Having a baby abroad (in Pakistan)

[Khurram]

Hi, we are expecting our second towards the end of the year, and are thinking along the lines of having the baby delivered in Pakistan. There are certain number of reasons as to why we are weighing out this option, but just wanted to find out what formalities/documents would be required for sorting out his/her travel documents/passport. I'd like to bring back the family with me a little while after the delivery.

Family Tree :
I : Born in Pakistan, came to UK on WP, naturalised as British Citizen. (Parents born in Pakistan)
Wife : Born in Pakistan, married me and moved here, naturalised as British Citizen. (Parents born in Pakistan)
Child #1 : Born in UK, British by birth, Pakistani by descent. (Parents born in Pakistan )

I think there shouldn't be a problem sorting out the new born's Pakistani passport, but what sort of visa (if any) would he/she require?

I would appreciate any help anyone can extend in this regard.

Thanks and Regards

[John]

The born-in-Pakistan child will be British as soon as born ..... British by descent. So I think the procedure goes something like this :-

• register the birth in Pakistan, in accordance with Pakistani law
• having done that, contact the BHC in Pakistan and apply to obtain a British-style birth certificate for the child
• at the same time as applying for a British-style birth certificate, apply for a British passport for the child

Getting the child a British passport of course does away with any need to get a visa into a Pakistani passport ... and indeed is a lot cheaper than applying for a Child Settlement visa for the child.

In order to get the child the above-mentioned British documents you will need to prove that at least one of the parents is British, and indeed British otherwise than by descent. As both you and your wife are Naturalised you are indeed in that category. The Certificates of Naturalisation are of course important legal documents and accordingly I recommend that you leave the originals at home in the UK, but take certified copies to Pakistan, as evidence that you and your wife are indeed British otherwise than by descent.

As mentioned above the Pakistan-born child will be British by descent. This means that they will not be able to pass on British Citizenship to any of their children who are born outside the UK. But can pass on British Citizenship to any UK-born children.

Compared to UK-born child #1 .... their children will be British wherever in the world they are born.

I know that this is looking quite a few years away but we are talking about your grandchildren here!

[Khurram]

Thank you very much John.

Looked up for some information on BHC's website in Islamabad, and other than pileload of documents that would be required for registering the child's birth, I think I am more concerned about the time it would take for the passport to come through which is 3 months at the moment.

Just added the above information for the benefit of others, incase this topic is stumbled upon by someone else in the future.

Once again, thanks John, appreciate your help.

Regards.