Adoption by British Citizen in Thailand

[grankboy]

Hello,

I'm asking this question on behalf of a friend.

They adopted a Thai child some years ago British father and a Thai mother unfortunately the father died a few years after and they never applied for her British citizenship, would she qualify to be British by her adopted father it was done in a Thai court in Bangkok. Any feedback would be great.

Thanks

[scorecard]

Suggest you get some real legal advice or approach the embassy direct for a specific and correct answer.

On TV and all similar forums you will get lots of opinion, nothing more than opinion but often written as though it's an actual regulation etc.

Also lots of comments on what people would like the answer to be (personal nice to have answer) but not necessarily the actual correct / legal answer.

[Bantex]

You don't state what your friends circumstances are these will have a direct bearing on any outcome.

[grankboy]

The father was a British citizen by birth and was living in Thailand when they adopted the Thai girl, he sadly passed away 3 years after the adoption, our friend is a Thai lady who is still living in Thailand. Never been to England.

[grankboy]

What other information do you need to know ?

[SantiSuk]

If adopted in the UK with the involvement of a British adoption society or local authority then it is highly likely she is a British Citizen, can have a British passport and can settle in the UK without going through the normal settlement rigmarole.

If adopted only using a Thai procedure, whereby the British father got a legal opinion that he was no longer resident in the UK (there's specific types of residence and the type that is germane has changed a bit over recent years) then it is highly likely that the child is not a full British Citizen and has to go through the same settlement process to settle in the UK as ordinary Thai citiens. Not sure what type of passport if any such child would get.

But that is based only on my own research done 3 years ago when my Thai wife and I looked briefly at adopting my wife's cousin. I know the analysis is accurate at that stage but not necessarily before or after that point in time. You have to get all the papers together and approach UK immigration (through the Embassy I suggest) to find out what the child's passsport, nationality and settlement rights are.

[mikebell]

I am considering adoption too. Would my adopted daughter enable me to claim UK Child Support along with my OAP?

[sunnyjim5]

I am considering adoption too. Would my adopted daughter enable me to claim UK Child Support along with my OAP?

No !

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/overview

All child adoptions in Thailand must be processed through the Child Adoption Center of the Department of Public Welfare, which is the sole governmental social welfare agency responsible for adoption of Thai children. Thai law (Adoption Act) stipulates strict requirements and procedures for adoption of children in Thailand. As an OAP you may/will have difficulty in meeting the requirements.

[Bantex]

I looked into this recently and I was informed by the Thai adoption centre in Bangkok that if I (UK Citizen by birth) and my Thai wife adopted a Thai child it could be a lengthy process as my background checks etc would have to be done in the UK by UK adoption centre, translated to Thai and forwarded to the Thai adoption centre as I then lived mainly in the UK. But that would be a formality. When I contacted the UK adoption staff and explained what was needed they told me that the child would also need to be adopted in the UK to have any legal standing as my child and be eligible for any UK benefits and they would only carry out the background checks when the child was in the UK, which is a load of nonsense.

If the child was born in Thailand and the father was a UK Citizen by birth then the child is entitled to a UK passport. Hopefully he was named as the father on the child's birth certificate. The fact the he is now deceased does not matter. The adopted mother however is not automatically entitled to UK passport because of the child's new status.

[grankboy]

Thanks for all the answers, yes the adopted father is on the new birth certificate issued in Thailand, so she can claim British citizenship @ Bantex

[7by7]

??????

Are you saying that after going through all the Thai adoption process the Thai authorities cancelled her original birth certificate and issued a new one naming her adopted father as her biological father?

That doesn't seem right.

What nationality is/was the biological father?

Read Intercountry adoption and British citizenship

You will see that if adopted under the Hague Convention the child will only be automatically British if the British adoptive parent was habitually resident in the UK at the time of the adoption order.

If the adoption was not under the terms of the Hague Convention or the British adoptive parent was not habitually resident in the UK at the time of the final adoption order then the child will need to apply for registration as British.

This is a complicated area, and I am no expert; but my gut feeling is that as the adoptive father lived in Thailand with the child and her mother, he died some time ago, child and mother have never been to England and she has no other ties to the UK other than her deceased adoptive father such an application is more likely to fail than succeed.

Edited March 13, 2016 by 7by7

[Bantex]

If the child was born in Thailand and the father was a UK Citizen by birth then the child is entitled to a UK passport. Hopefully he was named as the father on the child's birth certificate. The fact the he is now deceased does not matter. The adopted mother however is not automatically entitled to UK passport because of the child's new status.

Like I previously said if the father was a UK Citizen by birth and I asked if his name was on the birth certificate not the adoptive parents name on the birth certificate. The biological father also needed to have been born in the UK himself for the child to be a first generation decendent to be entitled to a UK passport..

For example, I was born in the UK and I have a son with my Thai wife and the son was born in Thailand, My son is entitled to a UK passport and got one.

If my son later marries a Thai woman and they in turn have a child who is born I Thailand, that child (my grandchild) is not automatically entitled to a UK passport as they would be second generation of a UK born Citizen.

[7by7]

Indeed, there are basically two types of British citizenship; British by descent and British otherwise than by descent.

British by descent means that you inherited your British citizenship from one or both of your parents; usually because you were born outside the UK or a qualifying territory.

British citizenship can only descend one generation, so if you are British by descent then your children will only be British if they qualify in their own right by being born in the UK or a qualifying territory; unless their other parent is British otherwise than by descent.

British otherwise than by descent means that you did not inherit your British citizenship but are British in your own right. Usually because you were born in the UK or a qualifying territory and at least one of your parents is British or was legally settled in the UK or the qualifying territory where you were born at the time of your birth, or by some other means such as naturalisation.

If you are British otherwise than by descent then your children will be British no matter where they are born and no matter the nationality of the other parent.

However, regardless of their status, prior to July 2006 British fathers could only pass on their British citizenship to their children if they were married to the mother.

All of which is irrelevant to grankboy's friend's daughter; unless her biological father was British otherwise than by descent and she or her mother have acceptable evidence that he was her natural father, e.g. he’s named on the birth certificate, and of his citizenship status, i.e. his long form birth certificate.

But, if I understand what he has written correctly, it is only the adoptive father who was British.

In which case, as per my post above, based upon what we have been told it is unlikely that the child is automatically British and as, if not more, unlikely that any application to register her as such would succeed.

But I would be more than happy to be proven wrong on that.

​

[bobrussell]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-how-adopted-children-can-become-british/intercountry-adoption-and-british-citizenship

The devil is in the detail!

Was it a UK court adoption? If so the child automatically becomes a British citizen.

Hague Convention adoption? If the British parent was habitually resident in the UK at the time of the final adoption order, automatically British citizen.

Other adoptions are very different and it states that the Home Secretary must be satisfied that the adoption is not one of convenience arranged to facilitate the child's admission to the United Kingdom.

It all depends!