Does anybody have any good links on what to do with registering a birth? We have just found out we are expecting so we have plenty of time. I've heard something about the baby having automatic citizenship of the mother's home country..for me, that is the USA. Then the baby will also need to be registered in Holland before the birth? True? Any info appreciated greatly.

I put this specifically in the USA forum but if it belongs somewhere else, I'm ok with that.

we went through this not too long ago:

Yes your baby always has to be registered at the city (gemeente) where you live. This usually has to be done within a few days after the baby is born. This is important because only then you will receive an official birth certificate from the gemeente that you need when applying for US citizenship.
You don't have to worry about it too much because you will be informed about it (by your hospital or kraamverzorgers). Or you can look up info on the website of the city where you live.
If your husband is Dutch the baby will receive Dutch citizenship automatically.

Now if you are an US citizen you can request US citizenship for you child until he/she is 18 years old. If only one parent is a US citizen you do have to prove that you have been physically present in the US over a period of 5 years. more info here http://amsterdam.usconsulate.gov/crba.html

***Edit.. and now i see there are many other topics on this subject

Thank you for replying!

We are not married, so I understand there are some additional steps that should be taken BEFORE the birth but I'm not so clear on what that is yet.

You need to register the expected baby before the birth, from what I understand. This is from another post here and refers to an unmarried couple...

"Als de ouders van een kind niet zijn getrouwd, kan de vader het kind erkennen door het vaderschap te laten registreren bij de Burgerlijke Stand. De moeder moet dan wel schriftelijke toestemming geven dat de man het kind mag erkennen als zijn kind."

If the parents of a child are not married, the father can recognise the child through registering fathership with the Burgelijke Stand. The mother must then give written permission that the man may recognise the child as his.

You do this at the gemeente.

I am American and my husband Dutch. We registered our baby at the local gemeente so he is of course Dutch.
I thought to also register him as American. After all, 2 citizenships are handy (I have Irish as well myself)!
But my husband said the laws here have changed and 2 citizenships are no longer allowed. So when our son
turns 18, he would have to choose Dutch or American. So with this, I thought why bother, since getting "evidence" that
I lived in the US for 5 years is really difficult now and is there really any benefit to him having dual citizenship only
until he's 18?
Does anyone else know of this change in the law?

There is no such law. My two sons (first born in nov. 2007 and the second feb 2008) Have both US and Dutch. They will have it for life. No laws have changed. And if the laws in NL would change, I would guarantee you I would have their Dutch citizenship taken away immediately (not wait unti lthey are 18).

Both of my children were registered as Americans (and got their passports) within 3 weeks of birth precisely becuase my hubby (Dutch) and I were worried the laws would change. They have not.

If you want your child to have the father's last name, I suggest you and your partner going to the gemeente to ackowledge him as the father of your child as soon as possible. I too thought, "I have plenty of time", but my water broke (very) early and my daughter was born premature. It was VERY DIFFICULT to legally change the last name of my daughter after the fact.