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BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 1:37 pm
by aubutie99
circumstances as follows - I am a UK citizen from birth, My wife is originally from Outside the EU, we were married 9 years ago, my wife has an ILR, my wifes daughter (teenage) was granted an ILR 2 year ago and has lived in the U.K for 18 months, The childs father is still alive and Lives in the home country, he and my wife were never married and seperated before the child was born,

At the moment I have 2 questions if thats ok

I need to know if the childs fathers written consent is required on as part of the application, as this will complicate things, the guide seems to suggest not, but I am not certain, can anyone advise

the second is concerning wether or nort we require a BRP for the Child, either before or as part of the application, looking at the details for requiring a BRP independantly of the application, it does not appear to include a scenatrio such as this for a child, any advice would be much appreciated

Re: BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 1:45 pm
by CR001
Child will only qualify to register as British once mother does. If father is named on birth certificate, consent from him will likely be required. Did father have to sign consent for the child's visa application?

Otherwise child should wait till 18 and applying for naturalisation with 5 years residence.

A BRP is not a mandatory requirement for BC.

Re: BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:06 pm
by aubutie99
my understanding is that the mother and child can apply for british Citizenship at the same time (this is our preference, if it possible/practical, we want to do it now rtaher than waiting a few years until the child is 18, in terms of requiring the Child fathers express permission the form is not that clear(to me anyway) in terms of its intent on this

it was not a requirement of the ILR application that the father needed to give his written consent, as part of that Application

Re: BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:09 pm
by noajthan
aubutie99 wrote:circumstances as follows - I am a UK citizen from birth, My wife is originally from Outside the EU, we were married 9 years ago, my wife has an ILR, my wifes daughter (teenage) was granted an ILR 2 year ago and has lived in the U.K for 18 months, The childs father is still alive and Lives in the home country, he and my wife were never married and seperated before the child was born,

At the moment I have 2 questions if thats ok

I need to know if the childs fathers written consent is required on as part of the application, as this will complicate things, the guide seems to suggest not, but I am not certain, can anyone advise

the second is concerning wether or nort we require a BRP for the Child, either before or as part of the application, looking at the details for requiring a BRP independantly of the application, it does not appear to include a scenatrio such as this for a child, any advice would be much appreciated
This is all achievable, I have done this (successfully).

Registration of such a case, under section 3(1) of BNA, is at Home Secretary's kind and bountiful discretion so this is quite different from a previous ILR application. And ofcourse citizenship is not a 'visa'.

Absent father's consent is not required if it can be explained why it is not available
eg lack of interest/support/contact;
no responsibility/custody etc.

Proof of sole parental responsibility on part of mother will help here.

Make sure you can provide adequate and appropriate supporting evidence, don't take anything for granted or expect too much benefit of doubt.

A foreign-born minor needs proof of settled status/ILR eg BRP.

An older teenager should have spent 2 years or more in UK and be able to show future is in UK.
A cogent letter from teen themselves cannot hurt, perhaps outlining ambitions, aspirations, engagement in UK life etc. (But don't go overboard - keep some degree of stiff upper lip).

A supporting letter and/or reference/testimonial from an authority figure (eg headteacher/principal) may help too.
At least I think they did in my step-daughter's case.

More on all these vital matters here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... structions

Note Mom needs to be ready to naturalise too.

Re: BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:32 pm
by aubutie99
thanks noajthan that is very useful advice, and will take into account, if possible we want to do it now rather tha wating another 6 months we have holidays planned in summer and would rather not go down the getting a visa, mother is happy to do naturalisation

Re: BC for a child - questions

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 2:54 pm
by CR001
aubutie99 wrote:my understanding is that the mother and child can apply for british Citizenship at the same time (this is our preference, if it possible/practical,
You didn't say this in your opening post so I responded on the basis on what you posted, i.e applying only for the child.