British Citizenship by Birth

When a child is born, their nationality depends on both the place of birth and the immigration status of their parents at the time. The rules can also differ depending on what year the child was born.

Born before 1^st January 1983

If you were born in the UK before this date, you automatically become a British citizen by birth – unless your father worked for a non-UK country as a diplomat or you were born in the Channel Islands during WW2.

Born on or after 1^st January 1983

If you were born on or after this date, you automatically become a British citizen provided at least one of your parents is a UK national, has settled status or is a member of the armed forces at the time of birth.

UK citizenship is also automatically acquired by children who are adopted by a British national.

For those who were born in the United Kingdom but didn’t automatically obtain citizenship by birth, it’s possible to apply to ‘register’ as a British citizen. This will depend on both where you were born and the circumstances of your parents.

Provided you were born in the UK on or after 1^st January 1983, you may be eligible if either:

• You’re under the age of 18 and one of your parents has naturalised/acquired settled status since your birth
• You lived in the UK continually until you were 10 or older

If you were born in the UK before 1^st January 1983 you will have already acquired citizenship, therefore there’s no need to register as a British citizen.

As mentioned, for those born in the UK to non-British parents who hold settled status, there’s no need to register as they will acquire British nationality by birth as a result of their parent’s immigration status.

To make an application for British citizenship by birth for a child, you’ll need to use the Form MN1. The form is used specifically for the process of registering a child as a UK national in accordance with the eligibility criteria.

Please note this is a different form than the one used to naturalise as a British citizen, which is the Form AN.

Form MN1 can be submitted by anyone who is currently living in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or a British territory overseas.

When filling out the form, you’ll need to provide information pertaining to the child’s birth, nationality, parentage and criminal/immigration history. Section Five requires you to provide two referees to support the child’s application.

Both of the referees must be of a professional standing, and neither can be related in any way to the applicant. Both of the referees should state that they know the applicant personally, as well as stating why they believe the applicant should be granted citizenship.

Anyone looking to register as a British citizen who was born before 1983 will need to use the Form UKM instead.

It’s important to know that the British nationality law on British citizenship concerning children born outside the UK are notably different.

A child who is born abroad to at least one British parent will automatically acquire British citizenship.

This citizenship will be acquired via ‘British citizenship by descent’. This will mean the holder is offered all the same rights as a person born on in the UK to British parents, although they won’t automatically pass citizenship onto their children.

Considering this, a child born overseas to parents who are British citizens by descent will not acquire or hold British citizenship automatically. However, it is possible for children in this situation to ‘register’ to become a UK national.

You can make an application to register, providing the following:

• Both the child and the parent have been living continually in the UK for three years when the application is made
• The child and both parents haven’t been absent from the country for more than 270 days within that 3-year time period
• Both the applicants’ parents consent
• Children over the age of 10 are of ‘good character’

There are various documents you must provide if you wish to apply for a British passport for your child. Bear in mind the Home Office will only accept original copies of any documentation you provide. Photocopies are not accepted and failure to send original documents could jeopardise your entire application.

As well as the British passport application form, you must also provide the following:

• The child’s full birth or adoption certificate. If the name on the passport doesn’t match the name on your passport then you’re required to provide a signed letter confirming the name change, from any person with parental responsibility for the child.
• Any previous passports belonging to your child issued in a foreign country
• Evidence of the Child’s British nationality

Please not that if the documents aren’t in either English or Welsh, you’ll be required to provide official translations.

The immigration laws on this are notoriously complex. There is no single process pertaining to how a surrogate child can receive British citizenship. Therefore, the best route to take depends entirely on you and your child’s individual circumstances.

As with other children, the nationality of a surrogate child will depend on the nationality of their legal parents. With regards to nationality, the following applies:

• The surrogate mother is always classed as the mother
• If the surrogate mother is married, the husband of the mother is always the child’s father
• If the mother is not married, proof of paternity may be required

With all that taken into account, automatic citizenship is given to a child born in the UK to a British surrogate mother.

Additionally, if a child is born in the UK to a surrogate mother who is not a British citizen but is married to a UK national, then this will be the child’s legal father. This would mean the child is automatically granted British citizenship.