Immigration Help - 15yr old without passport

Gagz · Post by **Gagz** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:51 pm

Hi guys,

Right i just need some help for some good friends of mine however they don't own a computer so i need to ask on their behalf.

Right the family consists of 3 members (mother and 2 sons). The mother and the eldest son were born in India and moved to England i believe in 1991 and the mother had a child in 1992 however the father hasn't been in touch since about 1993 so they know nothing about him.

The family have booked a holiday to the US for the end of April and the mother and eldest son have both got british passports (got full british citizenship last year). They have now come across a block with the younger son who does not have a passport. The younger son needs a passport to travel obviously but they i believe need to make him a british citizen and go through the process again i believe, would this be correct? whats the likely cost going to be ? (he's 15yrs old, 16 end of November). Im pretty sure they sent of the application last week to apply for a passport along with the mothers certificate from last year showing she is now 100% a british citizen however they got a responce today asking to prove the younger son is a british citizen so they hit a bump and don't know what to do.

Obviously this is the first time they are planning to go abroad in their whole lives and now the mother is a bit worried they may not be able to go if the process takes to long (they dont have alot of money and its took a while to save up). Any advice you guys can provide will be welcomed, i'll answer any questions i can as i know quite abit about their situation.

I've photocopied the letters the family got. The one on the left is the one they got a few days after sending off the cheque+application form to apply for the passport. The mother then posted her Naturalisation Certificate (from last year) and the letter on the right is the reply she got back today. http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2835/23498751tj9.jpg

Post by **vinny** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:51 pm

Did the mother have ILR when her youngest son was born? What was his father's immigration status at the time?

Gagz · Post by **Gagz** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:59 pm

The mother didn't get ILR till i think about 1997. The father was british at the time however there has been no contact with him for about 14yrs now and she does not want to find him as he is likely to be in prison or something.

Post by **vinny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:10 am

Now, some more questions about marriage.

Was the mother married to her youngest child's father? If they were, when and where did the marriage take place? Does the mother still have her marriage certificate? Was her youngest child born before or after his parent's marriage?

Gagz · Post by **Gagz** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:27 am

no they wern't married so theres no certificate. Shes brought up both her sons alone for the past 14yrs

Post by **vinny** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:49 am

That's unfortunate. You're correct. Her son should now apply to be registered as a British citizen first. Once he's British, he may then apply for a British passport.

Post by **JAJ** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:06 am

Gagz wrote:Hi guys,

Right i just need some help for some good friends of mine however they don't own a computer so i need to ask on their behalf.

Right the family consists of 3 members (mother and 2 sons). The mother and the eldest son were born in India and moved to England i believe in 1991 and the mother had a child in 1992 however the father hasn't been in touch since about 1993 so they know nothing about him.

The family have booked a holiday to the US for the end of April and the mother and eldest son have both got british passports (got full british citizenship last year). They have now come across a block with the younger son who does not have a passport. The younger son needs a passport to travel obviously but they i believe need to make him a british citizen and go through the process again i believe, would this be correct? whats the likely cost going to be ? (he's 15yrs old, 16 end of November). Im pretty sure they sent of the application last week to apply for a passport along with the mothers certificate from last year showing she is now 100% a british citizen however they got a responce today asking to prove the younger son is a british citizen so they hit a bump and don't know what to do.

Vinny is right. The younger son needs to be registered as a British citizen.

The correct section is s1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, for a U.K. born child where the parent (in this case the mother) became a British citizen or permanent resident after the child was born.

As the child (apparently) lived in the U.K. until age 10, there is a separate entitlement under section 1(4) of the Act but in this case it is probably going to be simpler to provide the documentation for a section 1(3) application.

Why was the child not registered previously? Did the mother think he was British?

Processing times in the Home Office are not too long - about 6 weeks, then the child needs to apply for a passport which is about 2 weeks. So there is still enough time to get everything done before end-April, barring complications.

It might be worth pointing out the Home Office the need to travel in April and the fact the child is stateless (see below).

As child was born before 10 December 1992 (based on the facts) then he is not an Indian citizen, so he cannot get an Indian passport even if he wanted one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_nat ... by_Descent

Gagz · Post by **Gagz** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:46 pm

I believe the other was told when she got the ILR in 1997 that when she applied for british nationality that her younger son would automatically get it as well, obviously she has just found out this isn't true. Which forms does she need to fill out? MN1/T ?

Post by **JAJ** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:06 pm

Gagz wrote:I believe the other was told when she got the ILR in 1997 that when she applied for british nationality that her younger son would automatically get it as well, obviously she has just found out this isn't true. Which forms does she need to fill out? MN1/T ?

MN1. An application under section 1(3) of the Act should be simpler than under 1(4) which is what form T is used for.

Nothing automatic about children getting British citizenship when parent becomes British. An application must always be made.

The son could have been registered British as soon as she got her ILR, ie back in 1997.

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Immigration Help - 15yr old without passport