UK citizenship for children of EU nationals
October 10, 2022 5:36 AM Subscribe
UK citizenship question. My friend's children were born in the UK between 2006 and 2021. The children's parents were both EU nationals. I'm trying to figure out if the kids are UK citizens. Help me out?
The UK government website says that a child born in the UK to an EU citizen parent between 2006 and 2021 is a UK citizen so long as, when the child was born, the EU citizen parent "had ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR), ‘settled status’, ‘permanent residence status’, ‘right of abode’ or ‘right of re-admission’" . The parents had no formal status when the children were born (as EU nationals before Brexit, they didn't need one). "Permanent residence status" is a status one could acquire without applying for it, but that requires living in the UK for 5 years, which they hadn't done when either of the kids was born.
As of last year, the parents now have formal status in the UK via the EU settlement scheme. I'm sure the child is now eligible to become a UK citizen through Registration. But that is a different process with a hefty (maybe waivable) fee.
My belief is that the children are not currently UK citizens, but my friend has heard of others in (seemingly) similar positions who have managed to get UK passports for their kids without going through the Registration process. Perhaps you can shed some light on this.
The UK government website says that a child born in the UK to an EU citizen parent between 2006 and 2021 is a UK citizen so long as, when the child was born, the EU citizen parent "had ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR), ‘settled status’, ‘permanent residence status’, ‘right of abode’ or ‘right of re-admission’" . The parents had no formal status when the children were born (as EU nationals before Brexit, they didn't need one). "Permanent residence status" is a status one could acquire without applying for it, but that requires living in the UK for 5 years, which they hadn't done when either of the kids was born.
As of last year, the parents now have formal status in the UK via the EU settlement scheme. I'm sure the child is now eligible to become a UK citizen through Registration. But that is a different process with a hefty (maybe waivable) fee.
My belief is that the children are not currently UK citizens, but my friend has heard of others in (seemingly) similar positions who have managed to get UK passports for their kids without going through the Registration process. Perhaps you can shed some light on this.
I think you are correct, but agree with coffee_monster about checking through all my the detail with an immigration specialist.
posted by knapah at 9:57 AM on October 11, 2022
posted by knapah at 9:57 AM on October 11, 2022
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Home Office isn't exactly known for being rational or having processes that make sense and that was certainly my experience of navigating the system when applying for citizenship (thanks Brexit). Also, this is very much a situation where the devil is in the detail so checking this out with a professional who is capable of keeping up with the changing legislation and constant pivots may be the best way to find out for sure.
posted by coffee_monster at 6:39 AM on October 10, 2022 [4 favorites]