Do the child need to be UK resident to register as citizen while in UK

[CommdrManas]

Both parents got ILR after the kid is born in UK in 2023. Child was on skilled worker dependent visa which has now expired. Due to circumstances child was in India for 185 days, along with the mother, when the visa expired and we obtained a visitor visa for him to temporarily visit me, father, in the UK. This is mainly due to the urgent nature of the visit, otherwise we could have opted for registering as British in India - which is supposed to take around an year.

Now that he is in UK for 6 months, we want to register him as a citizen here. Looking at the MN1 form, I don't particularly see anything that might suggest this is not possible. Since it is a citizenship application and not to change the immigration status. Only benefit we have is him not needing to stay away from me for months.

Wondering if the experts have any opinion?

[CR001]

There is no residence requirements for uk born children. They have an entitlement to register as British while under 18 years if age.

[CommdrManas]

There is no residence requirements for uk born children. They have an entitlement to register as British while under 18 years if age.

Thanks. Just to confirm, we can register him as British while in the UK on a visitor visa?

There is a question in MN1 form "do you live in the UK or British overseas territory". Do we say yes or no here? And does it matter?

[CR001]

It doesn't matter but state within the uk otherwise the process is different.

A uk born child doesn't need a valid visa to register as British. Make sure you have private medical insurance as the child is not entitled to free nhs until the are British.

[CommdrManas]

It doesn't matter but state within the uk otherwise the process is different.

A uk born child doesn't need a valid visa to register as British. Make sure you have private medical insurance as the child is not entitled to free nhs until the are British.

Yes, got insurance coverage for the entire visit duration.

Do I say yes or no to the "living in UK" question please?

[contorted_svy]

Where does child live? Why is this a difficult question to answer?

[CommdrManas]

Where does child live? Why is this a difficult question to answer?

Child is in the UK at the moment, on visitor visa. Has been in India the last 185 days. And in UK the rest of the period, as a dependent. Hence the confusion. Technically not "living" in the UK as he is "visiting". I don't know if that's what they mean here. I don't want to say no and impact the application.

[CR001]

It has no impact on the application.

You can answer yes.

If you answer no, the process will change online.

[CommdrManas]

It has no impact on the application.

You can answer yes.

If you answer no, the process will change online.

Thanks for the comments, very helpful. On a slightly related topic, where do we stand on free childcare? We haven't had to use a nursery yet but I'm guessing we can use this if we had to? I remember it said "No public funds" on his last dependent visa as well. Is it the parents that are using the public funds in the context of free child care?

[Ticktack]

It has no impact on the application.

You can answer yes.

If you answer no, the process will change online.

Thanks for the comments, very helpful. On a slightly related topic, where do we stand on free childcare? We haven't had to use a nursery yet but I'm guessing we can use this if we had to? I remember it said "No public funds" on his last dependent visa as well. Is it the parents that are using the public funds in the context of free child care?

This question has no relevance to this topic anymore. You need to ask that in a different section.