Children of Unmarried British Fathers

On 18 July 2005 the Government said it hoped to implement Section 9 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 "by the end of the summer"
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 718w04.htm

Still no sign of the relevant Order in Council.

Section 3(1) registration is of course available for such children, although there's a fee involved and many people are probably unaware of the facility, given the Home Office's refusal to publicise the policy. It also doesn't help UK born children where the father is "settled" in the UK but not a British citizen.

It hardly constitutes publicity, but the staff instructions for dealing with applications for such children to be registered under section 3(1) BNA 1981 are at paragraph 9.9 of this page on the IND website. It is an oddity that most children registered under this policy end up as British citizens otherwise than by descent, rather than by descent - so some people may think that the investment in the registration fee is well worth it. Once the necessary Order has been made, children of unmarried British fathers, born after the new provision has come into force, will be British citizens by descent only.

ppron747 wrote:It hardly constitutes publicity, but the staff instructions for dealing with applications for such children to be registered under section 3(1) BNA 1981 are at paragraph 9.9 of this page on the IND website.

Thanks for the link. However given that this policy was introduced six years ago, it seems unacceptable for the Home Office not to have released an advice leaflet.

I wonder what the Home Office public enquiry line is telling people in this situation?

Not everyone is able to burrow through the depths of the Nationality Instructions.