Dual Citizenship - Certificate of birth

[JKMJ441724]

Asking for a friend who is leaving on a cruise in three days....

He was born in England (to military parents) and has dual citizenship. He resides in Tennessee with TN identification. Will his English birth certificate be enough to get him on and off the boat? Or will he need to make an emergency trip to the passport office in Atlanta?

TIA

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Asking for a friend who is leaving on a cruise in three days....

He was born in England (to military parents) and has dual citizenship. He resides in Tennessee with TN identification. Will his English birth certificate be enough to get him on and off the boat? Or will he need to make an emergency trip to the passport office in Atlanta?

TIA

If he's just using a birth certificate and driver's license for his ID, the birth certificate needs to prove US citizenship. If his birth certificate shows that he's a US citizen, then I'd think he's good to go.

Me, personally, I have a German birth certificate (also military parents), and it was just easier for me to go ahead and get a passport. Didn't want to take the chance that the person checking my ID could read German. But there isn't that issue for an English one, I would think.

 

[wilkeliza]

Just doing a quick search it seems if your friend has the paper that also proves his US citizenship then a birth certificate and that are fine. If he doesn't have that supplemental documentation then an emergency trip to the passport office is in order.

As PrincessShmoo said it may just be easier to get the passport though. Although he can prove US citizenship in the US it may be harder if something happens that the international country may be familiar with the subliminal documentation proving US citizenship.

 

[JKMJ441724]

If he's just using a birth certificate and driver's license for his ID, the birth certificate needs to prove US citizenship. If his birth certificate shows that he's a US citizen, then I'd think he's good to go.

Me, personally, I have a German birth certificate (also military parents), and it was just easier for me to go ahead and get a passport. Didn't want to take the chance that the person checking my ID could read German. But there isn't that issue for an English one, I would think.

Thanks for the info. It says

United States of America
Department of State
Certification of report of Birth
of a United States Citizen

I think they will rest a little easier.

 

[WeLoveStitch42]

He should have a State Department issued birth certificate - like document as well as the local country's birth certificate. That should work.

 

[darnheather]

Get a passport. It's simple, not expensive (compared to the cost of the cruise), and lasts 10 years if over 18.

 

[jahber]

Report of a birth abroad works just like a birth certificate. I have one--in fact, I don't even have a birth certificate proper. I don't know how I'd even get one, since I was also born in Germany on a military base, but my parents weren't in the military. And in fact, my report is a photocopy, not even a certified copy. Fortunately I got my passport years ago before they were really strict about documents. Thank goodness! Anyway, at this point I wouldn't sweat the passport. But I would recommend getting one eventually. It makes life easier when you were born overseas.

 

[Mark D.]

Report of a birth abroad works just like a birth certificate.

It's going to depend on the particular report. We have a "Report of Foreign Birth" issued by our home state for our adopted daughter that lists my wife and I (we are US citizens) as her parents. Granted, this is a different case than someone born on an overseas military base, but our daughter's report explicitly states "Not valid proof of US citizenship," so we can't use that document for a cruise. We either have to use her original Certificate of Citizenship issued by the US, or a passport. We opted for a passport.

 

[jahber]

It's going to depend on the particular report. We have a "Report of Foreign Birth" issued by our home state for our adopted daughter that lists my wife and I (we are US citizens) as her parents. Granted, this is a different case than someone born on an overseas military base, but our daughter's report explicitly states "Not valid proof of US citizenship," so we can't use that document for a cruise. We either have to use her original Certificate of Citizenship issued by the US, or a passport. We opted for a passport.

Yes, you're right. Yours is not a report of a birth *of a citizen* born abroad. The info we've given applies only to citizens born abroad. They are given a "Consular Report of Birth Abroad," not a Report of Foreign Birth. Naturalized citizens need their certificate of citizenship to prove citizenship. My husband was born in Malaysia and naturalized after we were married. We are a complicated family! But we just use passports. It's easier.