Immigrationboards.com

Hello

I am seeking advice on my child’s British Citizenship.

I am a Tunisian citizen married to a British woman born in The UK. My wife gave birth to my child in the UK 2 months ago. I applied for my child s passport last month and I received an email from the passport office wanting the ILR and Marriage certificates of my wife s parents who become naturalized UK citizens after the birth of my wife.
We couldn’t find copies of the ILR or any other documents to prove that.
Is this a normal procedure ? Shouldn’t my child be British citizen automatically ?

Thank you

Sami850 wrote: ↑

Mon May 20, 2019 10:42 pm

Is this a normal procedure ?

Yes.

Sami850 wrote: ↑

Mon May 20, 2019 10:42 pm

Shouldn’t my child be British citizen automatically ?

No.

When was the child's mother born? Just being born in the UK does not make one a British citizen.

If she was born after 1983, she would only be a British citizen if at least one parent was either a British citizen or a person having ILR at the time of her birth.

If your wife's parents only naturalised after her birth, then she would only be a British citizen herself if at least one of them had ILR at the time of her birth.

If neither parent of your wife held ILR at the time of birth and she has a British passport, then either it was issued in error or she has a registration certificate registering her as a British citizen. If the latter, she needs to attach that to the child's passport application.

If neither of the wife's parents held ILR at the time of her birth and she was not registered as a British citizen, then she does not have British citizenship and neither is the child.

Thank you for your reply.

The child’s mother was born after 1983.

I am not sure if her parents had ILR but her father was a diplomate in the UK when my wife was born, so he was legal in the UK.

Does the home office keep records of files from 1985 ? Is there a way to get a letter stating that he was legal in the UK when my wife was born?

It's not a case of just being legal in the UK. At least one of the parents had to have ILR (a type of permanent residence) in the UK at the time of her birth for your wife to be a British citizen at birth.

If the father was a diplomat of a foreign country, then he could not have had ILR in the UK at the time of your wife's birth and therefore your wife is likely not a British citizen (unless she was later registered as a British citizen later OR unless her mother had ILR at the time of her birth).

As her parents naturalised, it may be worth looking at their naturalisation certificates. Along with it is likely a registration certificate for your wife. Also get them to check their non-British passports from that period. If they had ILR, it would have been stamped in their non-British passports.

If your wife was registered as a British citizen, then she needs to attach that registration certificate to the child's passport application.

If your wife's mother did not have ILR at the time of your wife's birth AND your wife does not have a registration certificate, then neither your wife nor the child are British citizens.

What other nationalities does your wife and both her parents have?

All my wife knows is that she got her passport when she was 2 months old and her parents don't remember getting any registration certificate.

The only passport we could find from my wife s father was issued one month after my wife was born and it has an ILR ( while still working for a foreign embassy ). Do the home office keep records of ILR from the 1980s ?

My wife and her parents have Tunisian citizenship.

Make a SAR (HMPO) application.

Unfortunately, they may have destroyed their records.

I think that HMPO should give cogent reasons or proof on why they think they had issued your wife’s British passports in error.