ILR for child in case of Registration by Discretion

[vnikme]

Hi people!

I'm trying to figure our whether I have to apply for ILR for my child born outside of the UK before applying for BC for them. I found a couple of topics where people say I have to, like this one: british-citizenship/ilr-for-child-born- ... 19319.html

However, I consulted with 2 independent advisors who said it's ok to apply for BC directly.

I read the guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... 7.0ext.pdf and it says the following.

On the one hand:

As a general principle, the expectation is that there should be a staged approach to permanent residence and citizenship. This means that the child will first achieve one of the following before being considered for British citizenship:
• indefinite leave (IL)
...

On the other hand (a couple of paragraphs below):

Being free from immigration restrictions will be less important where one or both
parents are British citizens who have come to the UK to live permanently ...

The latter is my case (one parent is BC, another has ILR, we live in the UK permanently). So, my question is the following: do you have any refers to the similar successful and unsuccessful cases?

Many thanks in advance.

[secret.simon]

I recall a couple of refusals for registration of children without ILR on these forums. I could only find one at the moment, I am afraid.

Also, in your quote above, you missed out the paragraph below the one you quoted.

(Pages 30-31)
As a general principle, the expectation is that there should be a staged approach to permanent residence and citizenship. This means that the child will first achieve one of the following before being considered for British citizenship:
• indefinite leave (IL)
• permanent residence under the European Economic Area (EEA) regulations

Given this you should normally only register a child under section 3(1) who has not been granted IL or permanent residence where there are strong compelling compassionate circumstances to do so. British citizenship does not give a minor any additional benefits that cannot be obtained through IL and therefore representations on the basis of issues such as access to education are unlikely to be sufficient to justify the exercise of discretion.

You can't deprive the Home Office of their pound of flesh that easily.

Keep in mind that discretion does not mean absence of rules. It means such rules as the SSHD/Home Office think are appropriate at the time.

[vnikme]

Many thanks for the answer and for the reference to a refusal case.

[vnikme]

Just for statistics, here is a recent example of successful application with no ILR: british-citizenship/naturalisation-appl ... l#p2041747

It would be great to collect more statistics to understand real situation.

[abdulsaid]

I might be late but I will give you a head up, The guidance says they can be registered by discretion and it will be very rare that they will be registered as British without ILR, and they expect one parent to be either British or applying to be British and the application is going to be approved and the other parent to have ILR.

It is also state , in case of minor it will also be rare to refuse citizenship and before refusal the case has to be escalated to HO, the refusal could be maybe the country is in conflict with the UK ,bad behaviour etc.

My friend had 2 children born in the UK and one in Africa, he has HR Resident permit and wife just applied and granted ILR.
He gave it a go and in June 2021 and on 8 Nov., he received 3 decision all granted nationality, without even ILR.
So go for it it is luck
I also know a colleague daughter has ILR mum British ,he has applied to be British and outstanding for 5 months now .
Goodluck

[vnikme]

Many thanks, mate!

I'm thinking about an AB-test I already applied for ILR for one of two kids, and I'm still thinking about next steps for another one.

All other requirements are going to be satisfied. Let's see.

Thanks again!

[Whecanotdo]

Many thanks, mate!

I'm thinking about an AB-test I already applied for ILR for one of two kids, and I'm still thinking about next steps for another one.

All other requirements are going to be satisfied. Let's see.

Thanks again!

Just as an encouragement to you ,i just got my children's registration to be British both approved although one of them was born outside the UK .

Myself and husband are ILR holders and we did not apply for ILR for the child born outside the UK. Biometrics was done in October and we got the approval email in November.

All the best

[vnikme]

Thanks a lot for sharing your case!

[Hamad327]

@Whecanotdo
I'm in a similar situation, whether to go for ILR or direct BC application for my daughter born abroad.
Your recent success gives hope for registering a child as BC without ILR, congratulations!
Would you mind giving the list of documents sent with the application?
Thanks a lot.
Hammad

[Whecanotdo]

@Whecanotdo
I'm in a similar situation, whether to go for ILR or direct BC application for my daughter born abroad.
Your recent success gives hope for registering a child as BC without ILR, congratulations!
Would you mind giving the list of documents sent with the application?
Thanks a lot.
Hammad

Hello Hamad327,

Glad to give hope but as My situation was based on discretion it may not apply to everyone.

Both kids applications were applied in one and we wrote out a few reasons why she should be considered .

My daughter who was born abroad and came here when she was 18months, so she had spent over 10years in the UK before we applied, while Her brother was born here .

Myself and hubby both just received our ILR .

The only document we sent were those we were asked for -

Childs birth certificate ,
A letter of consent
Two referee declarations,
kids current biometric residence permit,
parents' marriage certificate,
proof of parent is settled status
Childs Expired Passport

Hope this goes well for you .