citizenship for a child living abroad

[scuuler2]

Dear members,

Both my wife and I have received UK citizenship several years ago through naturalisation (we are also EU citizens). Regrettably, at the time of our application, we could not afford to also complete the process for our child. He was only 2yo at the time, and I knew it was easy to do it afterwards for him, so was not too worried (he only had a registration certificate).

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, my wife had to return to EU for an undefined period of time, to take care of a relative. I continue to work in London, but I am effectively commuting from EU by flying back and forth every week. Our son, 5yo, therefore currently lives full time outside UK in another EU country.

The question - is there a way for us to apply for his citizenship, considering that he is a minor and both of his parents are UK citizens? Perhaps there is some way to do it, maybe by adding some sort of covering letter?

(if it matters, we still do have a registered address in UK, and I pay UK taxes and technically spend most of my time in UK)

Thank you very much in advance.

[alterhase58]

The question - is there a way for us to apply for his citizenship, considering that he is a minor and both of his parents are UK citizens? Perhaps there is some way to do it, maybe by adding some sort of covering letter?

If at the time of son's birth you, your wife, or both of you, held Permanent Residence (which you needed for naturalisation) then he would be British already and could have applied for a passport at the time, and as he is British can do so now. See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... plications
You will need to provide proof of you having exercised treaty rights, your PR card and any other documents required.

What is the registration certificate you mention?

[alterhase58]

Correction:
At the time of your son's birth you needed to have held PR or exercised Treaty Rights for five years already - so question is when did you obtain PR or from when did you exercise treat rights.

[secret.simon]

Where was the child born?

[scuuler2]

At the time of your son's birth you needed to have held PR or exercised Treaty Rights for five years already - so question is when did you obtain PR or from when did you exercise treat rights.

We obtained PR status after his birth.

Where was the child born?

He was born abroad for health reasons. We were both living permanently in UK at the time, but my wife flew out for a few months to give birth abroad, coming back with him shortly after birth. Reason being my wife had a rare condition and was not receiving adequate health care in UK at the time.

[CR001]

A child born abroad requires evidence of permanent residence (different to a registration certificate) or Settled Status before they can apply for citizenship. They are also required to be in the UK to apply for citiznship.

A child born abroad has no entitlement to register as British as a UK born child has.

[secret.simon]

Also see Page 28 of the Registration of children as British citizen guidance.

Child’s future intentions
You must be satisfied that a child’s future is clearly seen to lie in the UK before you register them under this provision.

You should normally accept that a child’s future lies in the UK where this is stated in their application unless there is information to cast doubt on this, such as:
• the child, or one or both of their parents, has recently left the UK for a period of more than 6 months
• the child is about to leave the UK
• one or both parents are resident abroad

Where you have reason to doubt a child’s future lies in the UK you must seek further clarification before refusing the application. If you are still not satisfied that the child’s future is in the UK you should refuse the application.
...

Where the child is outside the UK at the time of their application an application for registration should normally be refused unless it meets the criteria set out in this guidance or if either:
• the child is abroad with a parent in Crown service such as the armed forces
• the child had an established home in the UK before going abroad and:
o they meet the residence criteria
o their absence was, or will not be, more than 6 months
o you are satisfied that the child intends to return to live in the UK no later than 6 months after the date of their departure

And as CR001 has mentioned above, the child themselves needs either ILR or PR or Settled Status before registering as a British citizen.

[scuuler2]

Thank you all, looks like we can only revisit this matter when he is back living in UK.

I do find it strange, that if we have any more children, they will automatically be entitled to UK citizenship by descent, but any children we have already are not. But I do understand that it is the parents' status at birth that matters...

[CR001]

Naturalisation laws don't apply retrospectively to children born before you became British.

It would have been very different if the child had been born in the UK, as they could register as British from anywhere in the world as it would be an entitlement to register.

[scuuler2]

It would have been very different if the child had been born in the UK, as they could register as British from anywhere in the world as it would be an entitlement to register.

Yeah, I must admit UK citizenship was not at the top of our agenda at the time. And it was during the simpler days before brexit vote happened, so we were only concerned about healthcare quality

[secret.simon]

I do find it strange, that if we have any more children, they will automatically be entitled to UK citizenship by descent, but any children we have already are not.

Keep in mind that any British citizen by descent children born to you outside the UK will not be able to automatically transmit their British citizenship to their children (your grandchildren) born outside the UK.

As a general rule, British citizenship can be transmitted only one generation outside the UK.