Child born outside of the UK to parents who are now British by descent

[meganjane80]

Hi everyone,

We would greatly appreciate some advice on citizenship routes for a child born outside of the UK to parents who are now British by descent.

Our situation can be summarized as follows:
- Son born in South Africa in Sept 2015 at the time to non-British parents.
- Son entered the UK as a dependent on his father’s ancestral visa in May 2017.
- Subsequently both parents acquired British citizenship by descent through UKM (2018/2019).
- Daughter born in UK in Oct 2017 has been registered as British citizen through MN1 Section 1(3).

We are planning on registering him as British through the MN1 Section 3(1) route but are unsure of some of the criteria.

Do we first have to apply for ILR for him since he is now no longer a dependent on an ancestral visa or can we go straight to the MN1 application? He has lived in the UK for two years. Is this enough time to apply through the latter route?

Thanks so much.
Megan

[secret.simon]

The Registration as British citizens: children guidance lists the requirements for children in your son's circumstance (see Page 19) as;

You must normally register a child if:
• the child was born before the parent registered under one of the above sections
• the child would be a British citizen or have an entitlement to be registered under section 3(2) or 3(5)
• where necessary both parents consent to the registration or any objections by the non applying parent are ill founded
• there is no reason to refuse on character grounds

There is no requirement for ILR. However, your son only would have acquired an entitlement to register as a British citizen under Section 3(5) after three years of residence in the UK (if you or the father were already a British citizen at the time of his birth). Therefore, I suggest that it would be prudent to wait until May 2020 before registering him as a British citizen.

[meganjane80]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your reply.

Neither my husband nor I were British at the time of his birth in South Africa so we are confused as to why section 3(5) would apply to us?

I hope the HO doesn't expect us to wait out the 5(?) years until he is eligible to get ILR (he would be the only one in the family doing so as we are all British!) because he was originally on an ancestral visa (my husband's).

I just wish we could get a clear answer from the HO but they keep skirting around our questions and keep referring us to the MN1 guide.

We are in a particularly unique situation as the whole UKM story is still very new (Feb 2018). I don't think there has even been a case like ours and that's partly why I think no-one can help us and give us a definitive answer.

We will most likely have to pay for an immigration consultant to help us... IDK.

Anyway, if there are any other people out there in the same situation as us, please reach out to me!

[meganjane80]

typical me, not reading things properly. Ignore my reply, I understand this clearly now and finally we can see a clear route in which we can follow!!! thanks again for your help!

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your reply.

Neither my husband nor I were British at the time of his birth in South Africa so we are confused as to why section 3(5) would apply to us?

I hope the HO doesn't expect us to wait out the 5(?) years until he is eligible to get ILR (he would be the only one in the family doing so as we are all British!) because he was originally on an ancestral visa (my husband's).

I just wish we could get a clear answer from the HO but they keep skirting around our questions and keep referring us to the MN1 guide.

We are in a particularly unique situation as the whole UKM story is still very new (Feb 2018). I don't think there has even been a case like ours and that's partly why I think no-one can help us and give us a definitive answer.

We will most likely have to pay for an immigration consultant to help us... IDK.

Anyway, if there are any other people out there in the same situation as us, please reach out to me!