ARCHIVED: KnowYourRightsThursday: My child was born in the UK, now I want to apply for their British Passport!-British Citizenship for Children series Part 1

First thing first- hold up! British nationality law is a little complicated. Let me take that the words ‘a little’ out. Due to its history, it is an area of immigration law that requires some people do some serious digging, e.g. create a family tree or go on the BBC ‘Who do you think you are?’. For the majority, the digging is minimal.

Welcome to the British Citizenship for Children Series. Today’s post will introduce British Citizenship for persons born in the UK on and after 01 January 1983.

Fun Fact- Being born in the UK, does not mean you have automatically acquired British citizenship.

This can come as a shock to many people-whether you are British or not-like Sharon, a 24-year-old Trinidadian national living in the UK.

To help you understand common British nationality law scenarios, Sharon and other fictional characters will pop up to help. There may be times where you will be thinking ‘Really?’ or ‘that would never happen in real life!’- just stay with me on the journey.

This series and post is fiction and is for illustrative and educational purposes only to discuss British nationality laws. Names, characters, storyline, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents is the products of the editor’s imagination . Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

British Citizenship by Birth (Part 1)

British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA 1981), s1(1) states:

A person born in the United Kingdom after commencement [of the BNA 1981 which is 01 January 1983] shall be a British citizen if at the time of the birth his father or mother is—

(a)a British citizen; or

(b)settled in the United Kingdom

Sharon has been living in the UK for nearly 4 years with her Trinidadian husband, Michael. Both born and raised in Trinidad, Sharon and Michael entered in the UK as students (on Tier 4 Student visas). They have both completed their undergraduate degree and have now started their masters at the Royal United State University in London. They renewed their student visas to extend their stay to complete their masters. Sharon gave birth to a baby girl, name Tia at the Royal United Hospital in London on 23 December 2019. Sharon and Michael registered Tia’s birth in the UK, and they were issued a UK birth certificate for Tia.

Luckily for Sharon and Michael as new parents- their second semester is focused on their dissertation, so they work from home. Michael attends a consultation with a solicitor from a reputable solicitors’ law firm to find out Tia’s options. The solicitor explains although Tia was born in the UK and was issued a UK birth certificate; Tia is not British by birth under BNA 1981, s1(1) because Sharon and Michael are neither are British Citizens, nor settled in the UK at the time of Tia’s birth. Tia is not eligible for British citizenship; therefore her parents cannot apply for a British passport on her behalf.

What does ‘settled’ mean?

Although, Sharon and Michael, may feel settled in the UK, for the purpose of the BNA 1981 and other immigration rules/legislation, ‘settled’ means you can stay in the UK without any time restrictions.

People who are settled in the UK have:

indefinite leave to remain (ILR),
settled status (under the European Settlement Scheme (EUSS)) or;
permanent residence (under Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016)

There are various ways to obtain settlement. Most are eligible for settlement between 5 -10 years of lawful residence depending on their immigration history and circumstances.

At the time of Tia’s birth, Sharon and Michael had limited leave to remain as students. They have restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK as students.

What happens to Tia?

Michael and Sharon contact the Trinidadian embassy in London to see if Tia is Trinidadian citizen although she was born in the UK. The embassy informs Sharon and Michael, that according to the Citizenship Act of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, section 5, they can apply for certificate of citizenship for Tia as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago by descent. Michael contacts the UK solicitor and shares the news and wants to know if Tia can get a visa as a dependant of Michael who is on a Tier 4 Student visa.

What happens next, is dependent on Michael’s and Sharon’s future plans-will they return to Trinidad or will an opportunity arise for them to stay in the UK after they finish their studies? The decision they make will affect Tia.

Sharon is very stress and decides to invite her neighbour, Stella, a 40-year old Brazilian national who is married to an Italian national, Giovanni. Stella and Giovanni have two children, Francesco, age 8 who was born in Brazil and Valentina, age 3 who was born in the UK. Stella is six months pregnant with their third child. Hearing Sharon’s stressful situation is making Stella stressed about her children’s immigration status.

_{Join us, next week Thursday to found out what is Stella’s children’s eligibility for British Citizenship.}

I have mentioned a few words such as ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain’, ‘Permanent Residence’ and ‘Settled Status’, ‘by descent’ and hopefully throughout this series you will understand these words.

If you are concern about your immigration matter or your child’s immigration matter, please contact a reputable solicitors’ law firm that specialises in immigration law to find out your options.

Thank you for reading. Stay safe and take care, Nellie x

Please see below for further reading materials relevant to this post.