MN1 application under 3.2 from Pakistan, from abroad

[Shandard]

Dear All,

Kindly request any guidance on filing a MN1 application under 3.2 from Pakistan for my daughter.

1) Can I file an online application?
2) How can I pay for it without a credit card? Is there a local payment option within Islamabad.
3) What about the original documents? Do the local script ones need to be translated? If so, are there recognised/approved translators. Is scanning acceptable? Will there be a local appointment for me to present them for scrutiny or verification?

4) My father was a citizen otherwise than by descent. I was born outside of the UK so a citizen by descent. My daughter was also born outside the UK so effectively she is applying under 3.2 on the basis that I resided in the UK for three years. How exhaustive do the proofs of the three years residence have to be. I have old passports and grandparents' nationality certificates.


I would be grateful for any help, especially from someone who has made a similar application from outside of the UK in similar circumstances. My apologies if the info has already been posted somewhere but after considerable time searching I've not been able to locate it.

[contorted_svy]

Dear All,

Kindly request any guidance on filing a MN1 application under 3.2 from Pakistan for my daughter.

1) Can I file an online application? Yes, apply here
2) How can I pay for it without a credit card? Is there a local payment option within Islamabad. You need to pay by card.
3) What about the original documents? Do the local script ones need to be translated? If so, are there recognised/approved translators. Is scanning acceptable? Will there be a local appointment for me to present them for scrutiny or verification? You need to find a translator yourself. I think you wll need to attend biometrics appointment but no one will check your original documents for accuracy when you submit. You will upload copies, and keep all originals.

4) My father was a citizen otherwise than by descent. I was born outside of the UK so a citizen by descent. My daughter was also born outside the UK so effectively she is applying under 3.2 on the basis that I resided in the UK for three years. How exhaustive do the proofs of the three years residence have to be. I have old passports and grandparents' nationality certificates.

old passport should do. The documents you will need depend on how your father became a British citizen: did he naturalise or did grandparents naturalise? if the latter, I think you will need full birth certificates for father and marriage cert for grandparents and naturalisation certificate for British grandparent, marriage certificate for your parents, full birth certificate for you, marriage cert for you and wife, and full birth certificate for child. You need to track all generations.

I would be grateful for any help, especially from someone who has made a similar application from outside of the UK in similar circumstances. My apologies if the info has already been posted somewhere but after considerable time searching I've not been able to locate it.

[Shandard]

Many thanks for clearing multiple issues! Much appreciated.

[secret.simon]

How exhaustive do the proofs of the three years residence have to be. I have old passports and grandparents' nationality certificates.

Grandparents nationality certificates is fine. As for old passports, if the person is both a dual British and Pakistani citizen, it is possible (I don't know Pakistani rules on this) that neither passport may have been stamped if the person was traveling between the two countries. So they may not suffice as proof of residence in the UK.

You may want to provide additional proof of presence in the UK; school/university records for the time in question, P45s/P60s if the British citizen by descent parent worked for three continuous years in the UK, etc.

Also note that the requirement is for the British citizen by descent parent to have been resident in the UK for three continuous years, with absences from the UK of no more than 270 days in that three years period, before the date of birth of the child. You may also need to evidence the absences part. The passports may come in handy for that.

A last point is that while your daughter is entitled to be registered as a British citizen under Section 3.2, note that she herself will become a British citizen by descent. But her children born abroad won't be able to be registered as a British citizen under this section, because their British citizen grandparent (you) won't have been a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

A better option would be that you, the child and the other parent move to the UK, with the other parent and child on the relevant spouse and dependent visas, reside in the UK for at least three continuous years, and then register the child under Section 3.5, which would make the child a British citizen otherwise than by descent.

Of course in order to go down that route, you will need to move to the UK on your own, get a salaried job for at least six months paying at least £29000 (from April 2024, it is expected to go up to £34000 later in the year) and then sponsor your wife and child on the said spouse and dependent visa.

You may also want to persuade your wife to give birth in the UK next time.

[Shandard]

Valuable advice Simon. Many thanks.

I assume that working in this area, you are probably regularly encountering families wanting to settle in the UK through the variety of official routes. It seemed to me that your response reflects familiarity with that typical aspiration.

My family is actually well settled here. It's just a case of wanting to establish an inherited right to the nationality for my daughter. Otherwise uprooting settled family life for three years and disturbing a child's education is really not an option. I laughed at the suggestion that a pregnancy should be planned with delivery in the UK in mind. Thankfully our family is complete and my wife would balk at that idea!

Nevertheless thanks for the sincerity of your guidance. Will know who to contact should the mood ever change!

[secret.simon]

I assume that working in this area, you are probably regularly encountering families wanting to settle in the UK through the variety of official routes. It seemed to me that your response reflects familiarity with that typical aspiration.

Thank you for the compliment. You flatter me. Most of it comes from being a first generation migrant, which involves reading the rules, guidances, etc, in detail, to make sure that one doesn't get tripped over by a minute detail, and having every bit of paperwork/documentation to hand at the right time.

It's just a case of wanting to establish an inherited right to the nationality for my daughter.

That is of course your choice and indeed your daughter is entitled to register as a British citizen before her 18th birthday, if your parents and you have met the conditions of Section 3(2).

But you should also plan ahead that, (a) as mentioned above, her children born outside the UK will not have any inheritable right to British citizenship, and (b) if she plans to study in a British university as a Home Student, she will need to have resided in the UK for at least the three continuous years immediately before the first day of the first year of the course, at least under the current rules. These rules apply to British citizen students as well.

The UK prioritises a relationship with the UK itself over inherited citizenship outside the UK.