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dear all, pls shed some light.

father- political asylum seeker from Russia, obtained British citizenship 2-3 years ago and is never going back to Russia.

In Moscow, he had left his child before coming to the UK and he divorced the child's mum.

The child is 10 years old and lives with his mum in Moscow. They are in touch with the father and he MAY be willing to assist the child with obtaining British citizenship if possible.

Questions:
There is no residential requirements for those under 13 years and the application is made by the BRitish citizen.
1) where should the application be made (uk embassy in russia or the uk);
2) the child has not got a separate passport and is written into his mum's russian passport;
3) if application made in the uk, what shall be attached with it?;
4) the child has visited his father twice in the uk.

please do respond if u can as the family are eager to help the child with getting BC.

thanks

Although there are no residential requirements for registration, the application is at discretion and is based on showing the child best interest and future is within the UK. The HO would expect the child to live in the UK. Application made abroad is likely to fail. Maybe in this case, you can claim for exceptional circumstances but they will need to demonstrate why a BC would be in the child best interest.

For more read CW guidelines 9.17 (link in the FAQ).

Thx Jambo! For the child to come and live in the uk without time restrictions (as per the document) he would need an ILE/ILR but what is the law regarding the child like this getting one? He could only obtain a tourist visa and then apply from within the country? How shall they proceed as you understand that tourist visas forever are not a good way for a child and father to go about.

Also, do u think the fact the father will never go back to Russia for the fear of persecution could lead tona justified application based on the human rights and the right to a family life? Or will the ukba just tell the kid to keep applying for tourist visas which would unlikely be refused based exactly on this ground?

But the bottom line is what would be the best way of gertting the child BC? The dad has abandoned him so the least he could donis get him a valuable document for life!

Thanks again

The child can apply for a settlement visa from abroad to move permanently to the UK and once he lives in the UK, apply for a BC.

You might want to consult with a professional on the best way forward.

In order to be granted a settlement visa the father would have to show he has and has had sole responsibility for the up bringing of the child, which evidently is not the case or there must be serious be compelling reasons which make exclusion of the child undesirable-wanting the child to have a British passport isn't sufficient for this.

Thanks guys! I thought so about settlement process being difficult as the father has had no input AT ALL apart from bery rare cases of transferring money and sending gifts.

Considerin the law stays the same, the father does not mind the kid coming over to do GCSEs later. Would obtaining a student visa and then having the father look after the child for 2 years be enough to apply for settlement from the uk with the student visa? I see that it is impossible to apply for anything in current situation but with some "if"s and "but" it could be possible.

Thanks again though, it shows no real prospect here.