Apply for British Citizenship for a child born outside the UK

[Hass15]

Good afternoon,
My niece was born outside the UK, she moved with her parents to the UK 6 years ago, her parents and herself have had indefinite leave to remain for 12 months now. The question is, which application we should use to register/apply for BC for her? I read almost all the guidance available and only getting more confused.
1- MN1 (Register for BC as a child under 18) doesn't really apply to her situation in my view, there's literally no case in the guidance that's applicable to her.
2- Apply for BC by naturalisation (on the basis of having ILR for over 12 months): it's not clear if she needs to do the life in the uk tests or meet language criteria, she only 6.5 years old!!

Would appreciate any advice and help. Thank you.

[alterhase58]

Option 2 doesn't apply - Children under 18 are always registered, adults 18 and over get naturalised and have to take tests, etc.
Option 1 MN1 is the correct one - children born outside the UK can be registered as British when one or both of the parents apply for naturalisation, as I understand it.

[Hass15]

But the issue is that her parents aren't applying for naturalisation for financial reasons atm, so that means she can't apply!

[alterhase58]

This is the relevant para from the MN1 guidance page 13 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... -Jul19.pdf):
"Children born abroad to parents who are applying for British
citizenship
Where one or both parents are applying for British citizenship they may apply for
one or more children who are not automatically British at birth (see “Automatic
acquisition of British citizenship” above) to be registered as British citizens as part of
a “family application”. Children in this category will be considered at the Home
Secretary’s discretion and will usually be registered only if both the parents are
granted or already hold British citizenship, or if one parent holds British citizenship "

Also note this section page 15:
"Any other child born to British or non-British parents
It is not possible to cover all circumstances under which the Home Secretary
might exercise discretion in circumstances not already described in this guide.
However, in considering any application not specifically covered above
consideration will be given to:
• the child’s connections with the UK – we would expect the child to be free of
any restrictions on their stay in the UK
• where the child’s future is likely to lie
• the parents’ views
• the parents’ nationality and immigration status – we expect either both parents
to be British citizens or one parent a British citizen and the other parent settled
in the UK
• whether the child is of good character
• the length of time the child has lived in the UK – we expect at least 2 years
residence (particularly if the child is over the age of 13)"
• any compelling circumstances
Page 16 of 25
The way that discretion may be exercised is described in the Caseworker guidance
available for viewing on the GOV.UK website. These guidance documents used by
trained nationality caseworkers and do not constitute a definitive set of criteria for
registration. They must be taken as a whole. The fact that children may satisfy
certain criteria does not mean they will be registered if there are other criteria that
they do not satisfy

[Hass15]

This is the relevant para from the MN1 guidance page 13 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... -Jul19.pdf):
"Children born abroad to parents who are applying for British
citizenship
Where one or both parents are applying for British citizenship they may apply for
one or more children who are not automatically British at birth (see “Automatic
acquisition of British citizenship” above) to be registered as British citizens as part of
a “family application”. Children in this category will be considered at the Home
Secretary’s discretion and will usually be registered only if both the parents are
granted or already hold British citizenship, or if one parent holds British citizenship "

Also note this section page 15:
"Any other child born to British or non-British parents
It is not possible to cover all circumstances under which the Home Secretary
might exercise discretion in circumstances not already described in this guide.
However, in considering any application not specifically covered above
consideration will be given to:
• the child’s connections with the UK – we would expect the child to be free of
any restrictions on their stay in the UK
• where the child’s future is likely to lie
• the parents’ views
• the parents’ nationality and immigration status – we expect either both parents
to be British citizens or one parent a British citizen and the other parent settled
in the UK
• whether the child is of good character
• the length of time the child has lived in the UK – we expect at least 2 years
residence (particularly if the child is over the age of 13)"
• any compelling circumstances
Page 16 of 25
The way that discretion may be exercised is described in the Caseworker guidance
available for viewing on the GOV.UK website. These guidance documents used by
trained nationality caseworkers and do not constitute a definitive set of criteria for
registration. They must be taken as a whole. The fact that children may satisfy
certain criteria does not mean they will be registered if there are other criteria that
they do not satisfy

Thanks for taking the time to help, I've almost read all the available documents and published guidance and as you illustrated above I believe she sadly can't apply unless one of her parents becomes BC. Which extremely disturbing and ridiculous given that she was only 2 months when moved to the UK and her sister who's born here is now eligible to register as BC

[secret.simon]

You haven't mentioned how old the child is.

Child’s parents’ circumstances
...
It will rarely be right to register a child neither of whose parents is or is about to become a British citizen. However, each case must be considered on its individual merits and there may be exceptional circumstances to justify registration in a particular case such as:
• older children (16 and above) who have spent most of their life in the UK or children who require citizenship to follow a particular career such as in the
Armed Forces
• the child’s future clearly lies in the UK
• the person making the application has day-to-day responsibility for the child’s upbringing and is, or is about to become, a British citizen

Any section 3(1) application where we are proposing to refuse an older teenager who has spent most of their life in the UK (at least 10 years) must be signed off by DCCW.

Alternatively, of course, the child can naturalise in the usual way after their 18th birthay, meeting all the adult requirements (English language, LITUK, physical presence and absences, etc) in their ow right.

[alterhase58]

@secret.simon

The child is

only 6.5 years old

.

[secret.simon]

@secret.simon

The child is

only 6.5 years old

.

I missed that detail. Apologies.

her parents aren't applying for naturalisation for financial reasons atm

If the above is true, is there a reason why the parents are prioritising the registration of the child ahead of their own naturalisation?

Can they not afford for one parent to naturalise and then have the child registered?

[Amber]

The relevant caseworker guidance for an application under section 3(1) is https://assets.publishing.service.gov. ... pdf#page27 and you need to look at page 27 onwards. There is discretion, as that is what a section 3(1) application is, discretionary, when the child is a teenager and has been here for at least 10 years, that application is likely to succeed, regardless of the parents status.