Bith Certificate

Kevin got one he was born in Belgium and yes I didnt think it looked very offical eiather just a peice of paper really with a stamp on one was a normal one was a international one that looked even more basic

Ah ok, thanks, it sounds similar to the ones I have then, so perhaps my wife was right after-all?

Yeah likely I think you have to pay for them I cant really rember but they look nothing like my uk one lol. We had to get them for Kevin as we are getting married in UK

it's just a load of dates in letters and names, with a stamp on it.

Hello Drew

congratulations on your new born!

Yes, the paper you get doesnt look like an 'official' birth certificate. Its basicly just a paper with the babys info and the parents info and some stamps.

The real certificate still needs to be made. You did sign a blanco paper, right? Well, after some time all the info about the baby and parents will be scanned on the blanco paper you've signed. It takes about a year, because its an extern company that does this job. Meanwhile, you can use the papers you got when you went to registrate the baby.

(i used to to birth registrations as a job at the commune)

Perfect! Thats a really nice reply - thanks - and good to know.

Im starting to forget now all the things I signed at the time (you know what its like they say sign this and sign that and do a headstand and you just do whatever they say!) But it was all sorted at the time.

We still havent gotten around to scanning the certificates we have to forward them on yet to the various places, but we better get a move on... just as soon as we get some sleep maybe!

Our kids already have their mutuality and blood type cards too so theyre thoroughly in the system.

Its just whether now if its better to register their births with the embassies or go straight for a passport instead - as I understand it the birth certificates would need to be translated and signed in order to use them for any reason in the uk for example. But its whether there will be a need or not.

Do you have experience of that at all?

Thanks again all!

Hi Drew

You are British? And your wife is Belgian?

Or tell me what nationality your kids have when you registered the baby?

Normally, when a baby is born in Belgium and one of the parents is Belgian, the baby will be registered as a Belgian.

You can afterwards aply for the other nationality at your embassy.

(same happened when i had my baby. She is Belgian - because i am too -, but we've registered her at the US embassy to apply for her US passport)

You need to ask for an international birth certificate at the commune where your baby was registered. Most communes have an online service, so you dont have to go there in person to ask for one. Check with google.

And with that international birth certificate, you can go to your embassy to register your baby there. The UK has a bilateral agreement with Belgium, so your babys international birth certificate doesnt need any legalisation. And the international birth certificate is also in English so you dont need to translate it.

Hope its a bit clear?

Hi SueMed - thanks for your response,

Yes I'm British, and my wife is in fact French.

Their births were registered as British on the certificates. I assume that was done as default because I wasn't asked at the time.

When I checked out the situation with registering with the embassy before the births, I found that I could register the birth with the British embassy or apply for their passports. But so far as the French Embassy, it's something we still need to confirm - from what I remember, the French Embassy don't accept the dual nationality, but I could certainly be wrong about that.

If that is the case, then we could have a problem because we would like to take advantage of French nationality too.

I see on this page I can request the relevant document from the commune:Site de la ville de liege
I'm not sure however if the International Birth certificate you are speaking about would be the 'certificat de nationalite' or 'certificat de vie'.

Thanks,
Drew

Hello again

normally, if both parents are European (like in your case) we always give the choise to the parents to choose what nationality they want for the newborn.
If the first born was given the British nationality, the second baby will get the same nationality.

So maybe something went wrong when registering your first kid? (they didnt ask you to choose)

I took a look at the site of Liege, you have to choose

'acte de naissance' and then also mark the 'multilingue'. (thats the international birth certificate)

And i would advise you to call the French embassy and ask if and how you can apply for the French nationality for your kids.

Good luck!