Authority to issue a certificate of entitlement /

[Feb4]

I'm am British and our son born in Nigeria is British by descent (I was British before he was born).

We submitted an application for a certificate of entitlement for him with all the required supporting documents. However, we got this email from the High Commission:

"We would like to inform you that we are unable to issue a right of Abode Certificate as the Visa Section does not have the authority to determine that your child is a British Citizen."

They recommend that we withdraw and apply for a British passport for our son. We don't want a British passport, we want a certificate of entitlement for him.

We are confused. The government website says we can apply for certificate of entitlement from outside the UK and this is also one of the visa categories using the online application form. We meet all the requirements and submitted all required documents. We find it bizarre and are tempted to let them go ahead and decide to refuse it so that we can appeal.

Please help quickly.