British citizenship queries - help sought pls

Advice2017

Please does anyone have good knowledge about how to apply to become a British citizen and whether a child (born outside UK) (automatically) becomes a British citizen or is also entitled to apply for British citizenship?

I'm posting on behalf of a friend. His circumstances are as follows:

·       Italian national

·       Living and working in the UK since 2012

·       Has settled status

·       Has taken and passed the UK Citizenship test and is now entitled to apply for citizenship

·       He has 1 daughter, aged 13.  She was born in Turkey (Turkish mother).  They are divorced.  Daughter also has settled status (she used to live in UK before moving back to Turkey for two years.  She returned to UK on 1st September 2023 to live and school permanently in the UK, living with father.

Incidentally, the Turkish mother will start permanent work and living again in the UK in January 2024 but she is now in Turkey (she also used to live in the UK previously).

·       He would like to know, if he applies for British citizenship does his daughter automatically become a British citizen too?

·       Or, can he make an application for the daughter to become a British citizen - on the above facts, is she eligible? Presumably no test as she is 13 years old?

·       What is procedure for applying - does he apply first of all for himself, become a British citizen and then apply for the daughter. Or can he apply now for both of them together, assuming on the above facts, the daughter is currently eligible?

·       Any detailed advice on what is correct way and which steps to take would be very gratefully received.  I looked at the Gov site but not very clear.  It seems to suggest he cannot apply for the daughter unless/until(?) the mother is also living in the UK - is this correct, even if they are divorced?

Many thx in advance.

RAS

There were so many problems with people charging high fees to give people the advice that they wanted to hear rather than the correct advice that any one giving advice now has to be registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner.

Check out their list of approved advice services. So are geographically based and some target specific nationalities.

DullGreyGuy

No, the child wouldn't automatically become British but may be able to apply to become British 

The normal requirement is that the child has been resident in the UK for the last 2 years to be able to do a concurrent application. Other possible route require no more than 270 days outside the UK over the last 3 years.  Based on your notes that seems problematic. 

The status of the second parent depends on their involvement in the childs life. 

Naturalisation isnt a cheap process and no refunds if you don't get it. Its probably worth paying for proper advice from an accredited immigration advisor rather than strangers off the internet... I've not looked at the rules since Brexit thankfully. 

smudge56

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain

Your friend should be eligible to apply to naturalise as a British citizen 
Depending on how long his daughter was out of the UK, as the daughter of an EU citizen she should be able to register for British citizenship. 

If the daughter’s settlement was through the EUSS she is allowed to leave the UK for up to 5 years without losing it. If it was granted before EUSS scheme came into,being (August 2018) she can only leave for 2 years without losing it.
She doesn’t get British citizenship automatically.  She will have to claim registration.

Advice2017

Thanks very much for the helpful replies.  It looks like he may have to wait two years for his daughter's application.  He wanted to speed things up because he has a health condition and the only reason he wants to take the British citizenship himself is to benefit his daughter for the future, but I guess there will be no consideration made of this fact?

marcia_

Advice2017 said:

Thanks very much for the helpful replies.  It looks like he may have to wait two years for his daughter's application.  He wanted to speed things up because he has a health condition and the only reason he wants to take the British citizenship himself is to benefit his daughter for the future, but I guess there will be no consideration made of this fact?

No, they won't take that into consideration 

Advice2017

Hello again, 

Many thanks for the replies to date.  We have been looking a bit further into this and have a few more questions please if anyone can help?  It is indeed a complex area.

As mentioned, a serious health condition is in play, so looking to make the best decision in circumstances.

To recap, this is the situation: 

• Father has settled status and has passed both the language (oral) test and the Life in the UK Test.
• Father been living/working in the UK continuously since 2012.
• Daughter is 13 years old, she has settled status, but she has moved abroad and she has started living in the UK again since September 2023 with Father.
• Father would like to apply for British citizenship for him and daughter.

Form MN1 under "Children applying in line with parents" requires as a necessary condition that "the child has been resident in the UK for the last 2 years".

But if father were to apply for citizenship first for himself and then for daughter, it seems that the requirement of continuous residency instead becomes 5 years: Have we understood this correctly?

Register child under 18 as British citizen (form MN1)

LASTLY, father's concern is this: Would daughter still be able to apply for citizenship as a minor even in the case of his death (assuming he has become a British citizen before his death)?

Many thanks again for any further guidance on this.

smudge56

How long was she out of the UK for?

sheramber

smudge56 said:

How long was she out of the UK for?

 Daughter also has settled status (she used to live in UK before moving back to Turkey for two years. 

Advice2017

Hello, thanks for the replies. I have obtained the correct info about daughter's time in UK and settled status: 

She moved to the UK when she was 5 years old and moved to Turkey just before becoming 11.
She returned to the UK to live permanently September 2023 to start school, just before her 13th birthday.

She has settled status