Rejection - Minor Citizenship Application - Advice please

[Nagoor]

I applied for citizenship along with my two children. I have been granted naturalisation, while the application for two children is rejected. I brought my family to the UK for settlement after I have been granted ILR (last year). My wife and children have been issued ILE (as they applied from outside the UK). All of them came to settle in the UK 5 months ago and children are under going schooling in the UK. As my citizenship application was due, I took the opportunity to apply for citizenship registration for my two children along with that of mine. My wife will have to wait 2 years before her time citizen application.

The reason for rejection is given below

Ahamed Rajaa

The registration of minors under this provision is at the Secretary of State’s discretion. In relation to the application made for Ahamed Raja , normally minors will not be registered if, as appears in this case, he is over 13 years of age and has not been resident in the UK for 2 years prior to application.

The date of birth of Ahamed Rajaa is 15/02/1999. The date of application (received and accepted by UKBA) is 20th Jan 2010. At that date Ahamed Raja has not yet reached 13 years. The letter of rejection is dated 19th Feb 2012, so I presume UKBA has considered the application after 15th Feb, when Rajaa has reached 13 years. Hence my question is whether it right for UKBA to reject the application on the basis of age on the date of reviewing the application. It is common to consider the application based on the date at which it is received and not on the date of review. What could I do in this situation? Can I writer back to UKBA and request a review. Considering that 3(1) is given at the discretion of the Secretary of State; is there any appeal (within UKBA) or legal process available to me.

Faraj Ahamed

In relation to the application made for Faraj Ahamed, Paragraph 9.15.19 of chapter 9 of the Nationality Staff Instruction states that:
“The length of residence in the United Kingdom is less important for children under 13. If we are satisfied that their future lies here, and that registration would otherwise be appropriate, we need not normally take into account the length of residence here. There will be plenty of time for the children to establish their own personal connections with the United Kingdom before they become adults”.
As the Secretary of State is not satisfied that the registration of Faraj Ahamed Monnapillai Ahamed would otherwise be appropriate now, she is not prepared to disregard the requirement for Faraj Ahamed Monnapillai Ahamed to have two years residence in the United Kingdom.

The DOB of Faraj Ahamed is 18/12/2001, and I presume that he has been correctly considered as children under 13, for whom there is no requirement for a minimum stay period specified in the guidance. The Staff instruction clearly states, that the duration of stay is less important for children under 13 and there is no requirement for 2 years stay. I am not sure why the letter states that secretary of state is not prepared to disregard the requirement to have two year residency period in the UK, while there is no requirement to have a 2 year residency for under 13 children.
The reason for considering the application to be not appropriate at this point of time was not given in the letter. What is the option available to me in this situation

I also noted that the guidance section, 9.17.4 for children in the UK states that

“In most cases the child's future is straightforward and self-evident. We should normally accept that the child meets this criterion if: future intentions are confirmed on the application form; and the residence criteria in 9.17.17-9.17.29 are met; and the child has an established home here”.

Appreciate if you could advice on the course of action I could take to enble my two children to get citizenship.
Thanks in Advance
Nagoor

[vinny]

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