Polygamy!!!

[secret.simon]

he is now divorced from his 1st marriage and wants to register his baby as a British citizen

I'm probably being silly here, but why does the child need to be registered as British? If the father had dual (presumably British and Moroccan) citizenship at the time of the child's birth, the child would be a British citizen by descent already.

If the father was not a British citizen at the time of the child's birth, the MN1 application would be at the discretion of the Home Office. They tend to link the child's status to that of the dependant spouse. So, I would presume that the child's status would be the same as that of the mother, who would be applying as the spouse of a settled person.

Just to clarify, even if the child is already a British citizen and the mother is the sole carer for the child, she would only get a 2.5 years limited leave to remain visa, which can be renewed four times. That period of ten years, for all of which she would not be eligible for public funds, would make her eligible to apply for ILR. Following one year of ILR, she would get citizenship.

So, if the mother were to apply based solely on relationship to a British child (which looks difficult, as advised by Casa and Wanderer), she is looking at an 11 year pathway to British citizenship, of which 10 years she would not be eligible to public funds.

[5am1224]

I really appreciate your responses.

It seems that the only straight froward route to get the 2nd wife to the UK as advised by Casa is to apply for a fiancee visa, but I wanted to clarify that the UK passport office has got a copy of the 2nd marriage which took place in Morocco, so would the immigration officer still issue the fiancee visa even though he is aware of the exciting marriage in Morocco!!! would it delay the visa or could this be enough reason for the visa to be refused!!

Thanks guys

[Casa]

I think you mean 'existing' marriage. It won't be relevant in a fiance visa application as the 'existing' marriage doesn't actually 'exist' for immigration purposes.
Secret.simon is correct that they should be able to apply directly for a British passport for the child, but even this could take some considerable time.

[5am1224]

Hi guys,
Just spoken to the father this morning to update him with your valued responses, he thanks you all guys.

He said that he knows someone who was in the same situation but he was Egyptian not Moroccan and he re-married his 2nd wife again in Egypt rather than applying for fiancee visa as the existing marriage was not recognised by the British authority so he had the rights to re-marry his 2nd wife and the Egyptian authority allowed the marriage with his British passport and everything went smooth with no issues.
any idea why my friend can't he do the same thing in Morocco!!, is it to do with the marriage system in Morocco that would prevent him of re-marrying his wife as a British citizen!!

Best regards

[Casa]

Hi guys,
Just spoken to the father this morning to update him with your valued responses, he thanks you all guys.

He said that he knows someone who was in the same situation but he was Egyptian not Moroccan and he re-married his 2nd wife again in Egypt rather than applying for fiancee visa as the existing marriage was not recognised by the British authority so he had the rights to re-marry his 2nd wife and the Egyptian authority allowed the marriage with his British passport and everything went smooth with no issues.
any idea why my friend can't he do the same thing in Morocco!!, is it to do with the marriage system in Morocco that would prevent him of re-marrying his wife as a British citizen!!

Best regards

I'm not familiar with the marriage laws in Egypt, but I do know well the system in Morocco. There are several issues here:
1. In order to marry in Morocco while still married in the UK, his first wife would have to sign to agree to the marriage to his second wife. Conditions have been imposed to make polygamous marriages harder to obtain and are only with the permission of a judge. I suspect that this wasn't complied with. (Or without spelling it out, he came an 'arrangement' with the Adoul's office). Not so easy in the cities now, but easier to 'arrange' when marrying in a village.
2. If he didn't declare the first marriage and he later has a problem in his relationship with his second wife, she can denounce him for a false declaration. This is a criminal offence and can result in a prison sentence in Morocco. (the dispositions of Article 366 of the Penal Code will be applied to the author and his accomplices upon request by the injured party). The Moudawana (family code) has tightened the law in Morocco considerably regarding polygamy.
3. He would need to divorce his second wife and re-marry her if he wants to apply for a spouse visa.
4. Divorcing in Morocco and re-marrying there would be a much lengthier process than applying for a fiancee visa and marrying in the UK.

I'm assuming that he is able to comply with the minimum annual income of £18,600 or have £16,000 or over to make up any shortfall.