British passport for a EEA child

[citizzzen]

Hi there,

I'm sorry in advance if this topic has been discussed already. I've gone through pages,but didn't see anything related to this specific situation.

It came to us a SHOCKING surprise that our child who was born 4 years ago(currently holds Latvian citizenship) in the UK isn't automatically entitled British Citizenship, even though both of his parents now hold BC.

When we have received a reply from Passport Office re our son's Brit passport application they've asked for a proof of continues 5 years of residency in the UK before the child was born. I then came to realise that the law says one of the parents needs to be either BC or to have a settled status (permanent residency) in the UK before the child is born so only in one of those 2 scenarios the child is entitled BC.

Fair enough, I can completely understand the intention there. However, we were confident that, given the child is born in the UK, once his parents got BC the child gets BC automatically.

Now I understand that we can only apply for BC for our son only when he reaches the age of 10y.

Perhaps, it's normal for those of you who are experienced and knowledgeable in the immigration laws, but on my view this is so ridiculous. The child was born here and didn't live in any other country, his parents are British now, but he needs to wait to the age of 10 to get the passport of this country. This makes his life here, as well as travelling in and out of the country, falling under different laws than his parents(especially with the Brexit stuff).

This is beyond my understanding.

Can anyone share their experience or thoughts on this? Would very much appreciate that.

[CR001]

However, we were confident that, given the child is born in the UK, once his parents got BC the child gets BC automatically.

No, it doesn't work like that unfortunately. Your citizenship doesn't give a child born before you got PR/BC a retrospective citizenship.

Now I understand that we can only apply for BC for our son only when he reaches the age of 10y.

No, you understand incorrectly. As soon as you obtained PR or 5 years of exercising treaty rights, you can register the child as British on form MN1 under Section 1(3) of the Nationality Act. There is no requirement that the child has to wait till they are 10.

Perhaps, it's normal for those of you who are experienced and knowledgeable in the immigration laws, but on my view this is so ridiculous. The child was born here and didn't live in any other country, his parents are British now, but he needs to wait to the age of 10 to get the passport of this country. This makes his life here, as well as travelling in and out of the country, falling under different laws than his parents(especially with the Brexit stuff).

Suggest perhaps calm down slightly and not misinterpret things.

You could have applied to register the child in December 2017 as soon as EITHER parent obtained PR.

eea-route-applications/brp-is-not-recei ... l#p1572462

[citizzzen]

Hi CR001,

Thanks for your reply and your help here. We appreciate it very much. Apologies if my post came across as a bit too emotional. As I said, this was shocking for us (from our understanding of things) and this forum was our last hope in getting more info/advice regarding this situation.

I'm so glad I have raised this here as sounds like we still have an option. Thanks again, CR001, for pointing out that we still have the MN1 route to try.

With the regards to us not registering our son in 2017 when we got the PR - as I mentioned in my initial post - we were confident once we've got BC, because our son was born here, he will get BC automatically. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

One last question(and I guess I could go and do a search online, but wanted to check with the experienced person) - I've noticed you said "As soon as you obtained PR or 5 years of exercising treaty rights, you can register the child as British on form MN1 under Section 1(3) of the Nationality Act" - would this still apply if we already hold BC? I know immigration laws may differ depending on the citizenship of the person who they apply to (ie, EEA family member route to BC is different, than BC's family member).

Thanks again for your help! Very much appreciated

[CR001]

would this still apply if we already hold BC?

Yes it still applies as a UK born child has an entitlement to register as broths once either parent is settled.

I know immigration laws may differ depending on the citizenship of the person who they apply to (ie, EEA family member route to BC is different, than BC's family member).

There is no difference under nationality laws, which is independent and completely separate to EU rules or UK immigration rules. Nationality laws apply to everyone equally, regardless of nationality or route to ILR or PR.

[citizzzen]

would this still apply if we already hold BC?

Yes it still aplloes as a UK born child has an entitlement to register as broths once either parent is settled.

To register as a what? British?

Thanks again CR001 - your time greatly appreciated.

[CR001]

would this still apply if we already hold BC?

Yes it still applies as a UK born child has an entitlement to register as broths once either parent is settled.

To register as a what? British?

Thanks again CR001 - your time greatly appreciated.

Sorry, yes, British. Damn auto correct on my phone

[savage87]

My neighbours both Lithuanians, mother has DCPR and got british passport for her now 10 months old son. The son hasn't been registered as BC. She said she applied for british passport and she got it. Does anyone know how?

When I got my son's british passport it was only after I registered him when he was 3 years old based on my settled status.

I also heard other co-nationals saying the same thing.

I paid 800 pounds at the time and my neighbour payed just the passport fee and that was it :consused:

[CR001]

My neighbours both Lithuanians, mother has DCPR and got british passport for her now 10 months old son. The son hasn't been registered as BC. She said she applied for british passport and she got it. Does anyone know how?

When I got my son's british passport only after I registered him when he has 3 years old based on my settled status.

I also heard other co-nationals saying the same thing.

I paid 800 pounds at the time and my neighbour payed just the passport fee and that was it :consused:

It really depends solely on when the EU parent(s) attained PR. If the child was born AFTER the PR attained date, the child is automatically British and can apply for a passport directly. However if a child is born BEFORE the parent attains PR, the child needs to be registered as British first.

Note that there have been a few EU forum members posting about their childrens British passports being revoked after being issued in error as Registration was required first and not done.

[citizzzen]

would this still apply if we already hold BC?

Yes it still applies as a UK born child has an entitlement to register as broths once either parent is settled.

To register as a what? British?

Thanks again CR001 - your time greatly appreciated.

Sorry, yes, British. Damn auto correct on my phone

No worries

Thanks again for the help and all the best to you

[citizzzen]

Hi CR001,

I hope you are well.

I was hoping you could give me a quick hint regarding the MN1 form. We came to know last night that the NCS aren't available from 2019. What is the current process of submitting the supporting documents(specifically passports) with the application and to keep them for travelling? It's difficult to find the description of this process on the gov.uk website - perhaps due to recent changes in the process.

I understand the application can now only be completed online and goes through a third party provider Sopra Steria. Now I can see people in the MN1 Timelines topic mention this - but I can't figure out how does it work exactly.

I also looked through the recent topics on the forum, but can't find any relevant to this discussions. May be there is a search feature on the site that I'm not aware of.

Your help would be much appreciated, CR001.

[CR001]

british-citizenship/new-uk-visa-and-cit ... 67059.html

indefinite-leave-to-remain/online-appli ... 70084.html

british-citizenship/experiences-using-n ... 69057.html

[citizzzen]

british-citizenship/new-uk-visa-and-cit ... 67059.html

indefinite-leave-to-remain/online-appli ... 70084.html

british-citizenship/experiences-using-n ... 69057.html

Thank you!