British Citizenship for Child Born Abroad
You can become a British citizen if you are born outside of the UK to a British citizen parent. You can let your child live in the UK for the rest of their life as a British citizen. They can work, study, get benefits, apply for a British visa, and access the NHS. Our immigration solicitors can assist you in applying for British citizenship for child born abroad.
Please call us at 0203 384 4389 right away for help with your problem. We can assist you in person, over the phone, or online.
What is British Citizenship for Child Born Abroad?
One of the first things parents want to know when applying for their child’s first British passport is whether they need to be registered as a British citizen first or if they can apply for one immediately. It might seem like an easy question, but the answer isn’t always clear-cut. It’s important to know that your child’s citizenship status determines whether they can get a British passport.
In general, your child must be a citizen of the UK before they can get a UK visa. A lot of the time, kids are British citizens by birth and don’t need to be listed. Some children, though, will need to be registered as British citizens before they can apply for a passport because they are not all British citizens immediately.
Overview: British Citizenship
- What is British Citizenship for Child Born Abroad?
- How to Apply for British Citizenship for Chil Born Abroad?
- What are the Requirements to Apply for British Citizenship for Child Born Abroad?
- Get British Citizenship for a Child Born Abroad
- Born outside of the United Kingdom to settled parents
- How can I register my children as a British citizen?
- Frequently Asked Questions
How to Apply for British Citizenship for Chil Born Abroad?
Children born outside of the UK usually get British citizenship through their parents. However, this relies on where the child was born and what their parents were doing when they were born.
People who are British but live outside the UK can have children who are not British. Sometimes, the children will simply become British citizens through descent.
Even if a kid born to British parents outside of the UK doesn’t automatically become British, they might still be able to become a British citizen by applying for it. The application form MN1 makes it easy for parents to make their child a Royal British Citizen.
Anyone under the age of 18 who wants to get a British passport must first be registered as a British citizen. Also, they need to be signed up before they can come into the country. A child born outside of Britain can become a British citizen at any time before they turn 18.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
What are the Requirements to Apply for British Citizenship for Child Born Abroad?
These conditions must be met in order to register a child as a British citizen born abroad:
- British mother or father has a child born outside of Britain.
- The child must not have been born in the UK and at least one parent must have been a British citizen at the time of birth.
- Applicants must have good character (this requirement does not apply to children under the age of 10).
- British citizenship by descent must be in the child’s best interest.
- Before the application is sent in, the child and their parents must have lived in the UK for three years. The parents must have lived in the UK for at least three years before the child was born.
Contact one of our seasoned immigration solicitors to find out if your child can become a British citizen even though they were born outside of the UK. Please call us at 0203 384 4389 or email us at hello@ukimmigrationsolicitors.co.uk for help with how to apply for British citizenship for a child abroad.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
Get British Citizenship for a Child Born Abroad
People who were born outside of the UK to British parents may immediately be British citizens, or you may need to apply on their behalf to become British citizens.
Automatically qualified for British Citizenship
If they were born outside of the UK, they may or may not immediately become British citizens. This depends on when they were born.
For those born after July 1, 2006.
Your child may become a British citizen immediately if:
- Born after July 1, 2006,
- At the time of their birth, one of their parents had British citizenship, and
- They were born in Britain and got British status from their parent. In this case, the British parents were either born or adopted in the UK, became a citizens after applying on their own, or worked for the Crown when the child was born.
Between 1983 and June 2006, if they were born
Your child may become a British citizen immediately if:
- They were born within the years 1983 to 2006, and
- Both parents don’t need to have been married for one parent to be a British citizen at the time of birth; just because your father was a citizen does not mean that your mother had to be.
- British parents passed on citizenship. This means that the British parent was born or adopted in the UK, successfully applied for citizenship on their own, or was working as a Crown worker when the child was born.
If they are born before 1983
If your child was born outside of the UK and their father is British, they may immediately become British. To get into the country, the father had to be any of the following when the child was born:
- a member of the UK and its colonies
- married to the mother of the child
- able to give his citizenship to someone else. This means that the British parent was born or adopted in the UK, successfully applied for citizenship on their own, or was working as a Crown worker when the child was born.
Register the Child as a British Citizen by Descent.
A child born outside of the UK might not immediately be a British citizen, but they might be able to become one by proof of family ties. The rules change based on when they were born.
Child born after 1 July 2006
Your child may be able to become a British citizen even though they were born outside of the UK if
- Their parents lived in the UK, or
- Either one of their British parents lived in the UK before they were born, or
- Adopted outside UK
If the child lives in the UK with a British parent or parents,
- they must be younger than 18 years old.
- When they were born, either their mother or father had to be a British citizen.
- They had to live with their parents in the UK for three years before they applied, and
- During the three years, the child and their parent(s) could not have spent more than 270 days outside of the UK.
- Three years must have passed between the child and their parent(s) and the date of the application (the date the Home Office gets it).
If the parents of the child lived in the UK before the child was born:
- Must be under 18,
- When they were born, either their mother or father had to be a British citizen.
- Their parents had to live in the UK for three years before they were born.
- During the three years, their parent(s) must not have spent more than 270 days outside of the UK.
- their mother or father was a British citizen and could have passed their citizenship on to them. In this case, the mother or father of the British parent was born or adopted in the UK, became a citizen after applying on their own, or worked for the Crown when the child was born.
The child born 1983–June 2006
If a child born outside of the UK was not married to a British mother, that child may be able to become a British citizen. You will have to show that he was British when the child was born, though. You will also have to show that he was born or adopted in the UK, that he applied for citizenship on his own, or that he was working for the Crown when the child was born.
The child born before 1983
They might be able to become a British citizen even though they were born outside of the UK if
- their parents were unmarried at birth,
- their mother was from Britain, but their father wasn’t.
At the time of their birth, either their mother or father had to be a member of the UK and its colonies. They also had to be born or adopted in the UK, become citizens after applying on their own, or work for the Crown when the child was born.
The eligibility requirements for British citizenship for a child born abroad might be complex. Please call us at 0203 384 4389 for help with how to apply for British citizenship for a child born outside of Britain.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
Born outside of the United Kingdom to settled parents
After one year of having Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), a child born outside of the UK to parents who live in the UK can apply to become a British citizen. Both parents must be settled and living in the UK for the child to have ILR.
Any of the following must be true before a child of a UK-resident parent can apply for permanent resident status:
- The parent is legally responsible for the child. The child’s other parent has died.
- Moreover, the child should be able to stay in the UK for genuine and essential reasons.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
How can I register my children as a British citizen?
If a child born outside of Britain does not automatically become British but has a British parent, they may still be able to become a British citizen by applying for citizenship.
Even though it’s not the same as Naturalisation, the process of making your child a British citizen is still long and hard to understand.
Through naturalisation, your child will not have to meet most of the requirements to become a British citizen. They won’t have to show proof that they can speak and write English or pass a test about life in the UK.
However, you will still need to give:
- a long history of immigration;
- reasons why you want to apply;
- first copies of things like birth papers and current passports; and
- It takes less than £20 to get biometric information like fingerprints and a picture.
Get in touch with the experienced lawyers at UK Immigration Solicitors to make sure that your application goes quickly and is finished on time.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Most of the time, a child needs a visa in order to live in the UK. For instance, if their parent is a foreign national working or studying in the country, the child may need a Child Dependant Visa.
Can my child claim British citizenship?
If either parent is a British citizen when their child is born, even if the child is born in another country, the child will automatically accrue British citizenship. In other words, your child will be able to register as a British Citizen, but that doesn’t mean they will be immediately seen as a citizen.
What kinds of papers do I need to get my child a British passport?
Your child will not be able to get a British visa until they have been registered as a British citizen. To get a British visa, you will need to get their certificate of registration first. The steps will be the same for everyone in Britain. It will require a variety of papers, such as photos with seals on them, old passports, and more.
What is the processing time for registering a child as a British citizen?
The time it takes to process an application to register a child can vary, but generally, you should wait between two and four months for a response.
Putting in the application without the right papers or details could cause the process to take longer than planned.
What does it cost for a child to become a British citizen?
Adding a child as a British citizen costs £1012. You will also have to pay an £80 fee for the citizenship ceremony if your child turns 18 during the application process.
If born abroad, is my child British?
If your child is born outside of Britain but meets the requirements for British citizenship because of their ancestry, they can be registered as a British citizen. Before they turn 18, they must fill out an MN1 form and pay an application fee.
Registering a child as British while they are still abroad
Even if your child was born outside of Britain but is a British citizen by descent, you still need to register them so they can get a passport and other things.
You will need to fill out application form MN1, and you must do this before you turn 18. If you don’t, they might not be able to get citizenship by blood.
Is a British-born child a citizen?
A child born outside of the UK will become a British citizen by blood if at least one parent is a British citizen in some other way.
Is a British mother's child a citizen?
According to immigration rules, most children born outside of the UK will become British citizens by descent if at least one parent is a British citizen in a way other than by descent. This could be the mother or the father.
What constitutes a British citizen other than by descent?
A person who is a citizen of the United Kingdom by any other means than descent can provide citizenship to a child born abroad. This signifies that a British citizen, other than by descent, was born, adopted, naturalised, or registered in the United Kingdom or a qualifying territory.
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