Mother has ILR, baby will be US citizen

hi,

I am in a delimma. I have an ILR (received it in 2004). I am in the US since Jan 2006 and will be returning back to the UK soon. I am here due to the untimely death of my mother and needed to be around the family. My main issue is that I am 4 months pregnant right now. I have been massively depressed since my mom passed away and am currently getting a lot of help and support from my family here in america. they would like me to stay here until i have the baby but i am wondering what the ramifications might be regarding immigration issues since the baby will have US citizenship and I have an ILR...can i bring the baby back with me to london on its US passport?
Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Anisha

Anisha, sorry to hear about your mother.

If your child is born in the US then after getting a US passport for him/her you will need to apply for a Child Settlement Visa for the child. Given that you already have ILR the child should also be given ILR. Do not attempt to bring the child in without a visa .... from what you post he/she is clearly not going to be a visitor.

If the child is born outside the UK then he/she will not be a British Citizen, well not based upon your situation. But your husband? British? If so, ignore the bit above about getting a Child Settlement Visa .... instead get the child a British Passport in the States.

If the child were to be born in the UK then he/she will be British automatically, given your ILR status.

hi john,
thanks so much for your input. here's the husband issue. my husband whom i am still married to - well, we actually split up in london in the middle of last year. loads of issues and complications. interestingly, once we split we realized that we are much better off as friends and now get on really well. he is a musician and is hardly home. travels a lot. anyway, we'd known each other in a long dist rel for about 2 years before we married. of course the living together rel was a completely different story than the long dist one.
ANYWAY, so the baby is actually not 'our's'....but we are still married. he is aware of my pregnancy and i will be caring for baby on my own with help from my family until i go back to work in london.
why am i not wanting to love in america? well, i love england and would like my kids to grow up there. also my career there is going very well.
thanks

Anisha, OK, the child's father? Is he British? I ask because it might still be possible to get the child a British Passport at some stage.

When the child is registered ... for Birth Certificate ... in the States ... and excuse my ignorance of this .... if the mother and father are unmarried, is it possible to get the father's name and details on the birth certificate? If he is there at the registration office? If so, and he is willing to do that then it might assist greatly in getting the child a British Passport at some stage.

Or in any case, if you apply for British Citizenship on some future date, it will be possible to get the child Registered as British at the same time.

no, he is australian....and has right to abode in uk due to british ancestry...i know complicated.

Anisha, when you do apply for Naturalisation as British you will be able to apply for your child to be registered as British at the same time.

Of course, given you have ILR, if your child is born in the UK he/she will be British as soon as they are born.

John wrote:Anisha, when you do apply for Naturalisation as British you will be able to apply for your child to be registered as British at the same time.

Of course, given you have ILR, if your child is born in the UK he/she will be British as soon as they are born.

If the child is born in the U.S. it will need a visa to live in the UK - http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk
And as noted, it can be registered as British when the mother becomes naturalised British.

If it's born in the UK, as John says, it will be British by birth. Also probably a U.S. citizen, assmuming mother lived for 5 years in the U.S., including 2 years after age 14. The US Embassy site in the UK has details on confirming a British born child's American citizenship:
http://www.usembassy.org.uk

Also - if father is Australian, then the baby can normally be registered as an Australian citizen by descent. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/118.pdf has details, and the Australian High Commission in London will accept applications: http://www.australia.org.uk
The child will not be Australian until citizenship by descent is applied for and granted.

There is no problem having triple US/British/Australian citizenship.