How Can a Foreign Parent Claim UK Citizenship by Birth?

The last thing you want to worry about when awaiting the arrival of your child is how to navigate immigration matters and similar legal affairs. Thankfully, UK citizenship by birth can offer babies in the United Kingdom a path towards citizenship, even if you as the parent aren’t a UK-born national. 

But what exactly is the process and how should you prepare to ensure that your child can obtain UK national status as swiftly as possible?

What Foreign Parents Need to Know about UK Citizenship by Birth Laws

When your child is born in the UK, it can be easy to assume that this means that they will automatically be granted UK citizenship. However, this is not always the case and you should make sure that you understand the conditions and what you might need to do to claim UK citizenship by birth for your little one. 

First of all, the immigration status of any child in the UK may initially be determined by the status of the parents. If you are a foreign parent in the UK, you will generally need to have some form of legally established status for your child to be eligible for British citizenship by birth. While this doesn’t mean that you must have completed the steps for naturalisation, you should at least be ‘settled’ in the UK, meaning that you should have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), or permanent residence.

Finally, it might make sense to consider the possibility of dual nationality, depending on where your child’s nationality was initially assigned. Not all countries allow dual citizenship with each other, so it is best to be informed before you make any decisions, as applying for UK citizenship might mean that your child loses their pre-existing citizen status.

When to Request Citizenship for Your Child?

It will usually be easiest to apply for citizenship for your child soon after they are born. If you are applying at a later date, you will need to make sure that your child can meet the requirements. For example, if your child is already ten years or older, they will need to be of ‘good character’, which means that they must not have broken the law (including immigration law) or been otherwise involved in activities that may be considered non-conducive to the public interest. 

Now, it might sound silly to ask these things about a child, but remember that depending on their initially assigned status, they might have been liable to different visa procedures so it is always best to be informed and to make sure that you follow all immigration rules to make sure your child can pass this requirement with flying colours.

Keep in mind that children who are 13 or older, will only qualify for UK citizenship by birth if they have lived there for at least two years before applying.

What If I Don’t Meet the Settlement Requirements Just Yet?

If your child was born in the UK while you were not yet classed as ‘settled’ and given indefinite leave to remain or permanent residence, you don’t need to worry. In general, your child will be considered eligible for UK citizenship by birth as soon as you have obtained settled status for yourself. However, you should remember that other requirements may still come into play, especially if your child has grown a little older in the time it took for you to obtain the required status.

Steps for Foreign Parents to Obtain UK Citizenship for Children Born in the UK

The first thing you should try to do is to familiarise yourself with the process of applying for UK citizenship by birth for your child. Remember that you will need to handle the application on your child’s behalf if they are under 18 years old.

If you have the appropriate settlement status for parents and all of the other conditions are met, you will need to request and fill out the appropriate form, which can usually be done online via the Home Office Website.

Once this is done, you will usually have to make an appointment and visit a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services location, where you may need to explain more about the circumstances of your and your child’s status in the UK. Remember to bring whatever supporting documents you have to this appointment to submit them.

What Happens After You Have Filed the Application?

Once you have submitted your child’s naturalisation application, you will have to engage in a bit of a waiting game as UK processing times for these kinds of applications can often take quite a while. Don’t be surprised if you wait up to six months to receive a decision. 

In the meantime, it could be a good idea to start thinking about the next step which should probably be your child’s passport.

How to Apply for a UK Passport for Your Child

Once your child has been granted UK naturalisation, it is time to apply for their very first UK passport! It makes sense to do this, even if you don’t immediately plan to travel. Initial passport applications can often take a bit longer and you might need an easy form of identification for your child even without planning any vacations.

To start, you will need to visit the online UK passport application portal on the Home Office website, although you do have the option to submit a physical application form at a post office that offers this service.  If your child is younger than 16, you will still need to take this application for them, but keep in mind that you might need to get your child’s signature to apply for their passport for them, if they are between the ages of 12 and 16.

When filing your child’s passport application, you will need to submit evidence of their citizenship status in the UK, as well as a birth certificate that names you as their legal guardian who is authorised to file this application for them. 

You will usually need an appropriate passport photo for your child when applying for their passport, and you will be asked to pay the application fees which tend to sit at around €53 to €69, depending on whether you applied online or via the post office.