sassage100 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Hi I wonder if anyone has any experience of the above. I am a british citizen and my husband is australian but has uk citizenship and passport also. Our son was born in australia in June 2014. We are looking to move back to the uk in march, my son has only an australian passport and I know I can apply for british citizenship and therefore british passport before we go, but according to form MN1, section 3, if we do this now he will be a british citizen by descent and therefore any children he has abroad in the future will not automatically be british citizens. According to section 3 (5) if we live in the uk for 3 years with him before applying for british citizenship and a passport, then he will be made british citizen otherwise than by descent, therefore any children he has will automatically get british citizenship. I know this is a long way off, but if we apply for the passport now before we leave then it is fixed and you cannot change this over for them once in the uk. My question is therefore does anyone have experience of taking their child to the uk in this situation and applying after 3 years for their passport, if so what visa did you take your child to the uk on and did you have any issues? Sorry I have checked websites and tried to call the canberra helpline so far without much success. I believe I may need to get him a settle in the uk visa for a child under 18 but as I said just looking to see if anyone has done this is or in this situation. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkstone1975 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Err If I read it correctly, if you were born in uk, then your child is British citizen by descent automatically, you don't actually apply for citizenship. therefore they are legally allowed, to live in uk without a uk passport, I may stand corrected but pretty sure, as I'm going through this with my kids and currently applying for their passports. Passport does not determine citizenship, just ability to travel in and out of countries with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alijane Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Hi. I have just obtained both passports for my daughter (waiting for uk one to be posted back to me). I am british (with perm res) and my hubby is australian. I believed that my daughter would be 'British OTHER than by descent' and not just 'British by descent'. So in other words, a 'proper' brit as I am british (just like I am british, my mum is british etc). I think you can go and live there with your son without needing a british passport first. If I was you, you need to double check the 'other than by descent bit' but I am pretty sure he would be. I think if he never were to go to uk and never got a passport, his kids would then be british by descent because of you. Geez it's confusing isn't it! I was seeking to not just get a passport and citizenship for my daughter but to also have her birth registered in the UK for future family trees I guess! I don't think they do this now as it's not necessary as Aus is part of the commonwealth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassage100 Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Err If I read it correctly, if you were born in uk, then your child is British citizen by descent automatically, you don't actually apply for citizenship.therefore they are legally allowed, to live in uk without a uk passport, I may stand corrected but pretty sure, as I'm going through this with my kids and currently applying for their passports. Passport does not determine citizenship, just ability to travel in and out of countries with ease. Thanks for that. So actually I am getting mixed up then, I don't need to apply for actual citizenship for him to get him a passport, I can just provide my own birth certificate looking into this, and then I can look at applying for citizenship otherwise than by descent specifically once we have been in the uk 3 years. Thanks for your help. Thats really useful :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassage100 Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Hi Alijane Yes its confusing :-) So I am pretty certain it says on form MN1, thT ny child born abroad ie Australia to a british born citizen is automatically a british citizen by descent, you can apply under section 3 (5) for them to be a british citizen other than by descent after living in the uk for 3 years. What I am not sure now is if I go ahead and get his british passport, is that like sealing in stone as it were his citizenship by descent or can I still apply in three years from the uk for him to be a citizen other than by descent. I will see what I can find out about this online unless anyone who reads this has done this successfully after 3 years in the uk? Thanks Alijane for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croft Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Hi Alijane Yes its confusing :-) So I am pretty certain it says on form MN1, thT ny child born abroad ie Australia to a british born citizen is automatically a british citizen by descent, you can apply under section 3 (5) for them to be a british citizen other than by descent after living in the uk for 3 years. What I am not sure now is if I go ahead and get his british passport, is that like sealing in stone as it were his citizenship by descent or can I still apply in three years from the uk for him to be a citizen other than by descent. I will see what I can find out about this online unless anyone who reads this has done this successfully after 3 years in the uk? Thanks Alijane for your help. Try this advice from the UK Government. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/261503/bn4.pdf it does look as though you can delay registering your child as a British Citizen so they can get Citizenship other than be descent after 3 years living in the UK. However, this may affect their access to services etc - I'm not sure how that would all work. In any case, after 3 years residency in the UK, even with with citizenship by descent, it appears you child would be able to pass on their citizenship. This is the key passage for you: 14. A child who is registered under the arrangements described in paragraph 13A will be a British citizen by descent and will only be able to pass on British citizenship to children who are born outside the United Kingdom and the qualifying territories in the circumstances described in paragraph 11. A child who is registered under the arrangements described in paragraph 13B will be a British citizen otherwise than by descent and will able to pass on citizenship automatically to his or her children wherever they are born. So, if your child meets the requirements in paragraph 13A, but you and your family are intending to live in the United Kingdom or a qualifying territory soon, you may want to delay applying for your child’s registration until the child can meet the requirements in paragraph 13B. • if your child is registered as a British citizen by descent under paragraph 13A, he or she cannot later be registered as a British citizen otherwise than by descent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.