Registration of Child as British Citizen

[harshitguptaiitr]

Hello Everyone.

Please can you advise the rules about registration of my friend's child as British Citizen.

Here is story of life in UK:

Mar-2010: Tier 2 Migrant Visa granted
Apr-2010: Arrived in UK and started employment
Feb-2014: Got Married
Mar-2014: Spouse came to UK as Tier 2 Dependent
2015: Unfortunately, due to strong compelling personal reasons, did not apply for ILR
Oct-2015: Spouse went to home country during pregnancy
Mar-2016: Child born to the couple outside the UK.
Apr-2016: Child and mother comes back to the UK (Child spent less than 2 months in home country and mother spent 178 days)
Sep-2016: Friend granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK.

Tier 2 Migrant Visa for Child and Spouse is valid till Dec-2018.

How can the child get registered as British citizenship?

I understand that child will be eligible for citizenship once ALL of the following is true:

Mother spends three year in the UK - This will happen in Mar-2017.

Father spends three year in the UK - This is already met since 2013 and father has ILR.

One parent has ILR - Met as father has ILR

Father does not spend more than 270 days outside UK during three years period before application - Father meets the criteria

Mother does not spend more than 270 days outside UK during three years period before application - mother will meet this criteria in Aug-2017.

I really look forward to your help and resources.

Thanks.

[harshitguptaiitr]

I forgot to add that:

Father of the child has been in full-time employment with a single employer
and that the mother has been house-maker (not earning) since she came to the UK in 2014.

Not sure if this will have any impact.

No court case, summons, judgements or traffic offences for both mother and father.

[CR001]

Child will only be eligible for British citizenship once child and mother have ILR and once either parent has naturalised as British. Child will follow the same immigration route as the mother.

A child born abroad to a father who has ILR does not have any entitlement to register as British.

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thank you for the reply.

Please can you advise me if this case is eligible for discretion from Secretary of State?

What do you recommend the family should do now based on what has happened - the priority is getting British citizenship for the child. Father applied for ILR only because he thought this would help the case for the child.

Note that the child has spent less than 2 months outside the UK and rest of the life in the UK.

[secret.simon]

Section 3(1) registration for children born outside the UK is already discretionary. But discretion does not mean that it is at random. There are broad rules as to when it is appropriate to exercise discretion and when it is not.

The SoS (which means the Home Office) would look at multiple factors, but one of the determining factors is the status of the rest of the family. It is expected that one of the parents is a British citizen and that both the parents and the child have held ILR. These are the guidelines for exercising the discretionary power of the SoS in registering the child.

Had the child been born in the UK, it could have been registered as a British citizen with the ILR of just one parent.

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thank you for the reply.

What do you recommend the family should do now based on what has already happened - the priority is getting British citizenship for the child.

Father applied for ILR only because he thought this would help the case for the child.

Note that the child has spent less than 2 months outside the UK and rest of the life in the UK.

[secret.simon]

Note that the child has spent less than 2 months outside the UK and rest of the life in the UK.

That is fine, but given that it is just a baby, the Home Office would also want to see the status of the rest of the family is going in the same direction.

Next time they are planning for the child, suggest to them to have the child in the UK.

Any future child born in the UK to the father who has got ILR will be a British citizen by birth, but if born abroad will have the status of the mother (as less-privileged parent) through till her ILR.

Are the parents not planning to settle in the UK?

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thank you for the reply.

So I guess for their first baby, this is what the family should do:

• Mother should take Knowledge of Life in UK test as soon as possible - since this is valid forever
  Mother should take Knowledge of Language (IELTS B1) closer to 2019
  Mother should apply for ILR in 2019 using SET (O) form.
  Baby should apply for ILR at same time as mother in 2019.
  Baby should apply for citizenship in 2020.

Is it necessary for father to apply for citizenship before mother (and child) apply for ILR/citizenship?


Note that the priority for family is for child to get British citizenship. Parents will apply for ILR/citizenship only if required for child's citizenship.

[secret.simon]

Thank you for the reply.

So I guess for their first baby, this is what the family should do:

• Mother should take Knowledge of Life in UK test as soon as possible - since this is valid forever
  Mother should take Knowledge of Language (IELTS B1) closer to 2019
  Mother should apply for ILR in 2019 using SET (O) form.
  Baby should apply for ILR at same time as mother in 2019.
  Baby should apply for citizenship in 2020.

Is it necessary for father to apply for citizenship before mother (and child) apply for ILR/citizenship?


Note that the priority for family is for child to get British citizenship. Parents will apply for ILR/citizenship only if required for child's citizenship.

Currently, at least one parent should be a British citizen at the time of the child's registration application.

If you can give very good reasons for why the child should be registered without the naturalisation of at least one parent (such as British naturalisation causing loss of another citizenship which would in turn cause hardship; all that would need to be documented and provable of course) and can prove that the future of the child will be in the UK (good integration in school, etc), then the Home Office may consider registering the child on his/her own.

But a few things to keep in mind.

The problem with applications at discretion is that the rules can get much tougher too. Discretion applies in both directions. By 2020, the requirements could be much higher (hypothetically as an example, they may require both parents to be British citizens, rather than just one)

Proving the future of the child lies in the UK will need good evidence of the child growing up and integrating in the British way of life. Keep an eye out on getting documentation on that.

Why are the parents so reluctant to acquire British citizenship? If they have documentable issues, get them to start documenting that straight away. So, would they lose an inheritance if they lose their native citizenship, for instance?

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thank you for your reply and helping organise and shape the thoughts.

Why are the parents so reluctant to acquire British citizenship?

Father has been recently granted ILR. He applied on premium service so that he is eligible for citizenship earlier before rules get even tougher (sometimes six months can make a lot of difference).

Mother has been in UK since Mar-2014 only (i.e. less than five years) and she had a long absence of 178 days during pregnancy and child-birth.

Reluctance is because of costs involved only.

Can you please advise if the following strategy is the best (aim is to get British Citizenship to child as soon as possible):

Mother should take Knowledge of Life in UK test
Mother should take Knowledge of Language (IELTS B1) closer to 2019
Mother should apply for ILR in 2019 using SET (O) form.

Baby should apply for ILR at same time as mother in 2019.
Baby should apply for citizenship in 2020.

Father should convert his ILR into citizenship by 2019 (before mother applies for ILR)

[CR001]

Father has been recently granted ILR. He applied on premium service so that he is eligible for citizenship earlier before rules get even tougher (sometimes six months can make a lot of difference). Citizenship laws do not change frequently and there have been not major changes since Dec 2014 when Good Character was toughened/added.

Mother has been in UK since Mar-2014 only (i.e. less than five years) and she had a long absence of 178 days during pregnancy and child-birth. There is no absence limit for dependents, so not sure why you keep going on about this point.

Reluctance is because of costs involved only. The whole family doesn't have to be done at the same time.

Can you please advise if the following strategy is the best (aim is to get British Citizenship to child as soon as possible): Child will qualify for ILR when mother does. Child will qualify for citizenship once either parent applies for citizenship or already has citizenship. There is no quick way to get child citizenship.

Mother should take Knowledge of Life in UK test
Mother should take Knowledge of Language (IELTS B1) closer to 2019
Mother should apply for ILR in 2019 using SET (O) form.

Baby should apply for ILR at same time as mother in 2019.
Baby should apply for citizenship in 2020.

Father should convert his ILR into citizenship by 2019 (before mother applies for ILR) It is not 'converting' ILR to BC. Citizenship is a completely independent application with a completely different set of rules. Your 'friend' can apply for citizenship as soon as he qualifies or not apply if he does not want to. It makes no difference whether he does it before mother gets ILR or after. But he will have to apply for or be a British citizen if he wishes the child to be registered once child has ILR.

[secret.simon]

Reluctance is because of costs involved only.

If that is the main reason and the intent was for the child to get British citizenship, the family has shown exceptionally bad planning.

Firstly, children born abroad get registration at discretion as opposed to children born in the UK, who would generally be entitled (i.e. can not be refused) to registration as a British citizen.

Secondly, if the child were born in the UK, the cost would have been just the registration fee. But as it is born abroad, the child would need to pay the same visa extensions fees and ILR fees and IHS fees as the mother, followed by the registration fee.

Thirdly, fees for immigration go up by huge percentage points every year. ILR fees have gone from £1075 to £1500 to £1875 in just the last year and a half.

So, the (presumably sentimental) decision to have the child born outside the UK was the single most expensive decision for that family.

As CR001 has said, there is no way of speeding up the process, except by ensuring that the rest of the family meets the requirements as soon as possible.

[secret.simon]

Is the family you are talking of your own? I see you have just got ILR yourself.

[CR001]

Is the family you are talking of your own? I see you have just got ILR yourself.

OP is apparently asking on behalf of a 'friend'

[harshitguptaiitr]

Thank you CR001 and secret.simon for all the information.

So, the (presumably sentimental) decision to have the child born outside the UK was the single most expensive decision for that family.

The cost benefit analysis was done by the family. They were misinformed that the child will be able to get citizenship if ALL of the following are met:

Mother spends three year in the UK - This will happen in Mar-2017.

Father spends three year in the UK - This is already met since 2013 and father has ILR.

One parent has ILR - Met as father has ILR

Father does not spend more than 270 days outside UK during three years period before application - Father meets the criteria

Mother does not spend more than 270 days outside UK during three years period before application - mother will meet this criteria in Aug-2017.

[CR001]

They were indeed misinformed, who gave them this advice? What you have quoted as the requirements is for children born abroad to British by decent citizens.

Children born abroad to parents who have ILR are not in the same category as children born abroad to British by decent citizens.

What exactly is the urgency for the child to get British Citizenship? Surely waiting another 3/4 years or so will not be difficult.

[harshitguptaiitr]

What exactly is the urgency for the child to get British Citizenship? Surely waiting another 3/4 years or so will not be difficult.

Urgency of British Citizenship is that the baby should get all benefits (education etc.) that other UK babies get.

Since baby and mother is on Tier-2 Dependent Visa, the baby does not have recourse to public funds - even though father now has Indefinite Leave to Remain.

[CR001]

What exactly is the urgency for the child to get British Citizenship? Surely waiting another 3/4 years or so will not be difficult.

Urgency of British Citizenship is that the baby should get all benefits (education etc.) that other UK babies get.

Since baby and mother is on Tier-2 Dependent Visa, the baby does not have recourse to public funds - even though father now has Indefinite Leave to Remain.

The baby still gets all the same education, health etc benefits in the UK while he has a valid visa. Don't know why you think this is not the case.

The father can claim benefit such as child benefits, child tax credits, as he is on ILR and is entitled to claim.

[secret.simon]

Whatever other advantages the child may get from his/her British citizenship, education is not one of them. Almost every immigrant parent that I have interacted with has bemoaned the fact that the education that British children get is much less academically rigorous than what they had in their home country. And similar sentiments are covered in free newspapers for migrants from countries as disparate as Brazil and South Africa, not just from Asia.

[ouflak1]

Whatever other advantages the child may get from his/her British citizenship, education is not one of them. Almost every immigrant parent that I have interacted with has bemoaned the fact that the education that British children get is much less academically rigorous than what they had in their home country. And similar sentiments are covered in free newspapers for migrants from countries as disparate as Brazil and South Africa, not just from Asia.

They are the same schools that the British kids are made to go to. The same education system that has produced a country that so many people want to immigrate to and have their children be citizens of. If these parents don't like the public education system, they can try to pay for private, hope for grammar school qualification, or send the kids back to their home countries for education. We are opting for extra tuition for our children and takinig a significant role ourselves in shoring up their success. I agree. British citizenship, or lack thereof, has nothing to do with that.

Sounds like the OP was very very poorly advised.