Register children born outside UK for citizenship

[alimohamedhamed]

Hi,
After obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), I applied for my daughter, who has a Humanitarian Protection (HP) residence, to obtain Citizenship. However, her application was refused on the grounds that she was born outside the UK and does not possess ILR. I have appealed against this decision and I am currently awaiting a response from the Home Office (HO).

My question is as follows:

I submitted an application for Setzinshep last month, and I informed the HO that it would support my daughter's application. Now that my daughter is turning 18 years old, will this have any impact on her application?

My daughter's current residence card is set to expire next month. Should I cancel the appeal and apply for ILR on her behalf instead? If so, when is the latest possible time I can do this before her residence card expires?

Thank you for your assistance.

[secret.simon]

The refusal is correct.

For children born outside the UK, both the child and the other parent are expected to have ILR and at least one parent is expected to either have British citizenship or have applied to become a British citizen.

Alternatively, the child needs to have lived in the UK for at least 10 years before the date of application and be under the age of 18 on the date of application

In your daughter's case, none of the expectations listed above have been met.

In their absence, you would need to provide exceptional compelling compassionate circumstances as to why your daughter should be registered as a British citizen without meeting any of the expectations for such registration.

On and after the date your daughter turns 18, she will need to meet the requirements for naturalisation like any other adult. She will need to have ILR, meet the absences requirements, LITUK and English language tests, etc. Your naturalisation will not support her naturalisation in any way. She will need to qualify on her own steam, on her own.

[alimohamedhamed]

Thank you for your reply, I have appealed against the decision based on the following policy which
clarifies this British Nationality Act 1981 rules:
‘You can apply for a fee waiver if you’re under 18 and are eligible for
British citizenship.
You can become a British citizen if you’re under 18 and if one of your
parents considered the UK as their home and did any of the following after
you were born:
• became a British citizen
• got indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• got ‘settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain
under the EU Settlement Scheme’)
• got indefinite leave to enter the UK
• got permanent residence status’
The above policy has shown the eligibility for my daughter to register as a British.
I really appreciate your opinion in this regard, what do think about this policy?

[CR001]

Post the link to this document you are referencing.

This is referencing the fee waiver process. It is not the child registration eligibility. The fee waiver pricess is not the same as the British Nationality eligibility requirements.

There is also no appeal process for refused citizenship applications. There is only a reconsideration request process which costs a few hundred pounds.

You were actually advised they need ILR first last year when you asked.

british-citizenship/register-children-b ... l#p2094099

[alimohamedhamed]

Thank you for your reply,
I know the policy is for the free waver but it states that if you are under 18 years old, you can become a British citizen if one of your parents considered the UK as their home and took any of the following actions after you were born: obtained indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

you are correct it wasn't an appeal but reconsideration I am not sure what the difference between them is.

[secret.simon]

it states that if you are under 18 years old, you can become a British citizen if one of your parents considered the UK as their home and took any of the following actions after you were born: obtained indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

A non British citizen child born in the UK can be registered as a British citizen if either parents gets ILR.

The requirements for children born outside the UK are different and have requirements for both the status of both parents and of the residence of the child.

See the text of Guide MN1.

Children with settlement and residence

Children will come within this category if:

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

• the child has been granted settled status in the UK, and held that status for at least 12 months

• the child’s parents have completed a period of 5 years residence and are settled in the UK (“settled” usually means that the parent has indefinite leave to remain in the UK)

• both parents give their consent to registration (unless good reasons are provided)

• there is no reason to refuse on character grounds

Children who have lived in the UK for more than 10 years

Children will come within this category if:

• the child is in the UK lawfully

• the parents are in the UK lawfully

• both parents give their consent to registration (unless good reasons are provided)

• there is no reason to refuse on character grounds

Any other child born to British or non-British parents

It is not possible to cover all circumstances under which the Home Secretary might exercise discretion. However, in considering any application not specifically covered above we will look at all of these:

• the child’s connections with the UK – we would expect the child to be free of any restrictions on their stay in the UK

• where the child’s future is likely to lie

• the parents’ views

• the parents’ nationality and immigration status – we expect either both parents to be British citizens or one parent a British citizen and the other parent settled in the UK

• whether the child is of good character

• the length of time the child has lived in the UK – we expect at least 2 years residence (particularly if the child is over the age of 13) – this would be considered along with the other factors above, such as whether the child is settled in the UK

• any compelling circumstances

In the first paragraph, note that both parents (in the plural), not a parent (singular) needs to have settled status.

In the first sentence of the last paragraph, the phrase "to be free of any restrictions on their stay in the UK" means either Settled Status under Appendix EU for EEA citizens and their dependents, or ILR for everybody else.

[alimohamedhamed]

Thank you for your reply,
what about the recent updates from the Home Office regarding the fee waiver and the explanation for the process of children becoming British citizens. Do you have any comments or insights on this matter?

Additionally, if I decide to cancel the reconsideration application, could you please clarify the deadline by which I can do so? My daughter's resident card is set to expire next month, and I am concerned that if her application is refused and her residence expires, she might be considered an illegal resident.

[alterhase58]

Regarding fee waiver:
I think everything has been explained above, however, just to re-iterate, in my understanding, the fee waiver doesn't remove any of the basic requirements a child needs to satisfy to be eligible to register as a British citizen.

The fee waiver was introduced to address the injustice suffered by some parents' inability to afford the high fees, just a concession for some, most children are still liable to pay the registration fee. This was subject to a court case which went all the way to the UK Supreme Court.

[secret.simon]

My daughter's resident card is set to expire next month, and I am concerned that if her application is refused and her residence expires, she might be considered an illegal resident

A registration application is not an immigration application. Only immigration applications extend extant leave to remain while they are under consideration at the Home Office.

Having a reconsideration request or a registration application open will not extend your daughter's leave to remain in the UK.

You need to extend your daughter's leave to remain in the usual way before it expires, if she is not registered by then. Otherwise she will become illegally resident in the UK.

[JB007]

Now that my daughter is turning 18 years old, will this have any impact on her application?

Turning 18? Or do you mean she has turned 18? In the link to your previous thread, on 23 April 2022 you stated your daughter was 17 year 4 months. That would mean she became age 18 at the end of last year.

[alimohamedhamed]

Regarding fee waiver:
I think everything has been explained above, however, just to re-iterate, in my understanding, the fee waiver doesn't remove any of the basic requirements a child needs to satisfy to be eligible to register as a British citizen.

The fee waiver was introduced to address the injustice suffered by some parents' inability to afford the high fees, just a concession for some, most children are still liable to pay the registration fee. This was subject to a court case which went all the way to the UK Supreme Court.

[this is the statement for the free wavwer: You can become a British citizen if you’re under 18 and if one of your
parents considered the UK as their home and did any of the following after
you were born:
• became a British citizen
• got indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• got ‘settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain
under the EU Settlement Scheme’)
• got indefinite leave to enter the UK
• got permanent residence status’ ]

[alimohamedhamed]

Now that my daughter is turning 18 years old, will this have any impact on her application?

Turning 18? Or do you mean she has turned 18? In the link to your previous thread, on 23 April 2022 you stated your daughter was 17 year 4 months. That would mean she became age 18 at the end of last year.

[I applied for consideration last October when she was 17 and some months and by the end of last year she has turned 18. I haven't received a decision on the reconsideration application]

[secret.simon]

[this is the statement for the free wavwer: You can become a British citizen if you’re under 18 and if one of your
parents considered the UK as their home and did any of the following after
you were born:
• became a British citizen
• got indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• got ‘settled status’ (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain
under the EU Settlement Scheme’)
• got indefinite leave to enter the UK
• got permanent residence status’ ]

Correct. That is a possibility, if other conditions are met, such as if the child is born in the UK. That is why the sentence begins with "You can become...".

Children born in the UK have different requirements to register as British citizens compared to children born outside the UK. But the fee waiver form and requirements are the same for both. Hence the form and guidance for fee waiver is generic, covering both categories. The guidance for registration as a British citizen is much more specific for each category.

The requirement above for fee waiver is not the only requirement for registration.

Understand that fee waivers, visa extensions, registration as a British citizen, and in due course, passport applications, are all separate procedures, with different laws and legal consequences, different requirements relative to each other and carried out by different teams in the Home Office. What for you is one process are, legally and procedurally, all separate processes, each one of which you need to meet the requirements individually and separately. Just because you qualify for one does not mean that you qualify for all automatically.

If your daughter is now over the age of 18, assuming that the reconsideration request is rejected, she will need to naturalise as a British citizen meeting all the requirements as an adult, including waiting for a year after getting ILR (as and when she gets it), taking the English language test and LITUK test, etc.