Registering a birth when parents are non Swiss nationals and unmarried

Family, Education, Health and Pets
1
Hello

I have had a look at several threads but have been unable to find the exact answer I'm after. I'm a British national living in Zurich and I'm expecting a baby in early August this year. My partner is French and we are not yet married. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I'm particularly keen to find out the following:

- What documentation is required to register the birth? Do we need to do it in the local Amt (in Zurich) as well as at the French and British consulates?

- Are there any particular regulations to bear in mind when requesting dual (French-British) nationality?

- If we are unmarried, I believe that my partner will have to acknowledge paternity. Where does he need to do this? I assume as the mother I will not have to legally acknowledge the child in the same way?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I figured it was a good idea to think about this in advance so as to avoid a last minute stress!

Gemma

2
Hi Gemma,

You may find something useful in this thread, or you could possibly PM Nic.

child support... when still together

3
Hi there and congrats on your empending arrival!

Don't stress about it, when your baby is born, s/he will automatically be issued a birth cert, with that document and your own passports, you can apply to your respective embassies for both nationalities for him/her. The maternity where you have your baby will be able to fill you in on all of this as well as your local foreign office.

I don't think the child will bear his fathers name unless you are married, I don't if you already know that, so I thought I'd mention it, s/he will have your surname.

Best

Mr. T

4
There is nothing "automatic" about the procedure. Read the other threads on the topic for getting the birth certificate.

All of the information should be detailed on the British Embassy website and the French Embassy website for the procedure on how to get a passport for your child. If not, give them a call.

5
I live in Basel but I suppose the procedures are the same in Zürich.

- the registration of the birth is done automatically after you leave the hospital. The hospital sends the birth certificate to some office in Zürich and then they send you the birth ceritificate home via mail. Since you are not married the child will be automatically a British national and you have to register him/her at the British embassy. You have to bring the birth certificate, the paternitiy record and photos. Once the child is registered as a British citizen then you can go to the French embassy and ask for French nationality.

- the paternity paper should be done before the delivery. Here in Basel-Land the local Zivilstandsamt asked us for the birth certificates of the parents and certificates of being unmarried (Ledigkeitsbescheinigung). These documents are to be obtained at the consulate or from the countries where you come from, so it can take some time (from Spain it took one full month). You will need as well the certificate of residence (Wohnsitzbescheinigung) to be obtained at your local Gemeinde. Once you have the documents you bring them to the competent office in Zürich and then you get an appointment to make the paternity registration. You are registered as the mother automatically.

6
The baby will automatically get an "Act de naissance" with which a "Certificat de naissance" can be obtained at the Bureau des Etrangers, with which (with parents' passports) a passport can be obtained at the appropriate embassy.

I don't need to read the other thread, thank you, I have been through this myself, it's an easy process to get certs and passports. Child benefit and surname are a different kettle of fish.

Best

Mrs. T

7
That's great that it is automatic in your Kanton. Unfortunately it is not so automatic in many other Kantons. You need to provide parents' birth certificates and marriage certificates (if applicable) (certified true copies of the original record, issued within the last six months) in order to obtain the Swiss birth certificate. These don't just show up when the baby is born.

8
It's not a big deal, it's a simple process, you supply the papers and the hospital automatically does the necessary...

http://www.ch.ch/private/00029/00035...x.html?lang=en

Mrs. T

9
Your experience is different from ours.

Yes birth registration in Basel is automatic (handled by hospital).

But for the British part, registration is not obligatory. The Swiss documents, stating birth and parent's origins is enough to get your British passport (although we are both British).

We didn't have to take anything anywhere, apart from the required documents to the Post office.

10
In Basel it is not all automatic if you are not married. You should probably visit the Zivilstandt in Zurich and ask them about the procedure there.

In Basel, I filled out a form at the hospital during one of the prenatal visits which they forwarded to the Zivilstandt after the baby was born and then after the birth I had to visit the office to complete the process and get the birth certificate.

Since we were not married they also wanted me to produce a document from my embassy stating that I was not currently married to someone else who would therefore had parental rights. (my embassy (US) objected to providing this (how should they know - they don't keep records of this), so I insisted that they accept my word for it. Which they did after I provided a notarized statement that I was not married to someone else.

My partner and I also had to provide recently issued offficial birth certificates - not copies. My English version was okay but his had to be translated and notarized since it was in an unusual language. French is presumably okay. Then he had to sign a statement accepting paternity at the Zivilstandt.

Then I took my daughter's birth certificate to the US embassy and they issued a passsport. We still haven't applied for one from my partner's (my ex-partner now) embassy yet.

Again, it may be different in Zurich so I suggest visiting the office that issues birth certificates and asking them (the Zivilstandt I guess).

11
1. Birth in Switzerland does not confer significant rights towards acquiring Swiss nationality.

2. The child of a British-citizen mother will have British nationality at birth but will not be able to pass that nationality on to his or her offspring born abroad UNLESS s/he herself is born in Britain.

3. The French Foreign Ministry Web site does not discuss the issue of marital status of parents (what used to be called "illegitimacy") in respect of the child of a French father http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/les...301/index.html I recall from studying the subject in the law faculty years ago that the method (and the order, i.e., who registers the birth first, who "recognises" a non-marital child) used to be of great importance in the Civil Law: a child could be left with (legally) one, two or no parents if the registration was not done in a certain way (simultaneously). In the Common Law (i.e., English/Scottish/NI law) this is irrelevant. HOWEVER, the signature of an unmarried father on the birth record is prima facie proof of paternity and while the law is changing constantly in this area it may give the child other rights (child support, inheritance in the absence of a will, etc.)

4. In most (not all) the world, marriage of the parents after the birth now "legitimises" (makes "marital") the birth.

5. If the birth occurs in Switzerland the child will have somewhat lesser "rights" as both France and Britain grant nationality, or the possibility of facilitated grant of nationality ("registration") to children born on their respective soils. In any event, register the birth together at the French and British embassies as soon as possible. And ask all the right questions based on what I wrote above.

6. One does not "request" dual nationality. The fact of nationality most often exists at birth although sometimes registration at the consulate is required and failure to register by a certain age (5, 18, 22...) can lead to loss of the nationality. In some countries it is indeed the registration that establishes nationality and then the issue of marital status of the partners matters.

7. Someone I know (a British man) is in a second relationship with a woman who is a national of one of the EU-8 countries. They have three children together, all born in Britain (although they now live in Eastern Europe). The children have the nationality of that Eastern European country and are not British because the British father is still married to a different woman. (There is pressure to change British Nationality Law to reflect the fact that half of all babies are born out of wedlock (true of France too) but last time I looked nothing had been done about it.)

It is, in the modern era, very unusual for the child of European-citizen parents to be stateless. As far as I know, Britain is the only European country where that is possible (namely a child born abroad to British parent(s) themselves born abroad. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/ In that case, the child can be registered as British after living in Britain for the requisite period of time. Recognising this, the Foreign Office and MoD encourage pregnant employees and spouses of employees to return to Britain for their confinement. And this is true even though the British Nationality Law makes special provision for them (and for employees of the EU and certain international organisations).

Hope that helps.

12
Hi,

My son was born in 02/2013 in Nyon hospital. Both parents are Finnish. We live in Begnins, Vaud. The process for registration of the birth went as follows:

- Nyon hospital gave me a name request paper which included the measurements of the baby, mother, father etc. details

- This paper was returned to the "admission" counter in the hospital

- The admission requested only a copy of both parents passport and marriage certificate in English (even though I tried to give many other documents as well)

- The admission sent the papers to Service de la population, in Morges

- Service de la population sent me a letter that the documentation was insufficient (what a surprise) and required in addition the following documents:

- Birth certificates for both parents, translated to French (or probably any other suitable Swiss language, but not in English)

- Marriage certificate, translated in French

- Birth certificate of our first born

- Copy of the passport of our first born

So, all in all, today I have delivered the following documents:

- Paper from the hospital stating the name of our son, parents

- Copy of Father's passport

- Copy of Mother's passport

- Copy of Brother's passport

- Marriage Certificate in French, with Apostille

- Birth Certificate of the Father, in French, with Apostille

- Birth Certificate of the Mother, in French, with Apostille

- Birth Certificate of the Brother, in French, with Apostille

Luckily I received the certificates in French from "Helsingin maistraatti" (175€ sent by post, within a week) and avoided offcial translation fees and additional time delays. I asked for the Apostille just in case, so that I do not have to start all over again... It would have been nice to know the documentation requirements in advance as I received the same documentation in English from countryside "maistraatti" two week before ...

I keep my fingers crossed that the officials now have everything and we'd receive the birth certificate required to register my son in Finnish system. After which I can for the passport in the embassy. What I hear, in Finland they accept the birth certificate in French so things should go smooth from this point forward.

Btw., the Morges Service de la population is not open other than "sur rendez-vous uniquement".

Best regards

Antti, Piritta, Patrick and Alex