mammamelon wrote:yes he is named on the birth certificate. could you tell me how it affects his parental rights.
In England and Wales, for children born on or after 1 December 2003, an unmarried father automatically acquires "parental responsibility" if he is named on the birth certificate. Parental responsibility can be withdrawn by a court order.
If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland this may be different.
You should see a good family law solicitor to discuss this further.
In order to register your child as a British citizen, you need to complete form MN1 and send it to the Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate in Liverpool. The fee is GBP200 and processing time is normally within a few months. Once your child has a Certificate of Registration as a British citizen, you can go to the Passport Office and get her a British passport.
The Home Office doesn't publish any guidance on registering a child like your daughter as a British citizen. However you can read the staff instructions in section 9.9 of this document:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/docume ... iew=Binary (pdf)
The supporting evidence you need to supply is:
- your child's birth certificate (long form) naming both parents. This normally proves paternity
- acopy of your own birth certificate and passport ID page
- proof the child's father is a British citizen. If he was born in the UK before 1983, then a copy of his birth certificate should be acceptable. If you know where and when he was born, you should be able to get a copy from the GRO :
http://www.gro.gov.uk
The Home Office may ask for the father's consent for the child to be registered as British (depending on whether they understand the post 2003 law change on parental responsibility). However, if consent is not given, or if he were just to say no without giving any good reason, then they would not take his views into account.
