UK Citizenship for Thai/UK Child

[Tippaporn]

I've asked elsewhere on TV whether it would be possible for a Thai mother to apply for UK citizenship for her 2-1/2 year old daughter since the father is unwilling to either register her birth with the UK authorities or apply for her UK passport. She has a bona fide birth certificate from a hospital and has a copy of the father's passport. They have not been and are currently not married.

I received this reply:

You don't have to "apply" for British Citizenship for your child. She is already British because her father is British, and I assume he is named as her father on the birth certificate.

If her birth is legally registered with the Thai authorities, that registration is acceptable for the UK, and she could use it to apply for a British passport. You could also register her with the UK authorities, but you don't need to and I think it costs a few hundred pounds if you do.

There is some information on this page:-

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

If you need more information about applying for a British passport, you would be better off posting your question on the 'Visas and Immigration to other countries' forum, there are one or two people there who know what they are talking about

I've tested her daughter's potential qualification as a British citizen by answering the questions to "Check if you're a British citiizen." Her father would be categorised as a British citizen 'not by descent.' By all indications it would seem that she would be eligible to apply for a UK passport. Would I be correct to say that if she holds a UK passport then she would be a UK citizen as well.

I'm not clear on whether or not it would be advantageous for the daughter to be registered with the UK authorities. This from UK.gov:

You don’t need to register with the UK authorities but it means:

• the birth will be recorded with the General Register Offices or at the National Records Office of Scotland
• you can order a consular birth registration certificate

If someone can explain the worthwhileness of registering with the UK then I would be willing to press the father to do so. Again from UK.gov, the long version of his birth certificate is required so this is something that cannot be done without his participation.

Cheers,

Tip

[MaprangHolmes]

As you say you need the long bit certificate but you do not need the Father to apply for it, you can do it yourself if you know these details. list below. When you daughter receives her UK passport she will indeed become a UK citizen. The really is know need to register your daughter it is not cheap and in reality a total waste of money.

For births you need to provide

• full name and surname at birth of the person whose certificate is required
• date and place of birth – name of hospital (if known) and town or village
• names and surnames of their parents, including the mother’s maiden name if known

[7by7]

As Eff1n2ret said in your other topic, there are no real advantages to registering the birth with the UK authorities; unless you like giving HMG money!

As long as the father is British otherwise than by descent, the mother can prove it with his long form birth certificate, and he is named on the child's birth certificate, then the child is British.

Although if the mother was married to someone else at the time of the birth this may complicate things!

As MaprangHolmes says above, you can apply for a copy of the father's long form birth certificate.

See here if the father was born in England or Wales; follow the links from that page if he was born in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

You will need the details MH lists in his post; so the father's cooperation will probably be required.

Once you have all the documentation, see here for how to apply for the child's first British passport.

BTW, obtaining a British passport doesn't make the child British. One can't get a British passport unless one is British!

But it can, of course, be used as proof of one's British nationality.

Edited May 6, 2015 by 7by7

[Richard W]

Pedantically, it is not true that the holder of a British passport to hold a British citizen, but in this case the answer would be 'yes'. The broad type of British nationality of the holder is recorded visibly in the passport. Narrow details, such as transmissibility and revocability, are not recorded, and indeed may not be known to the government.