand it hk and China don't actually recognise duel citizenship but it's complicated, someone else will probably know better than me.
 
To add, your baby will get uk citizenship from you if you were born or naturalised in the uk. If you're british but were born outside the uk (eg like your baby) you can't pass on uk nationality.
 
You'll effectively get Chinese nationality when you get the birth cert. You do need to bring "proof" that the baby is ethnically (part) Chinese - although sometimes if you are obviously Chinese and speak to them in Canto, they will not ask for the proof. You will be able to tell that your baby has Chinese nationality if it says something like "right of abode established". I've heard that technically you should apply for HK passport before any other nationality as HK doesn't formally recognise dual nationality while other countries do - although personally, we just got their Australian passports. I'm not 100% sure about UK, but for Australia you need to apply for Australian citizenship by descent after you get the birth cert, and after this you can apply for the Australian passport (need to pick up the citizenship cert first).
 
Thanks a lot Nicolejoy. I called British Consulate and still didn't get a clearer picture, they just say bring all the documents and we will see...they need the birth cert as part of the documentation requirement, so I will need to register the birth with HK government first anyway.
Sorry but this does sound like a dumb question: When register a child birth with HK government, do they need anything from the hospital (to say this is the baby of so and so) or I just show up with the baby and all my documents? Will the hospital where I give birth issue any documents?
 
The hospital will inform the registry that you delivered. When you go to the registry, you provide your id (same as you showed in the hospital) and fill out a form with your details and baby's name. They then print out the cert.
 
For british passport, providing you are straight forward British there should be no problems. You just send in baby's birth cert, your birth cert and a copy of your passport. Its quite simple.
 
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