Immigrationboards.com

Hi,
I see lot of threads which say , a child born outside uk, then one of the parent applies for British Citizenship and the other parent is in ILR, then VAF4A and Appendix 1 need to be filled.
After the child comes to UK, the child can be naturalised.

But Once the Parent gets UK Passport and, the other parent is in ILR outside UK with the child, why cant we apply for MN1 registration outside UK. MN1 guide says, at homeoffice discretion for one parent BRITISH and other parent ILR, usually be approved for the child.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks,
Ashok

Personally I see this logic:

Child born outside UK before a parent becomes British is not automatically British. In fact the child has nationality of parent. So for being Naturalised usually child has to free from immigration controls/has a strong chance of not leaving country. So a dependant visa from Naturalised/Settled parents supports that view. Hence why childs needs to be brought into country and then being naturalised.

Child born inside UK once a parent is settled, is automatically British, and child born after a parent is Naturalised, is automatically British.

If a child is born outside the UK and one of the parents subsequently gets settled in the UK (ILR), the child can be registered as a citizen under Section 3(1) at the discretion of the Home Office (in law, the Secretary of State). They need to be convinced that the child's future lies within the UK.

You are quite correct in stating that nothing stops you from applying for registration of the child while s/he is abroad. It is a case of proving to the Home Office that the future of the child lies within the UK. If the child is currently living overseas and attending school there, it is much harder to prove that than if s/he were in the UK, for instance.

I believe (I'm not certain) that the latest forms (post April 2015) also require biometrics and hence can be more difficult to process if abroad. But I could be wrong on that point.

Vinny has responded to many queries on this point with extensive notes and links and I look forward to his response to this question, which would be educational for me as well.