Child under 18: Can I apply for daughter British citizenship without ILR ?

[notknown1]

Hi All,

Looking for guidance.

- Myself father came to UK in Jan 2009 under Tier 2 ICT(Intra company transfer) visa.
- Wife is on dependant visa of Tier 2 PBS since she came to UK after marriage. She arrived in UK on March 2011.
- Myself(Father) got ILR in January 2014.
- Daughter born in India in August 2014.
- Father got naturalisation done in November 2020 , hence became British Citizen.
- Daughter(8 years) is still on Tier 2 PBS based dependant visa. Wife continues to extend Tier 2 PBS based dependant visa. Wife not ready for ILR at this stage.

Question
a. Can I apply directly for daughter to be naturalised as one of the parent , I(Father) is already British citizen. If yes , pls can you guide what form to be used.
OR
b. Do I have to apply for ILR of my daughter first to be followed by Naturalisation ?

[vinny]

Normally, b, under Section 3(1).

[Amber]

New routes for a child to become British

The Home Office changed their policy on 18 July 2022 to add further discretionary routes for a child to register as British. All routes will generally require parental consent and if the child is aged 10 or older, to be of good character.

This will generally be applicable to children not born in the UK. Children born in the UK will usually have a right to register eg entitled to do so under section 1(3) of the BNA 1981.

Route 1 Child applying in line with parents

• a parent is British or is becoming a British citizen

• the other parent is British or settled

• the child has at least 2 years residence (or less if aged under 2) and indefinite leave

Route 2 This is being called 'child naturalisation'

• the child has completed a period of lawful residence in the UK of more than 5 years

• the child has indefinite leave, and will normally have held that status for at least 12 months

• the child’s parents have indefinite leave and 5 years UK residence

Route 3 Where a child has 10 years residence in the UK and

• the child is in the UK lawfully at the time of consideration

• the parents have regularised their own status

Where a child has completed 10 years residence, but either is not here lawfully or their parent has not regularised their own immigration status, the Home Office will still consider any compelling reasons - in the child’s best interests - to register them, for instance an older child who has had all their schooling here and has close links with the UK.

Other cases Where a child does not fit within one of these categories the Home Office will consider an application on its own merits, taking into account any compassionate factors, including where a child has been in local authority care.