Registering a minor second time due HO error

Hello All

Thank you for this forum. It is great!
The question is on behave of a nephew (shortly to be turning 16yrs in less than a month hence in a panic).
Born 2003 to British father and non-British mother (Parent never legally married).

Received ILR at the same time as his mother 2010.
Mother gave birth to his half sister 2011 and while applying for a British passport for her daughter was advised by a lawyer to apply for a British passport for my nephew since his father was British.
My nephew was granted a British passport 2011.

In 2017 his mother sent his passport to be renewed and HO sent a letter back saying his passport has been cancelled because due to their error he was incorrectly issued a passport in the first place.
Reasons for the cancellation;
1) Entitlement incorrectly determined through his father as my nephew was born before July 2006 and parents were not married.
2) Mother was not British at the time of birth and ILR was granted later.

I am aware he can register using the following;
Form T (but struggling for evidence before he started school at 5 as he never attended nursery and his vaccination records only goes up to when he was 2.5yrs old.
Form UKF would only makes him British by descent.

My questions:
Can he be registered based on his mother status, under Section 4F, 3(1) or 1(3) using form MN1?

Please accept my apologies for the long message, just wanted to ensure i cover everything.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Beetle wrote: ↑

Mon May 27, 2019 8:13 am

Can he be registered based on his mother status, under Section 4F, 3(1) or 1(3) using form MN1?

Section 4(F) is the Form UKF registration.

Where was the nephew born?

Hello Simon

My nephew was born in the UK.

1) Could you please clarify, both section 4F and 4G are form UKF (British by descent)?


2) Could he be registered under 1(3) or 3(1)?


Many thanks for your response.

Then, yes, he can be registered under Section 1(3) on Form MN1, based on his mother's subsequent ILR.

He can also be registered using Form UKF under Section 4G. That should not make him a British citizen by descent as he was born in the UK. I believe that as he is under the age of 18, Form UKF may be free (the £80 fee is for the citizenship ceremony, which is not required for a minor).

Thank you Simon.

I am confused by the following MN1 guideline;


British citizenship by descent

British citizenship can be passed on to one generation born abroad. So a child born abroad to a parent who is British otherwise than by descent will automatically be British by descent.

The exception is • a child born before 1 July 2006 to a British father and non-British mother who were not married. The child will be able to apply for registration under section 4G using form UKF.


1) My question is - in order to clarify my understanding if my nephew is registered under UKF section G;

a) He would be british by descent if he was born abroad.
b) Since he was born in the UK, that would make him british otherwise than by descent?

2) Please could you tell me if there is any significance in registering him before he is 16?

3) Breach of immigration laws - I am concerned that if he was to attempt to register under Section 1(3) or Section 4G he may not meet the requirement 'must be of good character' as I believe he may have been in breach of the immigration laws until he was 7yrs old when he received his ILR.

Am I right to be overthinking this way?

Which is why I am thinking Form T - Section 1(4) may be the way to proceed as I believe that this ignores his immigration status in that first 10 years. Is my understanding correct?


Any response would be greatly appreciated.

Hello All,

Regarding my nephew's illegal immigration status prior to receiving ilr at the age 7yrs (he was born in UK to a mother who was in breach of the immigration laws), would I be correct in assuming that this would be disregarded under the good character requirement based on the following good character guidance;


"When assessing failure to comply with immigration requirements, it will normally be appropriate to disregard failure relating to a child when assessing their good character, if it is accepted this was outside of their control."


Any advice please, as I am stalling on whether to go ahead and apply under UKF now or wait till august 2020 when the 10yrs period would have expired.

Many thanks

Any thoughts from everyone would be greatly appreciated. Especially the Experts.