MN1 Application Pending - Urgent Need to Travel

[Saumil23]

We submitted an online MN1 application on behalf of our daughter on 09/02/2022 (she was born in the UK and we both received ILR after she was born). Her UKVCAS appointment was attended in-person on 16/02/2022. All her supporting documents were uploaded on the UKVCAS website.

We have not yet received any outcome for the above application. Meanwhile, my wife needs to travel urgently to India on the basis of a medical emergency involving her father. This is a particularly critical illness affecting blood flow in his brain and we have a medical certificate to prove it. My wife's presence in India is essential right now.

However, our daughter is 3 years old and also needs my wife's care. Therefore our daughter needs to travel with my wife to India. Daughter has an Indian passport and can therefore travel to India. However, as her MN1 application is pending in the UK and she has no valid UK visa, she cannot accompany my wife on her way back to the UK. In order to enable the daughter to travel with her mother when they come back to the UK, could we request one of the following two from the UKVI ?

(i) If the daughter's MN1 application is successful during her stay in India and a certificate of citizenship is issued, she is allowed to enter the UK with her Indian passport and MN1 certificate. I know MN1 on its own cannot be used to enter the UK but we can show the certificate for a genuine medical emergency and request to make an exception.

According to Indian regulations, she is legally entitled to use her Indian passport for up to three months of grace period following the date of registration on her MN1 certificate (this is despite the fact that India does not allow dual citizenship).

(ii) If the MN1 certificate is not received during my daughter's stay in India, she is allowed to apply for a type of UK visa during her stay in India (e.g. standard visitor visa) so that she can travel back to the UK with her mother on the basis of that visa and her Indian passport. If there is no MN1 certificate, it means she is still an Indian citizen. Again, I know this is not a norm but can we make a special request on the basis of the medical emergency ?

Many thanks in advance for your help !

[vinny]

(i) Airlines may not let her board.
(ii) If not British, then apply for an exceptional or UK born or settlement visa.

[Saumil23]

Thank you Vinny for your reply. We are still in UK. If I go to UKVI application centre and explain my case with all the evidence and the urgency for travel, how likely it is that we are issued a visa for our child to return to UK ?

[Ticktack]

Thank you Vinny for your reply. We are still in UK. If I go to UKVI application centre and explain my case with all the evidence and the urgency for travel, how likely it is that we are issued a visa for our child to return to UK ?

Not sure what visa you expect the HO to issue your child for travel. The rules of engagement are crystal clear, as you rightly mentioned, citizenship certificate isn't a travel document.

Same way your Indian birth certificate proves that you're Indian, but you can't board a plane to India with it.

You're child would only get what you apply for. You could have applied for a dependant visa for your child, prior to this.
You can apply for a British Passport for your child when the MN gets approved, or you could apply for CoERoA.
None of these options are issued in a few days except maybe fast track dependant visas!

Also it takes much longer out of country, with it's complexities. Just something to ponder on.