Urgent help required - when can I register my child?

[anujgarg80]

Hi Respected Forum members,

I need to know if I can skip ILR for my 8 years old daughter before registering her as a UK citizen.

Some Background Information:

I am a British Citizen(Tier 1 + ILR) and my wife is on ILR (Tier 1 Dependent).

My daughter currently holds Tier 1 dependent visa valid until March 2016.

I am thinking if I can save some (actually loads) of money by skipping her ILR as I already spent a lot of money on visa extns, ILRs and for citizenhip.

Jambo, Vinny, Amber, CR001 and other respected gurus, advise please??

I have also read the FAQs but just want to know the current trend if they are allowing the registration without ILR.

Thanks,

[CR001]

Where was your daughter born?

If she was born abroad, she will be expected to hold ILR before she will qualify for citizenship. Why did you not include your child with your wife's ILR application?

[secret.simon]

If your daughter was born in the UK, she is entitled to registration under Section 1(3) since when you got ILR.

If your daughter was born out of the UK, her status should have been in line with that of the less privileged parent. She will therefore have to have the same status as that of your wife. If your wife has applied for ILR, so should your daughter.

[anujgarg80]

Thanks for your reply.

she was born abroad but moved to the UK when she was 3 and living in the UK for last 5 years.

I did not apply for her ILR along with my wife as I thought there is no need for ILR and I can apply for registration without her ILR as she is just 8 now and living for last 5 years in UK.

Any suggestions if she definitely needs ILR before registration?

Thanks

[CR001]

She needs to have ILR if born abroad.

There have been many posts by members this year where they ignored the advice received on this forum and chose not to get ILR for their born abroad children and applied directly for registration as British Citiezen, resulting in their applications being refused and losing the application fees.

[secret.simon]

CR001,
Guide MN1 says

Children in this category will be considered at the Home Secretary’s discretion and will usually be registered only if both the parents are granted or already hold British citizenship, or if one parent holds British citizenship and the other is settled in the UK.

Could the child not register directly under Section 3(1) after the mother gets ILR, but before March 2016 (end of her Tier 1 dependant visa)? She would be "of good character", as she has not overstayed at any time.

Anujgarg80, you could take a chance and let us know if it worked.

[CR001]

It is still 'at discretion' and not guaranteed and there have been quite a few refusals for children (even younger than in the last year due to not having ILR first.

Yes, it is probably possible, but risky. This thread below might be of interest.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/britis ... l#p1122920

[noajthan]

Thanks for your reply.

she was born abroad but moved to the UK when she was 3 and living in the UK for last 5 years.

I did not apply for her ILR along with my wife as I thought there is no need for ILR and I can apply for registration without her ILR as she is just 8 now and living for last 5 years in UK.

Any suggestions if she definitely needs ILR before registration?

Thanks

The surest way to 'save' money is to not lose money unnecessarily by cutting corners and being refused.

Registration under 3(1) of BNA is at discretion but within a published framework (as per the HO guidance, immigration regulations, etc).
If HO start registering minors willy nilly without such a framework they simply create precedents; then the framework they have (to impose some semblance of order on their process & avoid inconsistent decisions) would surely break down completely.
In effect the guidance would be redundant, to be replaced by purely 'ad hoc' discretionary decisions.

I sense that is why HO produces their published guidance & suggest it's better to align & comply when there are no special or significant extenuating circumstances.