Children born in the UK and lived here 10 years

[Ken1234]

Hello, my question is regarding with my children.

They were born here and the 2 eldest now over 10 years old. Neither me nor my husband were settled at the time of their birth (I had EU passport, he had visa only).

Did they become British citizen automatically after 10 years and if so can I apply for their passports directly or do they have to go through the naturalisation process? Fees are too high so would like to make sure, thank you for your help.

Also, does it matter if they spent most of the last 2 years abroad studying? This is after their first 10 years when they were rarely absent from the UK. Thank you for your help.


Edit: I have found this:
https://www.gov.uk/register-british-cit ... after-1983

Both me and husband received permanent residency last year, so is that correct they they are British citizen and only need to register using the form stated in the link. (Problem is that fee is still quite high ;(

[CR001]

No, they are not 'automatically British'. You have to apply to register them as British and pay the fees if they were born before you got PR.

[Ken1234]

THank you for very quick reply, so I need to use form MN1 as stated in the link, right?

[CR001]

Correct yes. It will be applications under Section 1(3) of the Nationality Act.

They will be required to enroll their biometrics at the Post Office as part of the process.

[Ken1234]

Thank you ever so much, reading the guidance I can see they so need absences for the last 5 years. 2 of my children have spent about 10 months each year in the last 2 years abroad. The guidance says:

To satisfy the residence requirement under section 3(5) the child should not have
been absent for more than 270 days in the 3 year period.

So if you apply under any other section, such as 1(3) then the number of absences does not matter at all?
Is it still likely to be successful?

[CR001]

There is no absence limit for UK born children who are entitled to register as British.

To satisfy the residence requirement under section 3(5) the child should not have
been absent for more than 270 days in the 3 year period.

This is not relevant to your children as they are not applying via this section of the nationality act.

[Ken1234]

Yes, I understand, thank you very much and have a very good day!

[CR001]

You're welcome. Feel free to ask any further questions in this topicif you have any.

Good luck