Naturalisation - for Child

[nagasaki99]

Background, I am British by birth, my wife is British by naturalisation (non EU) my wifes daughter got her ILR and has been here over has been here over 3 years, she is 15, we want her to become British as well
Complication, we can not secure the fathers consent, my understanding is that either the fathers consent is required, or we require a good reason as to why it can't be given for the application to have any chance of success, under what circumstances, or what kind of answer could we provide on the application that could still be viewed in a positive light and allow the application to succeed, any advice would be much appreciated, many thanks

[secret.simon]

The three year requirement applies to children of British citizens by descent. Your wife is not a British citizen by descent.

Has the daughter acquired ILR?

The child will need to register under Section 3(1), which generally requires that at least one parent has British citizenship and that both the child and the other parent have ILR. if the British citizen is solely responsible, then the child having ILR should be sufficient. Also see page 28 of the Registration as a British citizen guidance.

[nagasaki99]

step Daughter has ILR, has had it and been in UK for over 3 years, wife only acquired British citizenship recently, (are you saying my wife needs to be British naturalised for at least 3 years before we can apply for the step daughters naturilisation ?) wifes ILR was granted in 2009, we have sole responsibility since the Step daughter has been here, prior to that my stepdaughter was looked after by wifes family, sole responsibility was proved and accepted as part of her initial application over 3 years ago, chlilds father, rarely if ever on the scene, I'm still not sure how to approach the question regarding why the biological father is not in a position to give his consent though

[vinny]

No. Secret.simon was not saying that mother has to be naturalised for three years.

If mother has sole responsibility, etc., then they may dispense with the other parent's views.

Daughter may register now.

[nagasaki99]

many thanks, sole responsibility (which we have, but may be harder to show), went thru that 3 years ago with the initial ILR application, any idea what amount/level of evidence would be sufficient to provide to the authorities for an application of this nature, If anyone who may read this has practical experiences, any advice would be appreciated

[Obie]

No. Secret.simon was not saying that mother has to be naturalised for three years.

If mother has sole responsibility, etc., then they may dispense with the other parent's views.

Daughter may register now.

I respectfully beg to differ with you and Secret.simon. The concept of sole responsibility has never appeared in any section of the Home Office policy in relation to 3(1), i have been engaged in 3 court matters relating to refusal under this section and sole responsibility has never been an issue.

It is a concept in the rules, but i do not think it makes its way into the Registration policy under 3(1).

[vinny]

Thanks, Obie.

All I was implying is that it’s sufficient (but perhaps not necessary) for the mother to have sole responsibility, etc., in order to dispense with the father’s consent. This they already have?

Dispensing with the other parent's views
You can normally dispense with the other parent’s consent or views where:
• the applicant parent has been given sole custody by a court
• the child was born before 1 July 2006, the child’s parents were not married, the applicant parent is the mother and we have no reason to believe that the father
has parental responsibility (or overseas equivalent)
• the applicant parent or solicitor states that the other parent has abandoned the
child (for example there has been no contact for many years)
• the applicant parent or solicitor states that the other parent's whereabouts are
not known and he or she cannot reasonably be traced
• despite our efforts the other parent does not respond to our or the applicant
parent's letter seeking his or her views
If you decide you do not need to seek the other parent's views this does not mean that you can ignore them if they are given. You must always consider any views offered by the other parent, whatever the circumstances and take full account of them before deciding the application.
If the parent with sole custody of the child is making the application and has re- married, we do not need to obtain the step-parent’s consent.

[Obie]

Are you referring to a section 3(5) application, because I understand for that, the statute requires the consent of both parents, but I was not aware that such is the case for 3(1).

I recently applied for the children of a woman who was a victim of domestic violence, we did not provide signature of father and this was fine.

[vinny]

Thanks Obie. I believe that my above quote referred to Section 3(1) applications.

[Obie]

Thanks Obie. I believe that my above quote referred to Section 3(1) applications.

I follow your views Vinny, thanks. Provided the parents can state why the other parents cannot sign the form of consent , that will be fine.

[nagasaki99]

many thanks for the further posts, unfortunately he is a difficult man to track down in his native country, when he can be tracked down he can be difficult, he has had very little contact with the child, he left the mother before the child was born, if possible we want to proceed without his involvement, which at the moment we can't garantee

[vinny]

Should be okay.

[nagasaki99]

I hope you don't me continueing my using this topic for a further question, as it contains all the background, seems sensible not to have to re explain it

As I see it we should to apply using section 3(5) of the act, rather than 3(2), on the basis that the child mother (who we are trying to show as sole responsibility) is British by Naturalisation, rather tha British by Descent (If I have understood correctly what is being explained in the guide around this)

Question 3.16 of the application states the following:

If you are applying under section 3(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981, Tick here to confirm that you have read the information on pages 9-10 of the Guide MN, you are aware of section 3(5) of the Nationality Act 1981, but still wish to apply under Section 3(2) even though this gives British Citizenship by descent

I'm having a little difficulty understanding what there driving at by this question, not sure why, in my stepdaughtes position, I don't see what the advantage or what circumstance being British by descent is better/worse than British by Natutalisation, its just about attaing Bristish citizenship, well to me anyway

If I apply under section 3(5) am I correct in thinking this is an irrelevant question that I wouldn't give a tick to, or is it sort of telling me I should actually be applying under 3(2)

[vinny]

If neither parents of your step daughter were British citizens when she was born, then I don’t see how she can apply under Section 3(5) nor 3(2)?

Section 3(1) would be appropriate.

[nagasaki99]

thank you Vinny, that is very much appreciated, I think I had mis understood what section 3(5) of the guide was telling me

[nagasaki99]

a further very simple question if that's ok, on the MN1 form, , P5, it states, 'Details of the childs parents (If one or both are not the parents, provide details of the biological parents on the final page of the form)' for 1.21 it asks for the Childs fathers name, I am assuming that this means the biological father, rather than myself, the step-father, am I correct here ? if so I don't really understand thee reference to the biological parents above, apologies if this appears an obvious answer, but I am trying to fully understand the implication of what I enter here

[nagasaki99]

perhaps a better way to put my last question is this, for a 3(1) application, where the childs has a step-parent, who by definition has parental responsibility for the Child, what part does the step-parent play in the application, as its not clear where, if anywhere the step-parent would put there relevant details (unless its 'further information not covered in other sections') which I suspect for a section 3(1) application, is where most of the relevant evidential documentation will be placed, eg sole-responsibility, good character references from school, etc etc

[CR001]

perhaps a better way to put my last question is this, for a 3(1) application, where the childs has a step-parent, who by definition has parental responsibility for the Child, what part does the step-parent play in the application, as its not clear where, if anywhere the step-parent would put there relevant details (unless its 'further information not covered in other sections') which I suspect for a section 3(1) application, is where most of the relevant evidential documentation will be placed, eg sole-responsibility, good character references from school, etc etc

A step parent is irrelevant to the British citizenship application of the child in your circumstances.

The bit you refer to in the other post is likely relevant to children in foster care or in the care of a grandparent etc for example.