Can BC be directly applied to non-UK born Kid without ILR

[anandpathak]

Hello All,

I would request input of the forum gurus on the process of Naturalization for my Kids.
My Situation : I am on Tier 1 general Migrant Visa and have 3 dependents. ( Spouse + 2 Kids) . For All 4 of us Current Leave expires in April 2016
I entered UK on Oct 2010 and would be eligible for ILR in Oct 2015 . I would be going for PEO appointment first for only me and hope to have my ILR completed by Nov 2015.
My Wife and 1 kid ( now 5 years old , born outside UK) got there PBS dependent Visa in March 2011 and entered UK in May 2011.
My second kid ( now 3 years old) was born in UK and got her PBS dependent Visa after her birth in March 2012.

Now the queries:
1. For my Kid born in UK , I know that I don’t need an ILR for her and I can apply for her BC Registration /Passport directly after my ILR in Oct 2015.
2. I would not need to Attach My ORIGINAL Passport with My UK born Kid's Registration/Passport Application and a Photocopy of my ILR should be sufficient.

For my Kids born outside UK :
1.My Original Plan was to apply for my Wife and the kids ILR in Nov 2015 after I get my ILR in Oct 2015-03-11. After seeing the Massive increase in ILR fees I am wondering if I can avoid getting ILR for my Kid.
2.Can I Apply for my India born Kid Citizenship Directly after my ILR in Oct 2015 . As mentioned earlier , He has a Valid PBS dependent status till April 2016.
3.I have read at few Forum discussions that the citizenship application for Kids there is some discretion for case worker and Leave status of both Parents are checked.
4.I would like to know , Will it not be fine if I get my ILR in Oct 2015 , My Wife gets ILR in Nov 2015 and then when both of us have our ILR , I apply for my India born kid citizenship application in Dec 2015.


Looking forward to forums help.
Cheers
Anand

[fwd079]

1.My Original Plan was to apply for my Wife and the kids ILR in Nov 2015 after I get my ILR in Oct 2015-03-11. After seeing the Massive increase in ILR fees I am wondering if I can avoid getting ILR for my Kid.

I am afraid you cannot avoid fees as far as I know, kids born outside UK must be free from immigration control at the time of applying.

[ouflak1]

My Wife and 1 kid ( now 5 years old , born outside UK) got there PBS dependent Visa in March 2011 and entered UK in May 2011.
.
.
.
For my Kids born outside UK :
1.My Original Plan was to apply for my Wife and the kids ILR in Nov 2015 after I get my ILR in Oct 2015-03-11....

This is a good plan and the one almost certain to work quickly without any problems.

...After seeing the Massive increase in ILR fees I am wondering if I can avoid getting ILR for my Kid.
2.Can I Apply for my India born Kid Citizenship Directly after my ILR in Oct 2015 . As mentioned earlier , He has a Valid PBS dependent status till April 2016.
3.I have read at few Forum discussions that the citizenship application for Kids there is some discretion for case worker and Leave status of both Parents are checked.
4.I would like to know , Will it not be fine if I get my ILR in Oct 2015 , My Wife gets ILR in Nov 2015 and then when both of us have our ILR , I apply for my India born kid citizenship application in Dec 2015.

The general expectation for that discretion is that one parent (atleast) be a British citizen or settled permanently, as well as one being either a citizen or having ILR (or close). Otherwise, the expectation is that the child has acquired ILR before applying. You have in your favor that the child is very young and already lived most their life in the UK. Also, if the application fails, you would probably still have time to have the child apply for ILR with an existing valid visa, though that is risky.

For absolute peace of mind, I'd recommend sticking with your original plan. The cost now bears fruit later. The costs of a failed MN1 application in both time and money, especially if the result doesn't come back before the existing leave expires, are potentially enormous.

[anandpathak]

My Wife and 1 kid ( now 5 years old , born outside UK) got there PBS dependent Visa in March 2011 and entered UK in May 2011.
.
.
.
For my Kids born outside UK :
1.My Original Plan was to apply for my Wife and the kids ILR in Nov 2015 after I get my ILR in Oct 2015-03-11....

This is a good plan and the one almost certain to work quickly without any problems.

...After seeing the Massive increase in ILR fees I am wondering if I can avoid getting ILR for my Kid.
2.Can I Apply for my India born Kid Citizenship Directly after my ILR in Oct 2015 . As mentioned earlier , He has a Valid PBS dependent status till April 2016.
3.I have read at few Forum discussions that the citizenship application for Kids there is some discretion for case worker and Leave status of both Parents are checked.
4.I would like to know , Will it not be fine if I get my ILR in Oct 2015 , My Wife gets ILR in Nov 2015 and then when both of us have our ILR , I apply for my India born kid citizenship application in Dec 2015.

The general expectation for that discretion is that one parent (atleast) be a British citizen or settled permanently, as well as one being either a citizen or having ILR (or close). Otherwise, the expectation is that the child has acquired ILR before applying. You have in your favor that the child is very young and already lived most their life in the UK. Also, if the application fails, you would probably still have time to have the child apply for ILR with an existing valid visa, though that is risky.

For absolute peace of mind, I'd recommend sticking with your original plan. The cost now bears fruit later. The costs of a failed MN1 application in both time and money, especially if the result doesn't come back before the existing leave expires, are potentially enormous.

Thanks a lot Ouflack1 for your response and suggestion. As you have explained about the discretion you wrote "The general expectation for that discretion is that one parent (atleast) be a British citizen or settled permanently, as well as one being either a citizen or having ILR (or close). Otherwise, the expectation is that the child has acquired ILR before applying" .
In my proposed plan , I am contemplating applying for the BC of my India born kid only after Both Parents are having ILR status . Will it not make the decision almost certain for the case worker?

Your thoughts would be of great help and if you can also point to any policy document on this Case worker discretion it would be highly appreciated.

Cheers
Anand

[spzenthil]

Hi Anand,

Having ILR alone won't help. Atleast one parent should have BC or else you won't be able to register it.

Thanks,
-Senthil

[iamnew]

That's correct, one parent is expected to be British and other one on ILR and in addition children needs to be free of immigration control as well. I don't think short-cuts are working considering few refusals recently

[anandpathak]

Hi Anand,

Having ILR alone won't help. Atleast one parent should have BC or else you won't be able to register it.

Thanks,
-Senthil

Thanks a lot Senthil for your response.
From the response from you and the Forum , I am getting a feeling that its not "suggested" to apply for BC directly for outside UK born kid.
I am a bit surprised why kids Born IN and outside UK are treated so differently as they should have been based on the Status of Parents only . Appears a bit illogical .

Could somebody provide a policy document which states this that Atleast one parent need to have a BC to have BC application directly for Non-UK born kid and both Parent on ILR is not sufficient to get the same.

Cheers
Anand

[fwd079]

I am a bit surprised why kids Born IN and outside UK are treated so differently as they should have been based on the Status of Parents only . Appears a bit illogical.

No surprises, in my view if kid is born outside UK it is very possible (e.g India) that other country does not allow dual nationality, or some other legal hindrance outside UK control. So need to request registration at your own statuses. Born in UK, different situation, as you can understand now.

Could somebody provide a policy document which states this that Atleast one parent need to have a BC to have BC application directly for Non-UK born kid and both Parent on ILR is not sufficient to get the same.

Cheers
Anand

Page 14 of the MN1 guidance is clear:

Children born abroad to parents who are applying for British citizenship

Where one or both parents are applying for British citizenship they may apply for one or
more children who are not automatically British at birth (see “Automatic acquisition of
British citizenship” above) to be registered as British citizens as part of a “family
application”.

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.