British Passports for children born in the UK 2003 and 2005

[Kate1]

Hello,

I know this issue has been dealt with before. Unfortunately I am unable to refind the thread!

I am German and moved to the UK with my parents in 1982, aged 10. I went to school, studied and worked... I married a French man but we continued living and working in London. I had two kids, born 2003 and 2005. Both have British birth certificates but German passports. Then, in 2008, we moved to France.... my question now is, is there any chance I can still get dual nationality for my kids or is it too late? I never applied for any kind of permanent residency papers for myself as I never needed to. I got my NI card automatically , went to Uni, got a job... to be honest I did not even think about it. I still have my UK bank account, my NI card, I found some P60 forms for 2003-2005 but apart from that... I would consider myself as having been “ settled “ in the UK at the time of the births. But the Home Office might disagree. What do you think? And how can I prove this? Any help/ pointers appreciated! Thanks

[secret.simon]

Did you or your French spouse complete five continuous years of work in the UK before you left? Do you (or he) have proof of such five continuous years of work?

Check your old passports to see if any of them were stamped with an Indefinite Leave to Remain stamp. They were available on demand to EEA residents before October 2000. If you have an ILR stamp in any passport before the birth of your children, they are both automatically British citizens and you just need to apply for their passports.

[Kate1]

Hi, I worked more than five years continuously... I just cannot find more than 3 of the P 60 forms! I used to work in the City, maybe if I ask nicely the bank could certify this... ..

[secret.simon]

If you can prove five continuous years of work (and thus that you have acquired PR status), your children have an entitlement (i.e. cannot be refused) to be registered as British citizens under Section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981.

[Kate1]

Thanks. I will keep digging in my drawers tomorrow. I just found a passport issued in 2000 in London, unfortunately no stamp. The one before that must be hidden in another box... I will do my best. But if I can get proof by my employer of five years you do think there is a chance if I understand you correctly. And do I use the standard form on the gov website? I can see you are not a lawyer but a google expert (love it). Nevertheless,Do you think an official letter stating the whole period plus three P60s would do the trick?

[secret.simon]

Generally, when dealing with the Home Office, you need two types of proof. So, to prove that you have worked five continuous years, you could use a combination of letter and P60s (which is one set of proof) and bank statements as proof of salary being paid to you (another set of proofs) to prove your five years of working continuously.

I believe (I could be wrong, so wait for others to comment) that once you have acquired PR, your children have the entitlement to register as British citizens under Section 1(3), while they are under the age of 18, even if you lost your PR subsequently (as you have by being absent from the UK for more than two years).