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I have a query regarding British citizenship for children under 18. My two children were born in the UK when my wife was a student, and I was her dependent. I switched to a Skilled Worker visa in 2020 and recently obtained ILR. Please note that my wife and children were living outside the UK from 2020 (as she had a job abroad), and I brought them back to the UK in mid-2022 on Skilled Worker Dependant visas.

My questions are:

• I understand I can apply to register them as British citizens using Form MN1. Is there any way to avoid the naturalisation (registration) cost for both children? I am aware that we are not eligible for a fee waiver due to our household income.

• Once I obtain British citizenship and a passport (expected by the end of 2026), can I apply directly for my children’s British passports without paying the MN1 registration fee? Please note that my wife and children’s current dependant visas remain valid until the end of 2027.

You still have to pay the registration fee either way (it's a bit less than for adults naturalisation).
Children must be British before applying for a passport. They were born before you become a BC.

You have to apply for their registration and pay the fee for each of them. Unsure why you think you can avoid that.

contorted_svy wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 24, 2025 12:07 pm

You have to apply for their registration and pay the fee for each of them. Unsure why you think you can avoid that.

The reason I’m asking is that I don’t believe children born in the UK to British citizens are required to go through the naturalisation process. A friend of mine, who became a British citizen via the Skilled Worker route, applied directly for a passport for his newborn child without going through naturalisation process.

I’m unsure whether I can be able to avoid the naturalisation process and associated costs for my children once I receive my British passport. However, it seems unlikely, as we (parent) had unsettle status at the time of our children’s birth.

Was the child born after you gained ILR?
If so then you can apply for child's passport as they are British based on your ILR, you cannot apply based on your naturalisation.NOTE: this applies only if the child was born in the UK whilst you had ILR, not to children born outside the UK.

You say in your post that your children were born when your wife was on a visa and you were her dependent, so I am assuming that your children were born in the UK but not after you or wife had ILR. So, you need to pay the fees for MN1 as they were not British at their birth.

zhd wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 24, 2025 1:11 pm

I don’t believe children born in the UK to British citizens are required to go through the naturalisation process.

Correct. Children born to British citizens in the UK are British citizens otherwise than by descent automatically.

But your children were not born to British citizens in the UK. They were born to a student and student dependant in the UK.

The only time a person acquires British citizenship automatically is if certain conditions are met on the date of their birth.

Such conditions are that the birth takes place in the UK AND at least one parent is either a British citizen or a person on ILR status on that date, or that the child is born abroad AND at least one parent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent on the date of that birth (British citizens by descent can't pass on their British citizenship automatically outside the UK).

If those conditions are not met on the date of the birth of the person, the only way the child can acquire British citizenship at any time after the date of their birth, even just the day after, is through either naturalisation (for adults) or registration as a British citizen (either for children or for some specific groups of adults who met specific requirements).

Does this clarify why your children need registration as British citizens and are not British citizens automatically because of your subsequent naturalisation?

Thanks everyone for your reply . I have got the answer