British Citizenship for a child of EU Settled Parents

[s_saini]

Hi

I need little help for my friend case.

My friend is on EU Settled Status(Germany Passport) and his wife has ILR with Indian Passport.

They have a son(Born outside UK) who has Settled Status.

He is confused, as child is under 18 and no parent is British Citizen.

I know I have asked this before as well and I got an answer no to this.

Can their son alone apply for Naturalisation/British Citizenship?

I am just wondering if their is any route for EU child. Please clear our doubt.

Thanks

[CR001]

Can their son alone apply for Naturalisation/British Citizenship?

No. The child can only apply when either parent also applies.

I am just wondering if their is any route for EU child.

There are no separate rules for EU and non EU people. The same rules apply to everyone.

Once the child reaches 18, they can apply as an adult on their own meeting all the requirements.

[secret.simon]

Keep in mind that if the child either registers (before their 18th birthday) or naturalises (after their 18th birthday) as a British citizen, they will likely lose both their German and Indian citizenships.

I am not clear about loss of German citizenship in such cases, so I will rope @ALKB and @alterhase58 into this conversation.

[alterhase58]

Keep in mind that if the child either registers (before their 18th birthday) or naturalises (after their 18th birthday) as a British citizen, they will likely lose both their German and Indian citizenships.

I am not clear about loss of German citizenship in such cases, so I will rope @ALKB and @alterhase58 into this conversation.

My understanding:

Certainly for adult UK naturalisation since 1.1.2021 Germans now need a "Retention Permit" from the Federal Administration Authority (BVA), before any application is made. I think that applies to registration as well. Without the permit they will likely loose the German nationality. UK is a 3rd country now - within the EU the permit is not required and no loss of citizenship (i.e. dual citizenship allowed).

This does not apply where children are dual German/British citizens by birth.

[ALKB]

Keep in mind that if the child either registers (before their 18th birthday) or naturalises (after their 18th birthday) as a British citizen, they will likely lose both their German and Indian citizenships.

I am not clear about loss of German citizenship in such cases, so I will rope @ALKB and @alterhase58 into this conversation.

Naturalising without permission to retain German citizenship will result in automatic loss of German citizenship.

I am not sure about registration as a UK national. The term implies that the process is more of a declaration of already being British rather than an application to acquire a citizenship the applicant does not yet hold.

This is something to ask the German Embassy in London or the nearest consulate. British nationality law is very complex and I wouldn't be surprised if German laws do not quite account for all its nuances (yet), as this was not needed until now.

[secret.simon]

I am not sure about registration as a UK national. The term implies that the process is more of a declaration of already being British rather than an application to acquire a citizenship the applicant does not yet hold.

Registration as a British citizen is acquisition of British citizenship by a non-British person, but generally used to indicate acquisition by somebody with some link to the UK (so parents settled in the UK or birth in the UK, etc), but it is still a grant by the Home Office/SSHD and not automatic.

It is also prospective (i.e. from the date of the registration certificate) and not retrospective (i.e. not from birth/date of parents settlement).

The modern difference is that registration is the procedure for children to acquire British citizenship while naturalisation is the procedure for adults to acquire British citizenship. In some very limited cases (Forms T, UKF and UKM), an adult can also be registered as a British citizen.

[ALKB]

I am not sure about registration as a UK national. The term implies that the process is more of a declaration of already being British rather than an application to acquire a citizenship the applicant does not yet hold.

Registration as a British citizen is acquisition of British citizenship by a non-British person, but generally used to indicate acquisition by somebody with some link to the UK (so parents settled in the UK or birth in the UK, etc), but it is still a grant by the Home Office/SSHD and not automatic.

It is also prospective (i.e. from the date of the registration certificate) and not retrospective (i.e. not from birth/date of parents settlement).

The modern difference is that registration is the procedure for children to acquire British citizenship while naturalisation is the procedure for adults to acquire British citizenship. In some very limited cases (Forms T, UKF and UKM), an adult can also be registered as a British citizen.

I see. I'd still enquire about it at the German Embassy or the Auswärtiges Amt in Berlin. I don't see why an application for retention of German citizenship would be refused in this case, it just has to be done and they'd have to wait until permission was granted before registering as British/naturalising.

Still that would leave the matter of losing Indian citizenship. Is Indian citizenship lifelong if dual citizenship is acquired automatically at birth? In Pakistan, the child has to decide for one nationality at age 21, at least when it comes to German citizenship. I think there is a special agreement that dual British/Pakistani citizenship can be kept. So, if Indian citizenship were potentially only time limited in any case, this might not be as much of a consideration?

[secret.simon]

Still that would leave the matter of losing Indian citizenship. Is Indian citizenship lifelong if dual citizenship is acquired automatically at birth? In Pakistan, the child has to decide for one nationality at age 21, at least when it comes to German citizenship. I think there is a special agreement that dual British/Pakistani citizenship can be kept. So, if Indian citizenship were potentially only time limited in any case, this might not be as much of a consideration?

To the best of my knowledge (and I could well be wrong), a child born with dual Indian/foreign citizenship can hold both citizenships (but not both passports) till the age of 18 years and six months, by when he must make a declaration to the Indian government of which of the two citizenships they plan to retain.

Here is an older post that I had done on a similar question.

Till recently, it used to be the case that a dual Indian/foreign child acquiring a non-Indian passport was also treated as renouncing Indian citizenship. But there has been a case where dual Indian-American children were allowed to hold both Indian and American passports (presumably due to US law requiring them to enter the US on their US passport). I am not sure if that was a relaxation or an oversight and if a relaxation, whether that has been extended to dual Indian-other foreign dual citizen children.