Babies born abroad to ILR parents

Hi:
I have got two queries about Birth Registration and British Passport for our babies (twins) who were born on 1st June 2010.

I and my husband have been issued ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) in Jan 2010. Due to my husband's work assignment (working full time employee at BT, London), we had to come down to India for six months starting April 2010. I was pregnant when I came down to India and as mentioned we were blessed with twins on 1st June 2010.

I understand that babies born in UK are eligible for British Passport automatically to parents with ILR status. We missed on this great opportunity for our babies given we had to move to India for my husband’s international assignment for a "British" company. We did take legal advice from immigration lawyers in UK before travelling to India and were suggested that we register our child’s birth with UK consulate in India. I enquired with UK consulate in India and they disagreed with my assumption. Could you please confirm the same for us and tell us what process and documentation should we follow for the same? We believe this has to be looked at as special case rather than general rule given we missed for our husband’s international assignment. Are there any examples of such exceptions which could help us.

Many thanks in advance.

Well, I'm no expert on citizenship, but look at it this way;

Are your twins British by Birth? - No, not born in UK

Are they British by Decent? - No, neither parent is British.

So to me that means they are Indian, like Cliff Richard, and unfortunately for you a huge whack in settlement fees....

I could be wrong tho....

Thanks..
I agree with you.. but this is a case of baby not born in UK because of serving British corporation, so not sure if general logic applies.

zeba_s7 wrote:Thanks..
I agree with you.. but this is a case of baby not born in UK because of serving British corporation, so not sure if general logic applies.

No, you could argue the Corporation may well have Americans as the majority of shareholders, so should the kids be Americans. I wouldn't wish that on anyone....

zeba_s7 wrote:Thanks..
I agree with you.. but this is a case of baby not born in UK because of serving British corporation, so not sure if general logic applies.

maybe if youu were working for the British Govt you might have a chance, even then i am not sure if there is a provision to register. Maybe you could ask your legal adviser to clarify as there could be some route to apply through

As you both have ILR and only in India for 6 months, your twins would definately be British citizens after your return to the UK. I really dont think there's any difference, it's a question when? Unless you never returned to the UK in 2 years on your ILR.

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong

Arrh yes, but when after they return to the UK?

The only way of making the twins British will be for an application for Registration to be made, when one or both of the parents applies for Naturalisation, or later, when one or both parents is already British.

John wrote:Arrh yes, but when after they return to the UK?

The only way of making the twins British will be for an application for Registration to be made, when one or both of the parents applies for Naturalisation, or later, when one or both parents is already British.

Thanks John, that was exactly what I was saying. It's a question of time.