British passport vs COE

[pksjkd]

Hi all myself and my wife are Indian passport holders and we have received the ILR recently. We have a kid who is born in UK but with Indian passport and UK visa expired at the time of writing this post. We waited for us to get ILR before applying for British passport. Ideally we should apply for MN1 and then British passport and then apply for OCI(Overseas citizen of Indian origin) for our kid.

Now my wife wants to travel to India with my kid due to an emergency and we are confused how to proceed.

We are planning to apply for MN1 form for my kid next week. Here are my queries regarding her application and possible travel to India.

1. Will she be able to travel to India after applying for MN1 and providing biometrics?
2. How can she travel back to UK?
3. Can she apply for British passport from India? And what are the timelines for it?
4. Or can she apply for CEO-ROA from India? and what are the timelines for it?

Or if you guys have come across such situation or is there any other way my kid can travel to India and come back, can you please guide us through?

Many thanks in advance for taking your time to read this post.

[secret.simon]

CoE-RoA in an Indian passport is an option for a child born with both British and Indian citizenship (because the child was born to an Indian parent holding ILR in the UK, for instance).

If the child acquires British (or any other non-Indian) citizenship after birth, by registering as a British citizen for instance, they lose their right to an Indian passport and therefore can't apply for a CoE-RoA either (which is stamped into an existing valid non-British passport).

The only option for them is a British passport, which can take six months to a year for first child British passports applied form abroad.

[pksjkd]

Many thanks for responding to the query. Looking into the timings needed for the british passport, I am planning for the below.

Travel to India using the Indian passport and then apply for the COE(Certificate of Entitlement).

CEO-ROA guidance
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... de_ROA.pdf

Based on the ROA guidance above, my kid might be able to apply for CEO under this term on Page 10.

Applicant was born in the UK or the Falkland Islands on or after 1 January 1983, or in another qualifying British overseas territory on or after 21 May 2002

And these are the documents needed are
1. Applicant’s full birth certificate showing parents’ details,
2. Evidence of either parent’s British citizenship or settled status at time of applicant’s birth, such as a passport describing the relevant parent as a British citizen or indicating that they then had indefinite leave to remain.

Am i right in doing this? If yes, any idea how much time it might take to receive this outside of UK?

[CR001]

You must register your child as British first on MN1 first. Your child is not British.

CoE can only be applied for if a person is British. Your child will lose their Indian citizenship once they are registered and approved as British. Your only option will be to apply for a British passport.

[secret.simon]

Based on the ROA guidance above, my kid might be able to apply for CEO under this term on Page 10.

Applicant was born in the UK or the Falkland Islands on or after 1 January 1983, or in another qualifying British overseas territory on or after 21 May 2002

And these are the documents needed are
1. Applicant’s full birth certificate showing parents’ details,
2. Evidence of either parent’s British citizenship or settled status at time of applicant’s birth, such as a passport describing the relevant parent as a British citizen or indicating that they then had indefinite leave to remain.

Was either parent a British citizen or having ILR status at the time of the child's birth?

In any case, the issue here is not British law, but Indian law. Indian law automatically revokes Indian citizenship (and the right to hold an Indian passport) from anybody, including children, who acquire a non-Indian citizenship after birth. If your child is registered as a British citizen, they will acquire a non-Indian citizenship after birth and therefore lose their Indian citizenship and right to Indian passport due to Indian law, not British law.

A CoE-RoA in an Australian, Canadian, US or Pakistani passport, for instance, in circumstances identical to yours is possible, because those countries do not automatically strip their citizenship from those who acquire a foreign citizenship.

So, in summary, your child can apply for an Indian passport+CoE-RoA, if they were born with British + Indian citizenship. A child registered as a British citizen cannot hold an Indian passport and must apply for an British passport.

As an aside, if you apply for an MN1 registration and it is successful while the child is abroad, the child can't then apply for a visa to travel to the UK. The child will have become a British citizen as of the date of the registration certificate and British citizens can't be issued a visa to travel to the UK. Then the only option would be waiting six months to a year for a British passport for the child.

Plan this period very carefully as there are many potential pitfalls. If in doubt, I would suggest applying for an appropriate visa for the child rather than British citizenship. Apply for the child's British citizenship when the child is back in the UK for a long period of time.