Register a Birth or Apply for Passport

[AlecJoe]

Hello

I am British and my wife is American and we in 2017 had a baby in the Philippines. I have been looking online at registering the babys birth in the UK but it seems extraordinarily expensive, over 200gbp. But gov.uk says we can still apply for a the babys UK passport WITHOUT registering her birth, and it is also much cheaper, so does anyone know what the purpose is of registering her birth in the first place and is it necessary?

Thank you

[secret.simon]

is it necessary?

does anyone know what the purpose is of registering her birth in the first place

The birth is registered and recorded in the relevant national records in the UK and that may come in handy in the future. It is also recommended if the acquisition of British citizenship by the child at birth is unclear or if a paper trail is required for future purposes.

gov.uk says we can still apply for a the babys UK passport WITHOUT registering her birth, and it is also much cheaper,

Provided that you are a British citizen otherwise than by descent (either born in the UK or naturalised as a British citizen in the UK), the child is a British citizen by descent and you can apply for a British passport for the child directly.