Post
by Ozair » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:21 am
I will be applying for ILR for me and wife on 3rd october and have a Nationality checking service appointment booked on the 8th of october for the baby who has a Pakistani passport with no visa.
My understanding of the law is as follows.
Since one of the parents (atleast) has ILR, your daughter is eligible to register as a british citizen. You should book a NCS appointment straight away or send the MN1 and supporting documents by post. It will take 2-3 months approx for a baby's registration after which you will get her certificate of british citizen. You can then apply for her british passport which would take 1 week for the first passport. All this time the baby will have to be in the uk.
Alternatively, if you have got your baby's Pakistani ID card, you can apply for a fast track pakistani passport and on that passport she can leave the uk and will have to apply for either a visa to return to uk which you can apply for in pakistan, or she can apply for mn1 and then british passport from pakistan which i think will take longer than if you are applying from uk. You will need to find referees in Pakistan that the UKBA will accept. Further more, the application will have to be sent to UKBA in the UK according to the recent changes.
These are the only two ways but if you go with option 2, be prepared for your wife and baby to stay in Pakistan for longer than 3 months which might affect your wife's naturalization application based on absence from the uk for longer than 3 months at one time.
If i were you, i will take the option 1.
