Single UK Citizen Dad with Non-UK Children

Hi,

Please could someone help with me with the following questions?

I was born in 1967 in Kenya to a British father and mother who were both born in the UK and have British parents.

My children were born in Hong Kong in 1999 and 2001 to my wife at that time, a Filipino citizen. The children hold Philippine passports and Hong Kong permanent resident cards but do not have Hong Kong passports (I believe one has to be ethnic Chinese). My wife and I have recently divorced and I have full custody of the children.

We now want to move to the UK as quickly as possible and wonder what would be the quickest solution - is it better to apply for settlement visas for the children or to apply for UK passports (if eligible)?

My concern for the settlement visas is that it seems to apply for family members who are already based in the UK with jobs and accommodation already in place. Can we apply for family settlement visas if the family member who the children wish to settle with is not yet settled in the UK?

For the British passports, are they in fact eligible since I was born outside of the UK?

Your help with the above would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

AIUI Filipinos can't divorce....

Provided you are a full British Citizen and the Children were born after you are Married, or before July 2006, they will be British Citizens, and you could simply apply for their passport without the need for an Entry Clearance.

Thank you Obie. Yes, I am a full British citizen and the children were born in wedlock before 2006 so it would seem they are eligible for UK passports even though I was born outside of the UK.

But does this mean we could arrive in the UK and at the airport I would explain that their passports are being/are to be applied for and they would be allowed entry to the UK or do we need to have the physical passports first?

Thanks again

Mike

If you are British by descent then a child born abroad is not British but may be entitled to citizenship by registration subject to the provisions of section 3(2) or 3(5) of the British Nationality Act.

Correct point. But i believe the children are more likely to qualify under section 3(2) than 3(5), if indeed OP is infact British by descent.

This will depend on whether OP was a British on Commencement of the 1981 act on the 1st January 1983, and what his parents were doing in Kenya when he was born.

Also see Section 14 of the 1981 Act.