Born in the UK to EU parent & unsure if citizen?

Hello,

Sorry if this has been asked before. I haven't seen a topic that matches my exact circumstances.

I was born in the UK to a European (Italian) mother in 1997. I am unsure if I qualify for a British passport!

From what I can gather, anyone born in the UK to an EU parent that was settled before the 2nd October 2000 is considered a British citizen.

However, I applied for a passport in 2015 and after months of back and forth I was unsuccessful in my application.

Here are the documents I sent to prove my mother was settled in the UK at the time:

• Italian passport issued in 1997.
• UK Residence Permit (for a national of a member state of the EEC) issued in 1996.

HMPO stated that insufficient evidence had been provided and that they needed to see a bank statement, a letter from the home office stating she was exercising a treaty right, P60, NIC statement, etc.

I provided a NIC statement as that was the only available option which was not sufficient as only credits were found, no class contributions (at the time).

She has no other documents to prove she was settled in the UK.

What are my options? Are there any other routes I can take without having to naturalize?

Appreciate any input.

Thank you very much.

joj wrote:Hello,

Sorry if this has been asked before. I haven't seen a topic that matches my exact circumstances.

I was born in the UK to a European (Italian) mother in 1997. I am unsure if I qualify for a British passport!

From what I can gather, anyone born in the UK to an EU parent that was settled before the 2nd October 2000 is considered a British citizen.

However, I applied for a passport in 2015 and after months of back and forth I was unsuccessful in my application.

Here are the documents I sent to prove my mother was settled in the UK at the time:

• Italian passport issued in 1997.
• UK Residence Permit (for a national of a member state of the EEC) issued in 1996.

HMPO stated that insufficient evidence had been provided and that they needed to see a bank statement, a letter from the home office stating she was exercising a treaty right, P60, NIC statement, etc.

I provided a NIC statement as that was the only available option which was not sufficient as only credits were found, no class contributions (at the time).

She has no other documents to prove she was settled in the UK.

What are my options? Are there any other routes I can take without having to naturalize?

Appreciate any input.

Thank you very much.

If you are an EEA national you can always start by applying for your confirmation of PR anyway (quite separate from the question of your nationality).

What was mother doing in UK at or before time of your birth?

You could also apply for a confirmation of nationality status:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... us-form-ns

noajthan wrote: If you are an EEA national you can always start by applying for your confirmation of PR anyway (quite separate from the question of your nationality).

What was mother doing in UK at or before time of your birth?

You could also apply for a confirmation of nationality status:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... us-form-ns

Thanks for your reply.

• What would be the purpose of applying for confirmation of PR? What documents do I need to provide them?
• She was working as a housekeeper at the time.
• Wouldn't applying for confirmation of nationality be the same as applying for a passport since I have an insufficient amount of evidence relating to my mother's status in the UK at the time?

I suppose if you can't prove that she was exercising treaty rights as a worker at the time of your birth by way of P60s, payslips or letters from employer etc., then they unfortunately won't issue a passport to you as there is insufficient evidence that you were indeed born a British Citizen.

The two remaining options would then be:

- if you lived in the UK up until age 10, you could apply for registration as a BC using form T.
- naturalise as an adult via the EEA route

LilyLalilu wrote:I suppose if you can't prove that she was exercising treaty rights as a worker at the time of your birth by way of P60s, payslips or letters from employer etc., then they unfortunately won't issue a passport to you as there is insufficient evidence that you were indeed born a British Citizen.

The two remaining options would then be:

- if you lived in the UK up until age 10, you could apply for registration as a BC using form T.
- naturalise as an adult via the EEA route

Thanks for your reply.

I have considered registering using the ten year rule, but I don't think that we have kept any of the old documents (GP, school).

Would I still be able to claim that I had lived in the UK until age 10 using my UK birth certificate, and addresses at the time? Or would that be insufficient?

joj wrote:Thanks for your reply.

• What would be the purpose of applying for confirmation of PR? What documents do I need to provide them?
• She was working as a housekeeper at the time.
• Wouldn't applying for confirmation of nationality be the same as applying for a passport since I have an insufficient amount of evidence relating to my mother's status in the UK at the time?

You asked for any other route/advice.
So one obvious step is to confirm your settled status in UK.
If all else fails you will, in any case, need a PR card in order to apply for the privilege of citizenship in your own right (ie as an EEA national).

If mother was working then have you/can you contact(ed) old employer/s for confirmation of that fact ie confirmation of mother exercising treaty rights.
Then "Robert will be your father's brother" or "Bob's your uncle!" (so to speak).

No, NS is not the same as applying for a passport.
Applying for NS is one option open to people who do not have adequate proof of British-ness & so cannot apply for a passport (or have failed in doing so).
That is why it exists and hence the suggestion.

noajthan wrote: No, NS is not the same as applying for a passport.
Applying for NS is one option open to people who do not have adequate proof of British-ness & so cannot apply for a passport (or have failed in doing so).
That is why it exists and hence the suggestion.

I see.

The reason I assumed it was the same as a passport application is because according to the NS guide, most of the questions relate to ancestry / parents which does not apply to me (in the sense that neither are British citizens).

LilyLalilu wrote:The two remaining options would then be:

- if you lived in the UK up until age 10, you could apply for registration as a BC using form T.

This may be your best bet unless a cost-benefit analysis shows the 'PR card then adult EEA naturalisation'-route happens to trump it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... zen-form-t

noajthan wrote:

LilyLalilu wrote:The two remaining options would then be:

- if you lived in the UK up until age 10, you could apply for registration as a BC using form T.

This may be your best bet unless a cost-benefit analysis shows the 'PR card then adult EEA naturalisation'-route happens to trump it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... zen-form-t

As far as I can tell PR then naturalisation would cost much more than form T.. right?

The only uncertainty I have about form T is old evidence to prove I lived here until age 10 (like school or GP letters).

Do you know if there is alternative evidence that can be provided? Or an online list of acceptable evidence?

And almost all application fees are non-refundable so I really don't want to make another mistake.

joj wrote:As far as I can tell PR then naturalisation would cost much more than form T.. right?

The only uncertainty I have about form T is old evidence to prove I lived here until age 10 (like school or GP letters).

Do you know if there is alternative evidence that can be provided? Or an online list of acceptable evidence?

And almost all application fees are non-refundable so I really don't want to make another mistake.

I've not checked all the latest fees.

Check form T guidance on the type of supporting evidence required.

Don't forget to follow up on your mother's past employers;
if they are still around that could be a quick win and enable you to shoot for passport directly.

noajthan wrote: I've not checked all the latest fees.

Check form T guidance on the type of supporting evidence required.

Don't forget to follow up on your mother's past employers;
if they are still around that could be a quick win and enable you to shoot for passport directly.

Will do. Thanks.

I've just checked my father's (non-EU) passport and it has the following on one of the pages dated 1996:

A right of residence in the United Kingdom as the family member of an EEA national [MY MOTHER'S NAME] who is resident in the United Kingdom in the exercise of a Treaty right is hereby given until 27th September 2001

He later got his EU passport (also Italian).

My question is, would this along with my parent's marriage certificate be sufficient to claim nationality through my father?

If not, would it be proof that my mother was exercising a treaty right as the statement on my father's non-EU passport suggests?

Would it be acceptable to use his passport as proof of her exercising a treaty right?

joj wrote:Will do. Thanks.

I've just checked my father's (non-EU) passport and it has the following on one of the pages dated 1996:

A right of residence in the United Kingdom as the family member of an EEA national [MY MOTHER'S NAME] who is resident in the United Kingdom in the exercise of a Treaty right is hereby given until 27th September 2001

He later got his EU passport (also Italian).

My question is, would this along with my parent's marriage certificate be sufficient to claim nationality through my father?

If not, would it be proof that my mother was exercising a treaty right as the statement on my father's non-EU passport suggests?

Would it be acceptable to use his passport as proof of her exercising a treaty right?

Not sure as I'm not an expert on historical treaty rights, But it certainly sounds promising.
This is the sort of evidence you would submit if filing a NS application for confirmation of status.

noajthan wrote: Not sure as I'm not an expert on historical treaty rights, But it certainly sounds promising.
This is the sort of evidence you would submit if filing a NS application for confirmation of status.

I'll probably do this since it would be less risky than using form T (£198 for NS vs £1121 for T).

If NS states I am a national, can that be sent over to HMPO with a passport application?

joj wrote:I'll probably do this since it would be less risky than using form T (£198 for NS vs £1121 for T).

If NS states I am a national, can that be sent over to HMPO with a passport application?

Yes the response to a NS enquiry could be fed into another passport application (assuming its favourable).
Good luck.

If the NS comes back confirming you are British, you can use it to apply for a passport, it is specifically mentioned as accepted proof of British citizenship.