Baby birth from ILR parents

[VirtualWaver]

Hi Guys,

I hope you all are doing well and healthy during these challenging times.

We are expecting a baby and both are on ILR so the baby will be a British citizen by birth.

How it is exactly going to work? Will the hospital give us a citizenship certificate after baby will be born? If not, who is going to give us the certificate? Or should I complete an application for this? What will be the evidence that the baby is a British citizen apart from the fact that both parents are on ILR? Will I get any paperwork confirming the citizenship so that I could apply for a passport? Thanks.

[CR001]

You don't get a "citizenship certificate" from the hospital etc or one at all for a child who is automatically British.

When you register the birth at the registry office, the birth certificate you receive is all you get.

You simply apply for a passport with the birth certificate and proof of your ilr status.

All above assuming the child is born in the UK. It doesn't apply if the child is born abroad.

[VirtualWaver]

Thanks a lot for clarification! Makes sense. Yes, the baby will born in the UK.

[CR001]

Make sure that you always keep a copy of your ILR BRP (if you apply for citizenship in the future) as your ILR status at the time of the child's birth is what determines the child's British citizenship.

[vinny]

Try to keep the original, as it confers child’s British citizenship. HMPO do not normally accept copies for a first passport or after a lost passport.

[VirtualWaver]

Make sure that you always keep a copy of your ILR BRP (if you apply for citizenship in the future) as your ILR status at the time of the child's birth is what determines the child's British citizenship.

Hi CR001,

Very sorry for a late reply - didn't notice your reply!

Do I still need to apply for a citizenship for my child? I thought she is automatically a British citizen as we both have ILRs? Can you please clarify this?

To be honest, I would prefer to get a certificate to avoid any issues in the future (proving we had ILR when she was born, etc) but don't know if it is possible as from my knowledge, only naturalised people get the certificate not people who were British since birth, right?

Also, once she will get her first passport, will she ever need to proof to Home Office in the future that she is a British citizenship from birth or they will already have all the details in the system when they will issue her first passport?

[VirtualWaver]

Try to keep the original, as it confers child’s British citizenship. HMPO do not normally accept copies for a first passport or after a lost passport.

Thanks a lot, vinny!

I assume this is only for her first passport, right? Once she will get her new passport she won't need to ever show our ILRs to Home Office to proof anything?

[secret.simon]

To be honest, I would prefer to get a certificate to avoid any issues in the future (proving we had ILR when she was born, etc) but don't know if it is possible as from my knowledge, only naturalised people get the certificate not people who were British since birth, right?

For children born with British citizenship, there is no single document that proves their British citizenship. They need to demonstrate, usually through multiple documents, the circumstances of their birth (either their birth in the UK to a person settled in the UK or their birth abroad to British citizens otherwise than by descent).

Also, once she will get her first passport, will she ever need to proof to Home Office in the future that she is a British citizenship from birth or they will already have all the details in the system when they will issue her first passport?

Passports can be issued in error and can be revoked or renewals can be refused unless proof of British citizenship is not supplied, if demanded in the future. British passports are not determinative proof of British citizenship.

There is no centralised database of British citizenship and a British citizen can be asked to prove their citizenship using original documents as mentioned above. Even as regards databases, keep in mind that the government is required to delete immigration data from their systems after certain periods of time (according to the Data Protection Act).

I assume this is only for her first passport, right? Once she will get her new passport she won't need to ever show our ILRs to Home Office to proof anything?

Not necessarily. Unlike US passports, which are determinative proof of US citizenship, British passports are only prima facie proof of British citizenship and the Passport Office may ask for proof of British citizenship (which includes proof of your ILR at the time of their birth) even when applying for a renewal.

Such request for proof can even come up when applying for the child's children's (your grandchildren's) passports, as their British citizenship will be based on being born (whether in the UK or abroad) to British citizen parents.

So it would be recommended to retain your ILR BRP for life, and possibly longer.

[VirtualWaver]

To be honest, I would prefer to get a certificate to avoid any issues in the future (proving we had ILR when she was born, etc) but don't know if it is possible as from my knowledge, only naturalised people get the certificate not people who were British since birth, right?

For children born with British citizenship, there is no single document that proves their British citizenship. They need to demonstrate, usually through multiple documents, the circumstances of their birth (either their birth in the UK to a person settled in the UK or their birth abroad to British citizens otherwise than by descent).

Also, once she will get her first passport, will she ever need to proof to Home Office in the future that she is a British citizenship from birth or they will already have all the details in the system when they will issue her first passport?

Passports can be issued in error and can be revoked or renewals can be refused unless proof of British citizenship is not supplied, if demanded in the future. British passports are not determinative proof of British citizenship.

There is no centralised database of British citizenship and a British citizen can be asked to prove their citizenship using original documents as mentioned above. Even as regards databases, keep in mind that the government is required to delete immigration data from their systems after certain periods of time (according to the Data Protection Act).

I assume this is only for her first passport, right? Once she will get her new passport she won't need to ever show our ILRs to Home Office to proof anything?

Not necessarily. Unlike US passports, which are determinative proof of US citizenship, British passports are only prima facie proof of British citizenship and the Passport Office may ask for proof of British citizenship (which includes proof of your ILR at the time of their birth) even when applying for a renewal.

Such request for proof can even come up when applying for the child's children's (your grandchildren's) passports, as their British citizenship will be based on being born (whether in the UK or abroad) to British citizen parents.

So it would be recommended to retain your ILR BRP for life, and possibly longer.

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply!

So I would need to advise HO that I want to keep my ILR once I will apply for naturalisation then.

Do you know if that would be an issue (keeping ILRs as HO requires all BRPs to send back to them) or should I specifically mention to them I want to keep it because of this reason?

I assume this is only true for my younger daughter as my elder daughter was naturalised later on, once we got ILR and has a naturalisation certificate?

[secret.simon]

@vinny argues (and I concur) that as the ILR BRP is the basis of your child's British citizenship (in conjunction with their British birth certificate), you may have legal grounds to retain it.

So I would need to advise HO that I want to keep my ILR once I will apply for naturalisation then.

Do you know if that would be an issue (keeping ILRs as HO requires all BRPs to send back to them) or should I specifically mention to them I want to keep it because of this reason?

I think you should be fine so long as you don't use the ILR to travel with after getting British citizenship. There was a case on these forums of the ILR BRP being confiscated by the Border Agency at the airport when a British citizen tried to enter the UK on his ILR BRP rather than proof of citizenship.

If the Home Office do contact you about returning your ILR BRP, a letter explaining the reasoning for its retention may be required.

I assume this is only true for my younger daughter as my elder daughter was naturalised later on, once we got ILR and has a naturalisation certificate?

Presumably the elder daughter was registered rather than naturalised, but in either case, the assumption is correct. Her British citizenship stems from the registration certificate itself and no further proof (of citizenship; proof of identity may still be needed) would be required.

[VirtualWaver]

@vinny argues (and I concur) that as the ILR BRP is the basis of your child's British citizenship (in conjunction with their British birth certificate), you may have legal grounds to retain it.

So I would need to advise HO that I want to keep my ILR once I will apply for naturalisation then.

Do you know if that would be an issue (keeping ILRs as HO requires all BRPs to send back to them) or should I specifically mention to them I want to keep it because of this reason?

I think you should be fine so long as you don't use the ILR to travel with after getting British citizenship. There was a case on these forums of the ILR BRP being confiscated by the Border Agency at the airport when a British citizen tried to enter the UK on his ILR BRP rather than proof of citizenship.

If the Home Office do contact you about returning your ILR BRP, a letter explaining the reasoning for its retention may be required.

I assume this is only true for my younger daughter as my elder daughter was naturalised later on, once we got ILR and has a naturalisation certificate?

Presumably the elder daughter was registered rather than naturalised, but in either case, the assumption is correct. Her British citizenship stems from the registration certificate itself and no further proof (of citizenship; proof of identity may still be needed) would be required.

Thanks a million for this! All is clear now.

Take care and stay safe!

[mental4vray]

Hello,

I am in a similar situation where in my ILR BRP card is the only proof that my son was born after I got my ILR. Can any mod confirm that I can just hold on to my BRP card and not send it back?

Thanks

[vinny]

Use these provisions and inform the Home Office accordingly.

[VirtualWaver]

Use these provisions and inform the Home Office accordingly.

HI vinny,

Thanks a lot for clarification.

Do you know how we are going to inform HO about this? Is it during the application or after? How do we contact them? It seems we have to tick a box in the online application to confirm we will return the BRP and there is no way to avoid it?

[VirtualWaver]

Hi Guys,

So our baby was born a few months ago an I am now applying for her first passport.

She is a British citizen by birth under section 1(1)(b) of the British Nationality Act 1981: my wife and I were married and had IRL when she was born.

I completed the application form and they now want me to send baby's birth certificate (OK), parent's passport and ILR (OK) BUT also marriage certificates of all her grandparents (!!). I do not have these as all her grandparents live outside of the UK and have zero links with the UK.

I am clueless on why are they asking for these? It has nothing to do with my daughter's British citizenship.

I produced a cover letter to attach to my application explaining, that she is a British based on her parents' ILR status and marriage and that I do not have marriage certificates of her grandparents to provide.

Is this an issue? Can they refuse the passport only because I couldn't submit documents that are not related with this application?

Thanks.

[CULLINAN]

You did the right thing. Nothing related to grandparents is required. The checklist is generic. Ignore it. No issues.

[VirtualWaver]

Hi All,

How do we let Home Office know we want to retain ILR BRPs after naturalisation to be able to prove our child is a British citizen by birth under section 1(1)(b) of the British Nationality Act 1981 if we or she will ever need to prove this at any point of her life?

We already applied for her first passport but passport office or any other governmental body might require us/her to prove she is a British at any point of her life and our ILR BRPs are basically the only proof she is. Passport office specifically says they will only accept original documents and can refuse her future passport renewal if they require the proof again and we fail to submit original BRPs.

Do we need to contact Home Office by phone number or via a link? Do we need to do it during the naturalisation application process or after being naturalised?

I was digging gov.uk website but couldn't find any info about this.

Does anyone know about this? Thanks.

[CULLINAN]

Write to them and explain/ask for permission. I did the same but never got a response. But bother not.

You may use the template I used for my daughter if you like:
Courtesy: @Vinny for the help.

british-citizenship/uk-born-child-after ... aby%20born

You should retain ILR BRP after your own naturalisation.

[CULLINAN]

You already have an existing thread, please do not create multiple threads for the same.

british-citizenship/baby-birth-from-ilr ... l#p1964355

[vinny]

Posts merged.