What visa do I need for a baby born abroad (British citizen by descent parent)

[WasimAslam]

Hello,

I’m a British Citizen currently living in Egypt, married to an Egyptian who has a 10 year family visa from 2017. We are expecting our twins to arrive any moment so want to know what type of visa I would need to obtain in order for the babies to travel with us to visit my family in the UK?

We want to get them Egyptian passports and a relevant visa to be able to travel. They will be eligible for the British Nationality through me but like my first child they too will have to go through the MN1 process. For my first child the MN 1 took 5 months plus another couple for a passport…want to avoid that this time. Can I even do that?

Also, when I eventually apply for a spouse visa does my wife need to be outside of the UK? If yes, then can she still travel to the UK whilst the spouse visa is in progress using her family visa which hopefully would still be valid in terms of expiry date.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[alterhase58]

The children are British as one of the parents (you) is British. No sure why you say they need to apply through MN1.

[CR001]

The children are British as one of the parents (you) is British. No sure why you say they need to apply through MN1.

OP is British by descent, born abroad to British parents. Children born abroad are not automatically British.

[WasimAslam]

The children are British as one of the parents (you) is British. No sure why you say they need to apply through MN1.

OP is British by descent, born abroad to British parents. Children born abroad are not automatically British.

Yes correct…learned all this doing my first child’s registration.

[secret.simon]

If you are a British citizen by descent and your children are born abroad, then the children's visas and UK immigration status will be in-line with that of the other parent's.

So if you want to bring them to the UK, you would need to apply for a spouse visa for your wife and the twins (including meeting the minimum income requirement of £24,800 - £18,600 + £3,800 for the first child + £2,400 for the second child - , your wife meeting the minimum English language requirement, etc).

As you are a British citizen by descent, if you move to the UK en famille, after your wife, twins and you have resided in the UK for three years, the twins can be registered as British citizens under Section 3(5), which will make them both British citizens otherwise than by descent. Your wife will of course need to continue to reside in the UK on a spousal visa until she completes five years residence on that visa, after which she can apply for ILR and then naturalisation.

using her family visa which hopefully would still be valid in terms of expiry date.

Can you clarify this point? Does your wife already have a spousal visa? If not, what other "family visa" are you referring to?

[CR001]

using her family visa which hopefully would still be valid in terms of expiry date.

Can you clarify this point? Does your wife already have a spousal visa? If not, what other "family visa" are you referring to?

Spouse has a 10 year visitor visa

[secret.simon]

Spouse has a 10 year visitor visa

Thank you, @CR001.

I am inclined to suggest that your wife should not visit the UK while her spouse visa is in progress.

A visit visa has an implicit assumption that the person will leave the UK before the end of their stay. A spousal application in progress would cause that assumption to be laid aside. The Immigration Officer at the airport will be unlikely to believe that a person with a spousal visa and a British citizen spouse would be willing to leave the UK before the end of the visit visa.

You will have to factor in that you will need to live in the UK for about six months on your own to meet the Minimum Income Requirements, while your wife and children remain in Egypt.

I have slightly amended the title of the first post to give more context to other readers and moved this thread to the "Immigration for family members" forum.

[WasimAslam]

Spouse has a 10 year visitor visa

Thank you, @CR001.


You will have to factor in that you will need to live in the UK for about six months on your own to meet the Minimum Income Requirements, while your wife and children remain in Egypt.

I have slightly amended the title of the first post to give more context to other readers and moved this thread to the "Immigration for family members" forum.

Firstly thanks all for your input it’s very helpful.

So this part about being in England myself for 6 months before making a spouse visa application might be a bit tricky…wife just doesn’t have enough of a support network in cairo to be left with twins for that long.

I have all the documents used for my first child’s mn1 application, I’m thinking to get all the documents over to my lawyer in Uk now and let her start filling the application and the moment the babies come, get their birth certificates and any additional new documents translated and sent to the lawyer so she can submit the application…and hope it doesn’t take that long.

I can look at doing the spouse visa at a later time when we decide to move to UK. At least this way the babies will have no travel restrictions and neither my wife.

[secret.simon]

So this part about being in England myself for 6 months before making a spouse visa application might be a bit tricky

At least under the current immigration rules, you will have to prove that you meet the Minimum Income Requirement by
(a) demonstrating a savings of either £62500 (if all children have been registered as British citizens) or £78000 (if the twins have not been registered as British citizens) for at least six months before the date of the spousal visa application.
(b) having a job with a salary of at least £18600/24,800 for at least six months in your current country of residence AND having a confirmed job offer in the UK paying at least the same thresholds when you return to the UK en famille.
(c) the aforementioned moving to the UK on your own and earning enough to sponsor your spouse (and children if not registered) after six/twelve months (depending on whether the job is salaried).

Re registering the children as British citizens, if you register the twins while in Egypt, keep in mind that the children will be registered under Section 3(2) of the British Nationality act 1981 and will themselves become British citizens by descent. Your eldest child is likely already in this category.

As you are a British citizen by descent, you of course understand the handicap of this status.

However, if your children registered as British citizens under Section 3(2) themselves have children (your grandchildren) born outside the UK, be aware that they will not be able to register those children (your grandchildren) as British citizens. That is because Section 3(2) has a requirement that the British grandparent is a British citizen otherwise than by descent. As you (the British grandparent) will be a British citizen by descent yourself, the children mentioned above will not be able to register as British citizens if they are born abroad. They will of course be British citizens if born in the UK.

At least this way the babies will have no travel restrictions and neither my wife.

As an aside, this statement is incorrect. While your children may not have travel restrictions if they are registered as British citizens, your wife will be subject to immigration restrictions until she gets ILR after 5 years of residence in the UK as the spouse of a British citizen.

And even if she has a long term visit visa, keep in mind that she will have to leave within six months of entry while she is in the UK on a visit visa. Any failure to do so may complicate any future visa and naturalisation application.