Apply for CoE or tourist visa?

[heyryy]

Good morning/afternoon/evening all,

Me and my family currently live in China and we are looking to return to the U.K. in Feb for a short holiday. My wife is Chinese and I have two young twin girls who hold Chinese nationality too. Through me, they have a claim to British citizenship so they can apply for a certificate of entitlement fairly easily and it costs around £400, takes around 4 weeks to get and would be valid for 5 years.

My question is: can I apply for a tourist visa (£100 for a 2 year multi entry) for this trip even though they could hold British citizenship? Would they be rejected?

P.s not looking at the U.K. passport route right now for obvious nationality issues.

Thanks,
Ryan

[secret.simon]

British citizens cannot be issued with a visa of any sort to come to the UK.

So, if it comes to light that the children are in fact automatically British citizens, such as by descent, the embassy/consulate is obliged to refuse the visit visa.

It would be safer/better for them to apply for a CoE-RoA that is valid for the lifetime of the passport it is stamped in.

[heyryy]

Thanks for your suggestion.

Both my children hold very new Chinese passports right now, with 5 years validity.

I assumed as I need to give details of their parents and grandparents that they might be refused for a visitor visa.

Thanks again

[secret.simon]

Were you born in the UK or abroad?

[heyryy]

I’m British and was born in the U.K. Moved to China in 2017.

[secret.simon]

If you are a British citizen born in the UK, then yes, it seems that you are a British citizen otherwise than by descent and your children are British citizens by descent.

They would be better off applying for a CoE-RoA.

[heyryy]

I’ll start applying tomorrow. Hopefully not too much hassle and not too many docs to gather. Hope the 3-4 weeks timescales is also correct still.

Thanks again

[heyryy]

My wife will obviously travel with us again. Here 2 year visitor visa has expired, so we need to apply again. Do you think there will be any issues here, now that we have two dependents who can claim British citizenship?