Child born outside UK, which pathway towards citizenship

[teriefic]

Hi! My apologies if this topic has already been discussed before but I am having difficulty finding a a post touching my query. I really hope someone can help me and maybe redirect me if there is an existing post already with the same question.

I have a child born in the Philippines in 2014 and I came to UK under Tier 2 Visa. I am now a naturalised citizen and I am planning to process an applied so she could live with me now. I just would like to know which pathway should my child take towards becoming a UK Citizen? What type of visa should I apply for and how long should she be staying in the UK before being eligible for ILR? Thank you in advance!

[teriefic]

I just would also like to add, my daughter's father and I divorced after I became naturalised citizen. She is staying in the Philippines with my parents. Her father is also in the Philippines. I understand that I will need to prove sole responsibility but I am not sure what visa or leave to enter should I apply for her and what pathway (how long before she can apply for ILR, etc) towards British Citizenship? Thank you

[zimba]

A child born outside the UK has no entitlement to British citizenship and has to normally secure ILR first. If you can prove sole responsibility, the child can be granted indefinite leave to enter (ILE) and join you in the UK as settled. Then you can look into the citizenship.

Note that sole parental responsibility means that one parent has abdicated or abandoned parental responsibility, and the remaining parent is exercising sole control in setting and providing the day-to-day direction for the child’s welfare.

There are specific factors that will be considered in assessing sole responsibility:

•Whether the parents are married/in a civil partnership
•If the marriage/civil partnership is dissolved – which parent was awarded legal custody
•If the sponsoring parent has migrated to the UK – how long have they been separated from the child and what relationship they have with the child
•If the sponsoring parent has migrated to the UK, the nature of the child’s care arrangements before and after they migrated
•Who bears the child’s maintenance costs and at what proportion
•Who makes the important decisions about the child’s upbringing, for example, where the child lives, which school they attend, etc

The immigration rules cover this in detail under Appendix Children: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... e_parental

You are not considering whether the child’s parent (or anyone else) has day-to-day responsibility for the child, but whether the parent has continuing sole control and direction of the child’s upbringing, including making all the important decisions in the child’s life. If not, then they do not have sole parental responsibility for the child. You must carefully consider each application on a case-by-case basis. The burden of proof is on the applicant to provide satisfactory evidence that a parent has sole parental responsibility.

For entry clearance cases, it may be necessary to use local intelligence relating to the applicant’s home country or location to advise on what evidence you should expect to see, or what is likely to be available that you could reasonably ask for, as well as how much weight to give to particular types of evidence. Country-specific information can be found in the country of origin information or via the relevant UK embassy or high commission staff.

[teriefic]

Thank you very much zimba for your advice and for sharing the link regarding the sole responsibility!

I just would like to check if I understood it right:

So for my child who was born in the Philippines in 2014 before I came to UK in 2016, she can possibly be granted an Indefinite Leave to Enter right away so she can join me in the UK? I think I am confused thinking she will have to wait for 5 years because I was basing it on how long I also waited before having an ILR through Tier 2 visa, then another 1 year to wait for British Citizenship.
Lastly, how long should my child be in the UK with ILE before she can apply for citizenship?
Thank you in advance!

[zimba]

The process of getting residence, ILR and naturalisation for adults is quite different. Children do not have any residence requirements at all. They settle when both parents settle. When there is sole responsibility, they settle with the parent that has sole responsibility. If that parent becomes British, then the child can also be registered as British via discretion under Section 3(1)

Read: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... y+2025.pdf