Confirmation of status as British citizen

[swintooh]

One of my kids was born in the UK after we gained the PR status - therefore he is British from birth (actually having dual citizenship).
Looking at the silly mistakes HO was doing issuing passports to kids where they weren't eligible, I want to get an official statement that he is British (certificate?), so we can put it in the family archives along with our naturalisation certificates and not having to keep loads of paperwork like my P60s, letters from school, utility bills, etc - just in case someone questions his citizenship in 15 years time.
If I did my research correct, I would need to submit all the documentation along with the NS form (and the £234) to get it done.
What sort of other documentation should I send apart from my DCPR and full birth certificate of the kid?
Has anyone gone through this procedure, what sort of outcome does it produce?
Is it better to do it before or after applying for the British passport for the kid?

[secret.simon]

Looking at the silly mistakes HO was doing issuing passports to kids where they weren't eligible, I want to get an official statement that he is British (certificate?), so we can put it in the family archives along with our naturalisation certificates and not having to keep loads of paperwork like my P60s, letters from school, utility bills, etc - just in case someone questions his citizenship in 15 years time.

Not wishing to burst your bubble, but you may want to have a look at this thread and in particular JAJ's and my posts in that thread.

For a person who is either naturalised or registered as a British citizen, the naturalisation or registration certificate is definitive proof of acquisition of citizenship. That is because it is the issue of that certificate that makes the person a British citizen.

However, for a person who acquires British citizenship automatically (typically at birth), there is no single document that proves that s/he was a British citizen by birth. It would need to be evidenced by multiple documents that prove that the various requirements of the British Nationality Acts as in place at the time of birth (1948 as later amended or 1981 as amended) were met.

Neither a Certificate of British Nationality or a British passport is definitive proof of British citizenship, though it is quite rare that they are challenged. The primary difference between them is that the former is issued by the Home Office, typically civil servants that have a better understanding of nuances of nationality law, while the latter is issued by the HMPO, a branch of the Home Office more focussed on identity management than nationality law.

I would counsel you to preserve the P60s and other documentation that you have to prove your child's British nationality, ideally in a small, portable, water-proof, fire-proof safe. It may not be your child that requires proof of their British nationality and how it was obtained, it may be your grandchild (if born abroad, to prove that your child was a British citizen "otherwise than by descent") or even your great-grandchild (likewise, to engage the provisions of Section 3(2), which requires the grandparent-your child-to be a British citizen otherwise than by descent).