Can my baby get a British passport - and is it worthwhile?!

[leighsabine]

Hi,

I am a South African Passport holder, and my husband is dual SA/German. We have lived in London since 2003.

Our daughter (1) has a German Passport but I am wondering if she is eligible to get a British passport? She can't get it from me since I don't have ILR, but my husband has been exercising his treaty rights for 8 years. However he does not have British naturalisation nor a Permanent Residence stamp. Our daughter was born in London.

Would my daughter be able to apply for British passport via her dad's status? We are going to SA in March and would like to apply for her passport now..

Hope that all makes sense!

Thanks!

[vinny]

When was your daughter born?
When did your husband start exercising his EEA treaty rights in the UK?

[leighsabine]

Daughter born January 2012
Husband started exercising rights in April 2003 (proof is letters of employment and P60's) however his 'blue' residence document is dated end of March 2006.

Thanks!

[vinny]

Your daughter is automatically British, if your husband had PR when she was born in the UK.

As your husband did not get confirmation of his PR status prior to/at the time of her birth, it may be a good idea for your daughter to apply for confirmation of British nationality status, prior to applying for a British passport.

Moreover, you have probably acquired PR for at least a year too. You can probably naturalise now.

[Jambo]

As vinny pointed out, your daughter is British from birth as at least one of her parents had PR before she was born. As a matter of fact both of you have PR status so she could claim her citizenship based on either of you.

Although she is already British regardless of having a passport or not, I suggest you apply for her British passport directly now as it would be easier to prove her claim now when the evidence is fresh than later on in life.

I would skip the application for confirmation of her nationality and just apply directly for passport. Pick up an application form from the Post Office, attach your husband passport + 5 P60's to cover 5 years before her birth. You should get the passport within 2-3 weeks.

[vinny]

See also British Citizenship/passport For Uk Newborn Baby? and Ginwalla.

[leighsabine]

Thank you so much for your replies, really appreciate it.

We will be returning to SA in a few weeks time.
If my daughter gets her British Passport and I do not, and we later would like to return to the UK to live, would I be eligible to live and work here based on her passport status?

In my case, I am still getting different answers from the naturalisation people at the UKBA who are unsure if I can apply for my passport.

I received my EE2 status and a letter from the HO stating Family member status in March 2006, however we were only married in July 2009.
They are now saying the clock only starts ticking after the actual marriage, and my status prior to that doesn't count towards the 6 years! This is making me very nervous to apply for naturalisation and potentially lose a lot of money. I did not apply for PR as I was told I would receive it automatically after 5 years (March 2011).

Sorry for the ramble. Am bitterly regretting not getting the EEA4 last year and am unfortunately out of time to get it now due to our move.

Would you say it's worth the gamble?

Thanks!

[fysicus]

Normally I would have advised that you and your husband would apply for confirmation of PR first (EEA3/EEA4) and then sort out the British passport of your daughter. However, as you are planning to move to South Africa very soon that is now not practical.

As others already pointed out, you can straightaway apply for a British passport of your daughter, if you include the evidence that your husband is entitled to PR.

Another point that you raised, whether you could live in UK with your daughter but without your husband: there you have nothing to worry about. In fact, it would probably be easier based on European rules and your daughter's German passport, than under UK national rules relying on your daughter's British nationality.

[boloney]

Hi,


We are moving back to SA in March and would like to apply for her passport now if that could potentially make it possible for me to move back to London with her later if SA doesn't work out.

Thanks!

Apply for PR confirmation, it will be valid for two years even if you Live abroad.
So if anything goes wrong in two years time you can move to the UK and Than after one year apply for naturalization.
I'm sure thats enough time to see where you wanna Live.

[leighsabine]

Thanks.

So basically, you think if I applied for Naturalisation now, I wouldn't get it?

[reda]

Our daughter (1) has a German Passport but I am wondering if she is eligible to get a British passport?

be aware if you claim British citizenship for your daughter,she may lose her Germany citizenship(at my knowledge Germany don't recognised duel citizenship) then you can't fell under European rules(supposed you can't rely on your ex),and you have to follow only the UK national rules.
at my opinion apply for PR confirmation of your daughter and yours before apply for her citizenship.

[leighsabine]

Thanks, I will confirm with the German Embassy but I seem to recall they said dual nationality wouldn't be a problem.

I am more concerned at the moment with my own application for naturalisation, but I just can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone whether my 6 years (5 + 1 automatic PR) begins from the stamp date on my EEA2 visa or from the date of my marriage!

[Jambo]

be aware if you claim British citizenship for your daughter,she may lose her Germany citizenship(at my knowledge Germany don't recognised duel citizenship).

Germany does allow dual citizenship if it is obtained from birth which is the case here.

before apply for her citizenship.

Her daughter is British from birth. There is no need to apply for her citizenship.

[leighsabine]

Thank you for your advice, just to let you know I am so happy, my daughter received her British passport in the post today after a 2 day wait. (I used the fast track option since we will be travelling soon).

I submitted my husbands passport, his P60's and voila - no problem at all.

Now I hope I will have the same luck with my application since I'm applying on a similar basis - automatic PR as a family member of an EEA national.
My husband did not have a PR stamp or anything at all and it was no problem.

Also, since my daughter was born here, the German embassy had no problem with her being a dual national.

Thank you for the great advice!!

[dasjoker]

Thank you for your advice, just to let you know I am so happy, my daughter received her British passport in the post today after a 2 day wait. (I used the fast track option since we will be travelling soon).

I submitted my husbands passport, his P60's and voila - no problem at all.

Now I hope I will have the same luck with my application since I'm applying on a similar basis - automatic PR as a family member of an EEA national.
My husband did not have a PR stamp or anything at all and it was no problem.

Also, since my daughter was born here, the German embassy had no problem with her being a dual national.

Thank you for the great advice!!

Congratulations! If you wouldn't mind i have some question, my wife is german and she is been here 5 years. 3 years as student then 2 years as a worker. Do you think can we get our children british & german passport?

[boloney]

Thank you for your advice, just to let you know I am so happy, my daughter received her British passport in the post today after a 2 day wait. (I used the fast track option since we will be travelling soon).

I submitted my husbands passport, his P60's and voila - no problem at all.

Now I hope I will have the same luck with my application since I'm applying on a similar basis - automatic PR as a family member of an EEA national.
My husband did not have a PR stamp or anything at all and it was no problem.

Also, since my daughter was born here, the German embassy had no problem with her being a dual national.

Thank you for the great advice!!

Congratulations! If you wouldn't mind i have some question, my wife is german and she is been here 5 years. 3 years as student then 2 years as a worker. Do you think can we get our children british & german passport?

Did she Have csi to cover 3 years when she was a student?
If yes and child was born in the uk after she completed 5 years in the uk apply for child British passport. If not, did she Have ehic card covering 3 years as a student?

[leighsabine]

If your wife is German passport holder, then your children can also get a German passport by birthright.

[oflondon]

You can apply for your baby's british passport now. My EEA spouse ( hungarian ) got the british passport for our baby last year without having a confirmation of permanent residence. 5 years p60's are needed and NO benefits received by either parent during the 5 year period till the birth of the baby.

[vinny]

In my case, I am still getting different answers from the naturalisation people at the UKBA who are unsure if I can apply for my passport.

I received my EE2 status and a letter from the HO stating Family member status in March 2006, however we were only married in July 2009.
They are now saying the clock only starts ticking after the actual marriage, and my status prior to that doesn't count towards the 6 years! This is making me very nervous to apply for naturalisation and potentially lose a lot of money. I did not apply for PR as I was told I would receive it automatically after 5 years (March 2011).

7(3) already treats you as a family member when your EE2 status was confirmed. 8(5) continues to be satisfiable, regardless of marriage. Therefore, I don't think that marriage would reset your clock.

[Carlosmiranda]

Hi. Can anyone help me plz . I am a portuguese and living and working in uk for around 8 years . I have 7months baby. Can I apply for my baby british passport plz ? But I don't have my all p60s . I only have last one or two . What can I use instead of p60 ? And I don't have my passport just have my ID card. Plz help me? Thanks

[Jambo]

Hi. Can anyone help me plz . I am a portuguese and living and working in uk for around 8 years . I have 7months baby. Can I apply for my baby british passport plz ? But I don't have my all p60s . I only have last one or two . What can I use instead of p60 ? And I don't have my passport just have my ID card. Plz help me? Thanks

Employment history from HMRC, letter from employer confirming employment. ID Card is enough.

[Carlosmiranda]

Thanks a lot for ur help!

[Carlosmiranda]

Hi. Sorry to bother u again. Plz can u tell where to get the form for baby's passport . And I want to ask u that since I m living in uk I never apply for PR . Will they ask me for my pr in uk first or it's ok without that?

[Carlosmiranda]

Hi. And I also want to tell u that I was claiming job seekers allowance for some time . Wil it disqualify my application plz reply

[Carlosmiranda]

Plz can anyone reply