British citizenship by descent

[mv13]

Hi All,

I have a very specific question and so far no one could answer it.

My children are entitled to British citizenship by descent after their father. However, we are EU citizens, and I have acquired the ILR for all of us, and we have all been in the UK for 8 years.

I wish for the children to have a full British citizenship, not by descent, as that would limit their rights to pass it on to their descendants. However, I just came across this paragraph in the MN1 guidance:

“Someone who is a British citizen by descent cannot change their citizenship by applying to be registered or naturalised as a British citizen otherwise than by descent.”

Does this mean that my children have no right to apply to British citizenship in their own right? Or is it meant for those individuals who have already acquired that kind of citizenship? And if it’s the first option, is there a way to circumvent it, other than removing the father from my children’s birth certificates?

[contorted_svy]

How are your children entitled to British citizenship by descent? Are they already British? is the father British/was on ILR when they were born?

If they are not already British you can apply to register them as British under a section other than 3(2) (if they are eligible) and they will become British otherwise than by descent. If they are already British you can't register them in such a way.

[alterhase58]

Children of British citizens born outside the UK will be British by descent.
As asked, how have the children acquired citizenship by descent - you only hold ILR?

[secret.simon]

My children are entitled to British citizenship by descent after their father.

This sentence needs clarification. Was the father a British citizen at the time of birth of the children?

Your children would likely be British citizens by descent if either parent was a British citizen by descent at the time of their birth.

Or is it that the children moved to the UK with the parents and are now applying for registration asking with their parents naturalisation? If the latter is the case, the children will be British citizens otherwise than by descent and will be able to pass on British citizenship to one generation outside the UK. That latter generation, born abroad to one British citizen otherwise than by descent parent, will be British citizens by descent. And they won't be able to pass on British citizenship to their children.

But keep in mind and make them aware that British citizenship is only automatically inherited by one generation outside the UK, unlike many other citizenships that allow an unlimited number of generations to inherit citizenship.

So, to maintain British citizenship, they'll need to make sure that at least every alternate generation is born in the UK, complying with the UK immigration laws of that time.

[mv13]

Hi, thank you all for the prompt replies.

To clarify our present situation:
- the father is a British citizen by birth
- the children were born in 2011 and 2013, in the EU
- we moved to Scotland in 2016
- I applied for ILR for myself and both children and we all got it in 2022
- I am aware of the rules and limitations of the “citizenship by descent” and I DO NOT want to register the children as such, if there is any legal way to register them as “British otherwise”.

My question was about finding out how to naturalise them without going down the “by descent” route. Because as per the paragraph I quoted (reading it with no legal background) it seems there is no other way for them to be registered. Or that’s at least how I understand that paragraph. (It’s really hard to make sense of all the legal documents, and I’ve now read so many I’m completely confused )

[CR001]

You cannot change or apply for them to be any other type of British citizen.

They are automatically British but descent and there is application you can make so that they are British otherwise than by descent. You also don't apply for them to be British by descent, it is automatic simply by being norn to a british parent and they simply apply for British passports.

Their application for ilr should have been rejected as a British citizen is not subject to immigrarion control and cannot hold an immigration status.

[contorted_svy]

Your children are already British. Apply for their British passport. If they want to pass British citizenship to grandchildren, said grandchildren will need to be born in the UK. You can't switch their British nationality from by descent to British otherwise than by descent and never could have as their father is British - they needed to be born in the UK to be British otherwise than by descent.

[vinny]

Agree, cannot upgrade British citizenship.

[secret.simon]

Precision of language can be very important when discussing such topics.

the father is a British citizen by birth

Where was the father born? Was he born in the UK itself, to at least one British parent (i.e. is the father a British citizen otherwise than by descent)? Was he born abroad, to at least one British parent (i.e. is the father a British citizen by descent himself)?

Both are by birth, but the two can have completely different results.

My children are entitled to British citizenship by descent

"entitled to" is quite vague here.

In UK citizenship terms, an entitlement is something that they need to apply for, but which can't be refused.

But if the father is a British citizen otherwise than by descent, then the children are British citizens by descent by automatic operation of the law, not merely "entitled" to it. In such a case, they have no choice in the matter. They are British citizens.