What’s the difference between 'British by birth' and 'not British but can be registered as British'?

This usually relates to children, so we’ll start from them.

British by birth means the child is British because of his/her family. It can be because of a parent being British, or because of a parent who has an ILR and a has a child born in the UK (who will be British by birth). In this case parents can just apply for a UK passport (here meant as a ‘passport book’), in the same way as British parents apply: sending documents to IPS (Identity and Passport Service), paying a passport fee and getting a passport. Most British-born parents here would not even think about anything else but simply applying for a UK passport (‘a passport’) for their child, without even thinking how lucky the child is :o))

'Not British but can be registered as British' means a child is not a British citizen when he/she is born, so parents could not just apply for a passport. However, in certain circumstances they can register the child, ie submit application form and pay some fee to the UK Border Agency, then wait for a decision. Once decision has been made - and decision is positive - then parents can apply for a UK passport for the child to IPS.

Here it is important to understand that there are conditions to meet when registering a child as British, it is not simply a choice to make a child a British citizen.

For example, an Indian couple have a child born in the UK when one parent is on a Tier 2 visa and the other is on a Dependant visa. The child is not British by birth. When one of the parents (or both but one is sufficient) obtains an ILR, the child can be registered as British at the UK Border Agency. A child cannot become British before that, so an application for registration would be refused before at least one of the parents secures  an ILR.

If the same couple has a child after one or both parents have an ILR, that child will be British by birth and there is no need to register – just get a British passport.

Another example: before 1 July 2006 children born to British fathers were only British by birth if the father was married to their mother.  So, if the parents were unmarried, and only a father was British (mother was non-British), a child was not British at all. Now there is a provision to register such children to become British citizens.

One more example: children born in the UK who are not British by birth can also be registered as  British after spending the first 10 years of their lives in the UK.

Adults: some adult people are British citizens because of their parents (or because they were born in the UK before 1983) but they never applied for a UK passport, such as because they lived outside the UK for all their lives. In this case a person was British by birth and does not need register, he/she should apply for a UK passport, which is possible to do from outside the UK, in many cases sending their application to Liverpool.

Compare with this: before 1983 only men could pass their nationality to their children. So, those who were born before 1983 to a British mother (but not to a British father) was not British. Now there is a provision to register as a British citizen, ie to submit an application to the UKBA, complete and form, pay a fee. There is also a condition of being of good character as most applicants are now adults.

For an individual advice or to make an application please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com 

If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training

 

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