Applying For Citizenship After 10th Birthday
Under English law, not all children born in the UK will automatically be British nationals by birth. Many non-British parents are confused about how British citizenship works, whether or not their child is a British national by birth, and their entitlement to register as a British citizen.
Automatic British Nationality For the Child
Whether or not a child will be recognised as a British citizen will depend on the status of both parents in the UK.
- The child is automatically eligible for British citizenship if they were born here on or after 1 January 1983 and either one of their parents was a British citizen or a settled person at the time of birth.
The child will not automatically qualify to be a British citizen if both parents were neither settled nor British nationals at the time of birth.
Applying For Citizenship After 10th Birthday
If the child was born in the UK and lived here for 10 years or over, they are entitled to apply for British citizenship, if the child has not acquired British citizenship automatically. They have to satisfy the following criteria
- The child was born in the UK after 31 December 1982 and before 1 July 2006 and lived here until they were 10 years of age or over;
- Application for British citizenship can be made if the child was born on or after 1 July 2006 in the UK and lived here till the age of 10 years or older;
- The child must not have spent over 90 days overseas during the first 10 years of the child’s life, excessive absences are allowed under specific situations;
- The child must satisfy the good character requirement
There is no strict definition of ‘good character’ in the UK, however, it means that the applicant must not have committed an offence within the relevant sentence-based threshold.
Application process:
Submit the relevant documentation and fee, if the applicant cannot afford it, make a request for a fee waiver. Usually, it takes several months to get a decision on the British citizenship application.
Disclaimer:
The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Connaught Law and authors accept no responsibility for loss that may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Connaught Law. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Connaught Law.
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