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Hello,

I received my ILR this month, so I have a couple of questions regarding my son's application for British Citizenship. He was born in September 2020 in the UK but is currently residing outside the country. Initially, I planned to obtain a family visa for him and then secure ILR after five years. However, it appears that applying for British Citizenship directly is more cost-effective.

Q1: Is he still eligible to apply for British Citizenship given that he departed the UK in April 2023 and has since been living abroad? He maintained continuous and lawful residence in the UK from birth until April 2023. Additionally, he held a dependent visa from January 2022 to August 2023. I am curious if there are any requirements regarding continuous or lawful residence.

Q2: If he is eligible, do either I or he need to be in the UK during the British Citizenship application process?

Thank you in advance.

Q1. No such requirments. A uk born child has an entitlement to register as british regardless of where they are located. children do not have a residence requirment

Q2. He is eligible. Does not need to be in the uk.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 21, 2024 7:15 pm

Q1. No such requirments. A uk born child has an entitlement to register as british regardless of where they are located. children do not have a residence requirment
Q2. He is eligible. Does not need to be in the uk.

Thank you, CR001.

I have a few more queries as I am going through the Form MN1 guidance.

Q1: As my son is currently living in China, the UKVI says we need to post all the supporting documents (including his passport) to their office in Liverpool, is it possible to submit/send the documents electronically? I've queried the UKVI regarding this, but it might take up to 20 working days to get a response, so I am asking here to see if anyone has any relevant experience. If sending documents electronically is not possible? Will the UKVI return his current passport back to China?

Q2: I've found out that he is eligible to get a certificate of entitlement to prove his right to abode in the UK rather than a British passport if his application is successful. However, I am not quite sure if the application for a certificate of entitlement has to be made after his citizenship application is successful, the guidance says he can choose to get a British passport or a certificate of entitlement on his current passport, but how would we make a choice between them?

Q3 Regarding the citizenship ceremony, will he (3 years old) need to attend the ceremony in a British consulate in China?

Q2:
To obtain a COE or a British passport person has to be British first, i.e. after MN1 application
COE is normally faster (but requires a foreign passport) than a British passport.
Q2:
Children don't attend a ceremony (it would be meaningless as they cannot swear the oath to the King).