Is an Nationality Status letter still useful as proof of BC claim for child?

[azorpheunt]

Hello,

Am just a bit concerned after reading a couple of threads here including 'Surprised Brits' which has a bunch of documented cases where people having problems getting first adult passport if their claim to BC was due to them being born when their parent(s) had ILR.

My child was born in the UK and has claim to BC since at the time of his birth I had ILR.

After going through a bunch of threads on this topic, I believe the way forward is:

1. NS (Nationality Status) Certificate
2. SAR Request to UKBA for myself. Hopefully the returned documents has something about when I was granted ILR.
3. Certified Copies (AFAIK, this is of limited use only since they are not accepted as proof)

I have only 2 working days remaining before the ceremony for naturalisation and have only just discovered this ... So my questions are :

1. Can I apply for NS for my child after I've returned the BRP?
2. Am I supposed to apply for NS for the child ? (Dumb q, but just wanted to confirm. Apologies)
3. Is my understanding of solutions above correct? Has anyone had success with the NS ?

Thank you very much!

[bruteforce]

Can you not just apply for child's passport NOW when you still have possession of your BRP? I know you stated you have 2 days left to return your BRP, but surely, you will have a valid excuse that your BRP is with HMPO. If you DO get a letter asking you for a reason why BRP is not returned in 5 days then you can provide them with a reason. It will save you money & time.

[azorpheunt]

Hello,

Thank you very much for your response.

I had read about the problems applying for the passport without BRP, so have already done so and have already received his passport a while back along with my BRP.

However, from the threads that I've read here, possession of an existing passport does not imply claim to BC. Specifically, if a child has a british passport (and even if he/she was born in the UK and has a birth certificate to prove that) , when he applies for his first adult passport, apparently checks are made to verify claim to BC and the possession of an existing British passport is not proof enough.

I read of a case here of a person born in 1984 who was born in the UK when his parent(s) had ILR and was asked to prove BC claim after more than 2 decades !!

(Edit: Here is vinny's post with a bunch of links to people who've had this problem. The first link is the one I was talking about above)

I hope this helps clarify my question further.

Thanks!

[azorpheunt]

Any response regarding this would be great. I have only 2 days remaining before the ceremony.

[xpscapable]

Scan your BRP and/or get a certified copy from a solicitor (or post office ... cheaper) and scan that copy. This is precaution only and will get used (if all) decades from now. So best to scan everything.

That above is done, if you're so worried about it then just don't return your BRP. The fine is £1000, you can think about it as insurance. Also, you may not get fined. Technically the fine for walking your dog without the dog tag is £5000. Not sure how many people do get fined for that ...

If I were you, I would do the scan/certified copy route and return the BRP. It's all computerised now, as long as you know the home office number for your BRP your children would be able to prove their British citizenship.

[azorpheunt]

Great, thank you very much for the response.

At the moment, my plan is similar to what you suggested
1. Notarised copies for BRP
2. Scanned copy of BRP
3. Post Office certified copies of BRP

Would you know if I can apply for a Nationality Status certificate for my child without my BRP ?

Thanks!

Regards,
Ash

[xpscapable]

Would you know if I can apply for a Nationality Status certificate for my child without my BRP ?

I really don't think it's necessary, but I'm not a lawyer One would assume that the solicitor certified copy of the BRP would suffice.

The fee for that certificate is £234, probability of paying is 100%. The BRP fine is £1000 but the probability of getting fined is much lower than 100%.

Again I'm not advocating this .. you make your own decision.

[azorpheunt]

Hello,

For the following scenario:
"My child was born in the UK when I had ILR. His claim to British Citizenship is the fact that I had ILR when he was born. The key document proving the ILR status at the time of birth is the ILR BRP. This was used to get the first child passport but then is required to be returned to home office when the parent is naturalized as a British Citizen^*1.

However (and herein lies the rub), years later when the child applies for his first adult British passport he IS required to provide proof of parent's immigration status at the time of his birth, i.e. the ILR.^*2. In the absence of the ILR BRP what can be used?"

After perusing a couple of threads, it seems that the general advice is:

1. Form NS is the best proof in the absence of ILR BRP (Cost: £234 ^*4)
2. SAR Request to UKVI. This may or may not have a mention of the date the ILR was granted. Additionally, it may or may not be useful as proof of BC claim in the future.
3. Do not return the BRP ILR and take the risk of being fined £1000

My query is about the first (and best) suggestion

Can someone please confirm that as of today Form NS is no longer useful based on the below:

1. The Form NS ^*3 itself states that it cannot be used as proof for a passport application AND,
2. The passport guidance no longer has anything specifically stating that the NS certificate is accepted as proof of BC ^*2

---------------------------------------------------------

References
^*1 https://www.gov.uk/becoming-a-british-c ... p-ceremony

^*2 From the Form NS Guide at Apply for confirmation of British nationality status (NS).
Relevant snippet:




^*3
From the Applying for a passport guidance at Apply for confirmation of British nationality status (NS)





^*4

From at Fees for Citizenship applications

[CR001]

Topics Merged (click)

[vinny]

A better approach- if the Passport Office refuse to accept a copy of the BRP- might be to contact your Member of Parliament and ask him or her to request from the Home Office Minister a reason why they are demanding an original of a document that someone is obliged to send back to the Home Office. (unreasonable request for documentation). The Passport Office is an agency of the Home Office and should be able to contact the Home Office to verify that the copy is true.

[azorpheunt]

Hello Vinny,

Thank you very much for your response.

Thanks for the response. Would it please be possible to shed some light on the feasibility of doing the above? Out of all the cases linked in the 'Surprised Brits' thread, do you know if people have had success using this suggestion?

[azorpheunt]

Hello,

It would be great, if someone could please check the references in my previous post to confirm that the NS certificate is no longer useful as evidence of BC for a child born when one had ILR.

[azorpheunt]

Bump.

Any response regarding this would be most useful. Based on your response, I shall decide whether or not to return the BRP in the ceremony tomorrow.

Thank you very much.

[CR001]

BRPs are not returned at your ceremony. You have to post them back to HO.

[secret.simon]

Two earlier posts by me discussing this question (albeit with no definitive answer).

Keep in mind that the Home Office will review its data on you periodically and may delete it. Therefore relying on Home Office data is not an option.

I am inclined to the view that in such a case, it is better to retain the BRP and risk the fine.