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Background:
- We have 2 children. I am British by birth but live in Germany. My husband is Greek. Our children were born in Germany and are therefore German by birth, British by descent and Greek by descent. We are still married and living together with our children who are young: 6 and 9.
- They have British passports and their births are registered in the UK.

My question is: I have heard rumours that if our children spend 3 years in the UK with no breaks in their residence, then they would become 'British by birth'. Is this true? Under what circumstances would this apply? For instance, would it apply if our eldest came to university in Britain and remained registered for the duration of his course of studies?

Thank you for sharing your experiences,
JohnsMum

Not true.

Your children have the same rights as British citizens to those born in the UK.

CR001 wrote:Your children have the same rights as British citizens to those born in the UK.

Except for the right to pass their nationality on to their children - that is irretrievably weaker.

There are several ways in which three years in the UK legally strengthens Britishness:

• Three years residence in the UK would give them the right to buy British nationality for any children born subsequently.
• If both parents, at least one of whom is British, spend three years in the UK with their non-British children, the children may then be registered as British other than by descent. I think this is what you (John's Mum) have heard in distorted form.

When it comes to UK citizenship, the only legal designations I'm aware of that might apply to your situation are "British otherwise than by descent", which is what you presumably are, and "British by descent", which is what your children are, because they were born abroad to a parent who was British otherwise than by descent.

The only difference between these two designations is that those who are British by descent cannot pass their citizenship on to their children (your grandchildren) unless those children are born in the UK*, in which case, your grandchildren British otherwise than by descent, like you.

If born abroad, your grandchildren would only become British (otherwise than by descent) if their parents moved to the UK and registered them, the way Richard W outlines above.

*Or unless your grandchildren's other parents (your sons- or daughters-in-law) are British otherwise than by descent. In that case, your grandchildren would also be British by descent, through your in-laws.

Too late to edit my post, but apparently depending on which section (pages 10-11) of the British Nationality Act 1981 your hypothetical grandchildren are registered under, they might become British by descent, not otherwise than by descent.

JohnsMum wrote:Background:
- We have 2 children. I am British by birth but live in Germany. My husband is Greek. Our children were born in Germany and are therefore German by birth, British by descent and Greek by descent. We are still married and living together with our children who are young: 6 and 9.
- They have British passports and their births are registered in the UK.

My question is: I have heard rumours that if our children spend 3 years in the UK with no breaks in their residence, then they would become 'British by birth'. Is this true? Under what circumstances would this apply? For instance, would it apply if our eldest came to university in Britain and remained registered for the duration of his course of studies?

It's impossible for a British citizen by descent to "upgrade" to British citizenship otherwise than by descent. This was decided by the courts some years ago: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/659.html

However- as someone else notes, if they spend 3 years in the United Kingdom or a British territory they may have options to pass on British citizenship to the next generation. Or if they move to the U.K. with non-British children and live in the country with them for 3 years, the children could normally get British citizenship that way. If they settle in the United Kingdom and have children born there, then children would be British automatically.

Are you sure they're German? Assuming that neither you nor your husband are German citizens, then as I understand it they would be German citizens by birth only if you had permanent residence and 8 years residence beforehand. Also- they may have to meet certain requirements by age 23 in order to retain German citizenship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nationality_law

Germany allows those from other EU states to retain their original citizenship upon becoming a German citizen. In the light of the United Kingdom's intended withdrawal from the EU in March 2019, you may want to consider becoming a German citizen in the near future if you have not already done so.