Child of EU national: Automatic British citizenship or Register as British?

[mradam]

Hello Everyone

I am trying to obtain a British passport for my child who was born (in the UK) this year, but I am unsure about a few things, hoping some of you guys could help out

Current situation:

- I am an EU national, currently living and working in the UK

- I have Permanent Resident status as I have been a worker for 5+ years (acquired in the period 2004 to 2010)

- I have never applied for Resident Card or Permanent Resident certificate for myself as I've never had the need for it

- My wife is a non-EU national, she came to the UK on a EU Family Permit and has subsequently been issued a Resident Card; she has now been in the UK for about 2.5 years

- Our child was born earlier this year and we want to apply for a British Passport for our child


Questions:

In the Home Office Guide for form MN1 (page 6) it says there is automatic acquisition of British citizenship for a child born in the UK to parents where one or both are settled in the UK at the time the child is born.

Further on, on page 8, it says for children (born after 30 April 2006), will be British citizens if their parent had been in the UK exercising EC treaty rights for more than 5 years

1) From the above, it would seem that my child has automatic British citizenship; is this correct?

2) Does that mean there is no need for me to fill in form MN1 to 'Register' as a British citizen?

3) Is there any way to prove the child's British citizenship status apart from applying for a passport? (Is there some sort of a certificate or something similar?)

4) If my child does have automatic British citizenship, how do I go about obtaining a British passport for them? Is it just a case of simply filling in a passport application form? Or is there another form to fill in for someone in my situation?

5) The fact that I have never applied for a RC or PR document, will that be a hindrance to obtaining my child's passport?

6) I'm guessing they would have to verify my PR status in order to confirm the child's automatic acquisition of British citizenship; does this mean having to provide most of the same documents that I used in my wife's application for a Resident Card?

7) And finally does anyone have an idea for the sort of timescale this process is likely to take?


Thank you so much for reading and thank you for any advice you can give

[stevesyjames]

I'm was in almost identical situation, and can answer this as I went through it last year!

Assuming you have maintained residency since acquiring PR following qualifying period, your child is a BC by birth.

You do not need to fill out MN1 form or pay any fee to obtain citizenship.

I'm unaware of anything official that would indicate your child's citizenship other than a passport, but others may know more about that.

You can apply for passport just like any other parent, using the standard form (it has options for the basis you are applying, in this case as the child of am EEA citizen with PR). There may have been an extra small bit of form to fill out when applying under this route, I don't actually recall. It's all pretty straightforward.

Your lack of PR card has no bearing whatsoever (I didn't have one when we applied).

Yup, you have to provide essentially all of the same documents to prove your PR rights. In my case I sent 5 years of payslips, P60s and various bills etc. showing my qualifying period. Add a cover letter if you feel the need to clarify anything.

Assuming you have the documents ready to go, my daughter's British passport came less than 3 weeks after the application was sent.

Hope yours is as successful!

[secret.simon]

I'm unaware of anything official that would indicate your child's citizenship other than a passport

It may be wise to apply for a confirmation of British Nationality letter from the Home Office.

There have been a few cases of the Passport Office refusing to renew British passports for children of EEA citizens who had been issued one before, on the grounds that the law was misapplied. So be aware that having been issued a British passport is not definitive proof of holding British citizenship, only prima facie proof that can be challenged later on.

[stevesyjames]

That is worrying - are they essentially doubting their own ability to issue passports correctly the first time, and therefore asking for proof for every subsequent re-issuing? Is there any indication how widespread this request for information for renewals of the children of EEA citizens born British?

My daughter's passport has another 4+ years of validity, but I'll bookmark this (and hold onto my documentation, obviously) just in case.

[JAJ]

That is worrying - are they essentially doubting their own ability to issue passports correctly the first time, and therefore asking for proof for every subsequent re-issuing? Is there any indication how widespread this request for information for renewals of the children of EEA citizens born British?

My daughter's passport has another 4+ years of validity, but I'll bookmark this (and hold onto my documentation, obviously) just in case.

It's not widespread compared to the number of passports issued but it has occurred. The point to note is that if the Passport Office make a mistake and issue a British passport to a non-citizen, that mistake does not made the passport holder a British citizen. So they always have the right to revert their decision. The complexity of the EEA immigration law and how it interacts with the British Nationality Act (including changes over the years) greatly increases the risk that the Passport Office will get it wrong.

For greater assurance, there is the Home Office Certificate of Nationality Status. Two differences- the Nationality Status Certificate is issued by Home Office caseworkers with a higher standard of nationality training than available in the Passport Office. (The Passport Office role is to issue passports to those who are already British citizens, not figure out the complexities of British nationality law). Secondly, the certificate does not have an expiry date and although in theory the Home Office always have the right to look at the case again, this would be highly unlikely. Different to a passport, where the decision to re-issue must be taken every 5 or 10 years. If someone holds a Nationality Status Certificate, the Passport Office would not normally look for any other evidence of British citizenship.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... us-form-ns

Whether you decide to get a Nationality Status Certificate or not, there are some things that should be done regardless. All documentation of your residence and employment status in the U.K. should be kept- indefinitely. And it's important to always keep a valid British passport- as well as expired passports.

[andrekauffman]

Hi mradam .
I applied my baby British passport without a PR card.
As your baby was born in UK, assuming you can provide 5 years work prior the baby birth, you can apply a British passport straightway.
No need for PR card.
Just go online and apply here :

https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport

Fill the forn online.
Send with the form you will print 5 years P60 prior the baby birth and that is it.