A Guide To British Citizenship.

[the scouser]

A frequently asked question is whether a child born in Thailand to a British parent is also British. I've therefore devised a guide which is pinned to the top of this sub-forum:-

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=105205

Scouse.

[samran]

great post scouse!

just one clarification about 'registration'. I take it that if born outside of the UK, and your birth is then registered (and you get a long style birth certificate), then if you subsequently have a child outside the UK again, then your child will be eligible for British citzenship?

What I am asking is, so long as the birth of each successive generation is continually registered at the embassy, there is actually no need to ever be present in the UK to pass on the nationailty to next generation?

[the scouser]

Unfortunately, the authorities use the same word "register" to mean two different things in the same context, and it does lead to confusion.

There is a difference between registering the birth and registering as a British citizen: the former is the process of getting a British-style birth certificate, and the second is the process of applying to the Home Office for British citizenship where no automatic qualification exists. So, to answer your question, whether or not the birth is registered at the British embassy has no bearing upon future generations' entitlement to British citizenship: if the child is born outside of the UK, s/he will be British "by descent" and unable to transmit British citizenship to any of his/her own kids born outside of the UK (the children of a British citizen "by descent" born in the UK will automatically be British "otherwise than by descent", as they would be born in the UK).

Scouse.

[GU22]

Thanks for that, Scouse.

Is it possible for you to confirm something for me, please?

A Thai friend of my wife's has recently given birth in a UK hospital. She has ILR but is not married to the child's father, who is a British citizen otherwise than by descent, but he is named on the birth certificate.

She doesn't love the father and wants to return to Thailand with the baby. She is in the process of registering the birth at the RTE and obtaining a Thai passport for the child.

Am I right in thinking that there is no need for her to get a British passport for the child at this stage? That as the father is British and the child was born in the UK and has a British birth certificate then the child is British and will be able to apply for a British passport at anytime in the future, even if the child has been living in another country?

The reason I am asking is that the father is a control freak, and is telling her that the child wont be British unless she marries him.

Thanks.

[the scouser]

Yes, that quite right.

Also, in the instance you cite, the child is not reliant upon the father for his/her qualification for British citizenship. As the mother has indefinite leave, that in itself would make the child British "otherwise than by descent".

Irrespective of where the child lives, s/he will be able to assert his/her claim to British citizenship at any point, whether now or at any time in the future. However, I'd do it sooner rather than later, as the child doesn't want to face the prospect of trying to convince the British embassy in Bangkok in, for example, 30 years' time that s/he really is British.

Scouse.

PS. Also, the child's future children, if born in Thailand, will be British "by descent".

[GU22]

I was 99% sure that the child was British due to the father, but I didn't know that she (it's a girl) was British anyway as her mother has ILR.

That's great news as our friend can get away from the father sooner rather than later.

Thanks, I owe you several.

[Eff1n2ret]

Am I right in thinking that there is no need for her to get a British passport for the child at this stage? That as the father is British and the child was born in the UK and has a British birth certificate then the child is British and will be able to apply for a British passport at anytime in the future, even if the child has been living in another country?

Thanks.

One thing she could do is get a Certificate of Entitlement put in the Thai passport, which is relatively cheap and would establish the child's right to enter the UK without further argument.