Child born in the UK of British father and Swedish mother??

[Siggi]

Please confirm my belief, that if a child was born in the UK in 2003 of a Swedish Mother and a British Father.
The child is British by birth, regaurdless of the fact that the parents are not married!
What do our specialist say?

[John]

Is the father named on the child's birth certificate?

[Siggi]

John, yes the Father name is on the BCert!

[John]

Yes, I think the child is a British Citizen and has been since birth. Just apply for a British Passport. Quite reasonably the Passport Office will want proof that the father is indeed British.

Child also a Swedish Citizen? I have no knowledge of Swedish nationality law, but if there is any doubt about this, the mother of the child should contact the Swedish embassy in London.

[Siggi]

Thanks John, I'm pleased that you agree with me.
The couple move to Sweden last year, but I beleive that the child should be dual National.

[Siggi]

I check on the BIA web site and I missed a little bit at the bottom of the page.
Parent: A parent is biological mother(Sewdish) of a child, the biological father (British) if he was married to the mother when the child was born or if he can prove paternity.
What this means, is because the couple where not married the child will not be British unless he takes a paternity test to prove paternity.
So the fact that his name is on the birth certificate as the father, means nothing.

[JAJ]

Please confirm my belief, that if a child was born in the UK in 2003 of a Swedish Mother and a British Father.
The child is British by birth, regaurdless of the fact that the parents are not married!
What do our specialist say?

Bad news, child is not British unless by some chance the Swedish mother had applied for and obtained Indefinite Leave to Remain before he was born.

But good news is that child can be registered as British. How long did the Swedish mother live in the U.K. before she moved to Sweden and when exactly did she move?

[Siggi]

JAJ,

The couple have been back in Sweden for two years now.

But I don't quite understand what you are saying, because firstly you say the child is not British, but then you say the child can be registered British.
So if you are registered British surely you are British. ????

[John]

JAJ, yes I agree you are right about the child not being British. But wouldn't it be necessary for the Swedish mother to have had PR status in the UK at the time of the child's birth? If she got PR status later than that would not make the child British, well not without Registration. Agree?

[Mr Rusty]

Extract from the BIA website:-

"Children born before 1 July 2006 whose father is a British citizen but not married to their mother - section 3(1) applications
British citizen

This page explains how a child born before 1 July 2006 to unmarried parents can be registered as a British citizen if his or her father is a British citizen.

Since 1 July 2006 both parents are able to pass on their British citizenship to their children even if they are not married providing there is satisfactory evidence of paternity. We will normally register any child born before 1 July 2006 to a father who is a British citizen father under section 3(1) if the requirements below are met:
we are satisfied about the paternity of the child; and
we have the consent of all those with parental responsibility; and
we are satisfied that if the parents were married:

- the child would have an automatic claim to British citizenship; or
- the child would have an entitlement to registration under sections 1(3), 3(2) or sections 3(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981; or
- we would normally have registered the child under section 3(1); and


if the child is over 10 year of age, they are of good character.
In these circumstances, registration under section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act would be at our discretion, if we think it is reasonable under the circumstances.

To be satisfied of the child's paternity we would usually expect you to provide:

a birth certificate issued within one year of the child's birth naming the child's father; or
any other evidence such as DNA test reports or court orders relevant to paternity.
If you are unable to provide the above evidence, we will normally accept that a man is the father of a child if:

paternity has been acknowledged in some other official context, for example if the child was born abroad and the relationship has been accepted for United Kingdom immigration purposes; or
he has stated that he is the father and we have confirmation of that from the mother, providing there is no evidence to suggest that their evidence is false. "

So, he doesn't acquire citizenship automatically, he has to apply for registration as British because he was born before 1st July 2006, but if the father is named on the birth cert or both parents say he is daddy that's enough to get registration (unless the mother had ILR when the child was born, in which case he is already British).

[JAJ]

JAJ, yes I agree you are right about the child not being British. But wouldn't it be necessary for the Swedish mother to have had PR status in the UK at the time of the child's birth? If she got PR status later than that would not make the child British, well not without Registration. Agree?

If Swedish mother had ILR when child was born (no "PR" under the pre-2006 EEA immigration rules) then the child would have been British at birth. Otherwise the child would not have been automatically British but could have been registered as British under section 1(3) of the Act when mother got ILR, or after 30 April 2006 when she would have got PR.

In this case, if she moved back to Sweden before 30 April 2006, she never got PR, so an application under section 1(3) isn't possible.

However, the good news is that child can still be registered under section 3(1) of the Act, because of the unmarried British father.



If the child had been born between 1 January 1994 and 1 October 2000 to a Swedish parent, child would automatically have been a British citizen. [1 January 1994 was when Sweden joined the EEA].

[JAJ]

But I don't quite understand what you are saying, because firstly you say the child is not British, but then you say the child can be registered British.
So if you are registered British surely you are British. ????

The child will be a British citizen once a successful application for registration is made to the Home Office. Not before, and not otherwise.

Information is on this page:
http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britis ... /borninuk/

Look at what it says under "Section 3(1) - illegitimate children of British citizen fathers"

- Child needs a form MN1 completed with supporting evidence
- Application should be lodged at the British Embassy in Stockholm
- It will be forwarded to the Home Office BIA in Liverpool for decision
- Processing time about 1 to 2 months.
- Fee is the Swedish krone equivalent of GBP400 + a consular fee which the Embassy will levy
- The child will get a Certificate of Registration as a British citizen, which can then be used to apply for a British passport (but child can also enter and leave the U.K. on a Swedish passport).

Important : Application for British citizenship must be made before child turns 18. There is no flexibility on this requirement. And once child turns age 10, any criminal issues with the child will be taken into account.

Bottom line - they should get the child registered as a British citizen now.

Dual British/Swedish citizenship is ok however as the child was born outside Sweden, child may need to take specific steps to avoid losing Swedish citizenship in early adulthood:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_nationality_law[/b]