Query: Status of Baby born outside UK?

[mr_pankaj]

Hello Friends,

I am a British Citizen (by naturalisation) and my wife holds a PR/ILR status on her Indian passport.

We are expecting a baby around April next year.
I would like to know the following, if we decide to deliver the baby in India,

(A) Would the child be elligible to apply for British Citizenship? If so how?(i.e. what is the procedure or who can tell it? i.e. getting Birth Certificate, father should be present in person to get the visa etc. etc.)

If not, then what visa would we need for the child to come back in UK and what would be its validity?

(B) Would my wife loose her permanent residence (ILR) status as she would be out of UK for more than 90 days in a row ?

(C) Could I do anything while my wife and me are physically in UK to eliminate any issues that my wife may come across when she starts the paper work for the baby after the delivery, when I would not be around to help ?

(D) Any suggestions around this issue faced by anyone on this board and experiences around that? i.e. Do's and Dont's

thank you all once again for your kind help and suggestions. :)

[Rogerio]

Congratulations on the pregnancy....

a - Your child will be British

From http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applyi ... advice/bn4

(check number 7)

If you are, or your husband or your wife is, a British citizen otherwise than by descent, your child born outside the United Kingdom (or the qualifying territories (see Note C) if born on or after 21 May 2002) will automatically be a British citizen when he or she is born

b - Your wife will only lose her PR if outside of the UK for longer than 2 years. How long have you been married? If longer than 3 years, she will be able to apply for naturalisation as well....

c - as your child will be automatically British, then no need to worry. BUT bear in mind that India does NOT allow for dual citizenship - this has been discussed at length on this forum... check past posts on this to see the impact it will have on you, and on your baby's status as British in India.

d - I will let others chip in.

[ppron747]

I should add that, if the child is born outside UK, he/she would be a British citizen by descent, which would complicate his/her ability to pass British nationality to the next generation...

I would also strongly recommend Pan to look at this topic, which documents some of the experiences of member "British", whose baby was born in India earlier in the year. British seems a positive sort of chap, which is a good thing, because he certainly needed all the positivity he could muster, to surmount the various bureacratic barriers erected by the British High Commission...

The decision is yours, but my own inclination would be to make sure you new baby is born here.

PS (added later): Just spotted a slip in Rogerio's para b. A person doesn't have to be married to a BC for three years in order to qualify for naturalisation - they have to have been in UK for three years, and married to a BC on the day they apply for naturalisation. Otherwise Rogerio's advice is spot-on...