British Nationality Registration — Children

British Nationality Registration – Children

If you are looking to register your child as British, we are here to help. Our immigration lawyers have a great deal of experience in British Nationality matters, including helping our clients register their children as British citizens. UK nationality law is very complex and requires experience and expertise to navigate. Our team of experienced immigration lawyers is the support to need for a successful outcome.

How RVS Solicitors can help you

There are a number of ways in which a child might be entitled to British nationality. There is even the possibility that the child might already be automatically British and before you embark on an expensive journey of registering your child as a British National, it is always prudent to assess whether they already perhaps have the status.

Our experienced immigration lawyers will carefully consider the circumstances surrounding your child and will determine what is the best way forward. Once we have decided the best course of action, we will offer you full guidance and support. We want to make sure that our clients not only have a successful outcome, but that the entire process is as stress free as possible.

Automatic status

In some cases Children may automatically be British citizens if certain criteria are met, in which case there is no need to register, and you may apply for a British passport directly. The criteria differ slightly for children born in the UK and children born outside the UK.

• Children born in the UK between 1st January 1983 and 30th June 2006 are British citizens at birth if, at the time of their birth, one or more of the following applied:
  • Their parents are married and either parent is a British citizen
  • Their parents are married and either parent is settled in the UK
  • Their mother is a British citizen
  • Their mother is settled in the UK
• Children born on or after 1st July 2006 are British citizens at birth if, at the time of their birth, one or more of the following applied:
  • Either parent is a British citizen
  • Either parent is settled in the UK
  • Either parent is a member of the armed forces, and the person was born on or after the 13th January 2010
• Children born outside the UK also will acquire British citizenship automatically, if the parent is a British citizen other than by descent. This means that the British parent should either be born British in the UK, or have naturalised as British.

Registration through Entitlement

There are situations where the child is not born British, as they do not meet the criteria to automatically be British. However, there are a number of ways in which a child might still be entitled to be registered as British.

Unlike for those who are automatically British, those children who do not qualify for being recognised as British by birth, need to make a separate application before the Secretary of The state. Unless a Registration application is made and Registration is granted, the child will not be entitled to a UK passport.

There are a number of situations where a child might be entitled to be Registered as British. Among most common scenarios is when a child is born in the UK, but at the time of birth was not entitled to British nationality. In such cases, the child can register as British if all of the following criteria are met:

• They were born in the UK
• Are not British citizens at birth because at the time neither parent was a British citizen or settled
• while they are minors, either of the parents has since become a British citizen or settled in the UK
• They are under the age of 18 on the date the application is received
• They are of good character if over the age of 10

Apart from the above, there is another common scenario where a child is able to register as British, even if the parents are not British or settled at the time of the application.

In this case, the child needs to demonstrate that:

• they were born in the UK
• they were not a British citizen at birth neither parent was a British citizen nor settled in the UK
• they are aged 10 or over on the date of application
• they have lived in the UK for the first 10 years of their life
• they have not been outside of the UK for more than 90 days in each of the first 10 years of their life
• they are of good character

There are also ways to register as British for those born abroad to British parents who themselves are born abroad, are serving in British army etc.

Speak to one of our expert immigration lawyers, if you are not sure whether you or your child might be entitled to register as British.

Registration through Discretion

Registration through discretion is where a child born is neither British nor has any entitlement under the British Nationality Act 1981. The Home Office has the discretion to register the child provided that they meet the criteria for discretionary application for registration. The criteria are:

• the applicant is under 18 at the date of the application
• they are of good character if they are over the age of 10
• the Home Secretary thinks fit to register them

Discretionary applications are amongst one of the most difficult applications to make successfully. For these applications it is always recommended that you have an immigration lawyers specialising in such applications assisting you. Applications to Register as British are quite costly and a minor mistake may lead to a refusal and wasted fees. We therefore recommend that you speak to one of our lawyers prior to making such an application.

Why RVS?

We have years of experience in assisting with immigration into the UK and have countless success stories. We have been able to guide our clients through the complex, ever-changing landscape of the UK immigration system, provide clarity, and most importantly, succeed in ensuring our clients can fulfil their dreams.

We will start with an initial assessment to see how we will best be able to assist you, we will discuss with you the estimated costs in terms of the application fees, our service fees, and the timeframes that would be involved, as well as answer any questions or concerns you may have. After we get a little more information from you, you can sit back and relax knowing an experienced immigration solicitor will handle your entire matter from beginning to end.

We are confident in our abilities and our client successes speak for themselves, check out our client testimonials here.

To find out more about how we can assist you with registering British nationality for minors, send us an email today at info@rvssolicitors.co.uk or browse our website for all the services we offer.