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Q: Nationality of baby born in UK by an illigal Thai mother. ( Answered,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Nationality of baby born in UK by an illigal Thai mother.
Category: Family and Home
Asked by: fieval-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 15 Feb 2006 09:51 PST
Expires: 17 Mar 2006 09:51 PST
Question ID: 446187
Does a baby born in England with an unmarried illegal immigrant Thai
mother, and a british father have British Citizenship, and does the
birth of the baby effect the residency status of the mother?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Nationality of baby born in UK by an illigal Thai mother.
Answered By: politicalguru-ga on 15 Feb 2006 13:12 PST
 
Dear Fieval, 

First of all, you have to understand that the answer given here is not
the advice of an immigration lawyer, whose advice you may want to
seek.

A baby born to a British father in the UK is entitled to British
citizenship, if the parents are married. In some cases, when the
parents are not married, the child would be still considered a British
citizen. However, this is left to the discretion of the IND. Since the
mother was not legally settled in the UK, the child will not have
entitlement to citizenship through her.

See:
BN11 - Registration of children as British citizens
<http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/applying/british_nationality/advice_about_nationality/bn11_-_british_citizenship.html>

Regarding the mother, she can apply for a leave to remain through the child. 

"If neither parent is a British citizen or legally settled here, the
child will not be a British citizen at birth. So, if a married couple
have only been allowed into this country temporarily, for example, as
visitors or students, or to work, and they are still limited as to how
long they can stay, or if they are staying on without permission,
their child will not be a British citizen at birth. Nor will their
child be a British citizen if they have entered the country illegally
(for example, without being examined by an immigration officer or
otherwise in breach of the immigration laws) and they have not been
given permission to stay here indefinitely. If the parents want to
stay in the United Kingdom, we recommend that they apply to the
Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office for
themselves and their child to be given leave to remain. The address
is:

Immigration and Nationality Directorate
Croydon Public Caller Unit
Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY

You should send your and your child's passport, with his or her birth
certificate, and quote any Home Office reference number. Any
application for leave to remain should be made on an application form.
You can get these forms from the Application Forms Unit at the
Immigration and Nationality Directorate or from this website. The
telephone number of the Application Forms Unit is 0870 241 0645.
Normally, where a child is granted leave to remain, the conditions of
the child's leave will be in line with his or her parent(s).

Rights to registration as a British citizen

18. If a child does not become a British citizen at birth, he or she
may be entitled to registration as a British citizen later. This will
happen if either parent becomes a British citizen or legally settles
here before the child is 18; or if the child stays here until age 10.
If the child is not entitled to registration, the Home Secretary may
decide to allow registration. There are more details in leaflet BN11
which you can get from the address in paragraph 19."
(SOURCE:  " 	BN9 - Citizenship of children who were born in the United
Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983
I am here: Home > Applying > British Nationality > Advice about
Nationality > BN9 - Citizenship of children who were born in the
United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983

British Nationality Act 1981

The Nationality Act provides three citizenships

1. Before 1 January 1983, almost every child born in the United
Kingdom (see Note 1) was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
The only exceptions were children who were born to certain people
holding diplomatic or consular status. Under the British Nationality
Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983, citizenship of the
United Kingdom and Colonies was replaced by three new citizenships:
British citizenship, British Dependent Territories citizenship (see
Note 2) and British Overseas citizenship.

2. A child who was born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January
1983 will be a British citizen if either the father (see Note 3) or
the mother is a British citizen. A child who was born in the United
Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983 will also be a British citizen if
either the father or mother, although not a British citizen, is
legally settled (see paragraph 9) in the United Kingdom. In any other
circumstances, a child who was born in the United Kingdom on or after
1 January 1983 will not be a British citizen.

3. A child who was born in a qualifying territory (see Note 4) on or
after 21 May 2002 will also be a British citizen if the father (see
Note 3) or mother was a British citizen or legally settled either in
the United Kingdom or that territory.

Children who are born to British citizens

4. If either parent is a British citizen, a child who was born in the
United Kingdom will also be a British citizen. It does not matter how
the parent became a British citizen.

Who are British citizens?

People born in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983

5. Anyone born in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983 is a
British citizen (unless born to certain people holding diplomatic or
consular status).

People born outside the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983

6. People born outside the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983 will
have become British citizens if, immediately before 1 January 1983,
they were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and had the
right of abode (but see Note 5) in the United Kingdom. They could have
got citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies through descent
from a father who was such a citizen, or by having been naturalised or
registered as such citizens. They could have the right of abode if:

a. they were adopted, naturalised or registered (see Note 6) as
citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies in the United Kingdom;
b. they were legally settled in the United Kingdom and ordinarily
resident there for five years; or

c. when they were born, they had a parent who was a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies, and the parent was a citizen because he
or she was born, adopted, naturalised or registered (see Note 6) in
the United Kingdom, or because a grandparent was.

People born outside the United Kingdom on or after 1 January 1983

7. In some cases, people born outside the United Kingdom on or after 1
January 1983 may also have become British citizens. Further
information about this is contained in leaflet BN4, which you can get
on our website or from the address in paragraph 19.

How to tell whether you are a British citizen

8. A person born in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983 will
almost certainly be a British citizen. A person born overseas will
almost certainly have a passport. Passports are not conclusive
evidence of nationality but a passport is normally accepted for
official purposes as evidence of the holder's nationality at the time
the passport was issued. A person who has a British passport that was
issued before 1 January 1983, which describes the holder as a citizen
of the United Kingdom and Colonies on page 1, will almost certainly
have become a British citizen on 1 January 1983, as long as page 5 of
the passport says 'Holder has the right of abode in the United
Kingdom' (but see Note 5). British passports issued on or after 1
January 1983 will say whether the holders are British citizens.

Children born to people who are not British citizens but who are
legally settled here

9. If neither parent is a British citizen, a child born here on or
after 1 January 1983 will still be a British citizen if either the
father or mother is legally settled. 'Settled' means ordinarily
resident (see paragraph 16) in the United Kingdom without being
limited under the immigration laws as to how long the person can stay
here. For this purpose, a person cannot be ordinarily resident if he
or she is in breach of the immigration laws. We do not consider
certain members of diplomatic or consular missions, or members of
visiting forces or international organisations as being settled here,
even if immigration control does not apply to them.

Children born to people who are European Economic Area (EEA) nationals

10. Special consideration applies where a child's parents are EEA
nationals who are exercising Treaty rights under European Community
(EC) law.

11. A child who was born in the United Kingdom on or after 1 January
1983 but before 2 October 2000 will be a British citizen if, at the
time, either parent was an EEA national who was exercising Treaty
rights. This is because the parent's stay is regarded as having been
free of a time limit under the immigration laws.

12. Since 2 October 2000, EEA nationals who have a conditional right
of residence in the United Kingdom (such as workers and business
people) are not regarded as free of a time limit under the immigration
laws. They are not regarded as settled in the United Kingdom until
they obtain indefinite leave to remain. A child of such parents born
here on or after 2 October will not be a British citizen unless one of
the parents has first been given indefinite leave to remain. However,
a child born here from 2 October 2000 will be able to register as a
British citizen if a parent later gets indefinite leave to remain.
There are more details about registration in leaflet BN11 which you
can get from the address in paragraph 19 or from this website.

13. Children born in the United Kingdom on or after 2 October 2000 to
EEA nationals who have an unconditional right of residence under EC
law (such as retired people and people unable to work because of
incapacity) will be British citizens.

Children born to family members of EEA nationals

14. The family members of EEA nationals exercising Treaty rights may
have been settled in their own right when any children were born to
them in the United Kingdom. If not, their position will depend upon
whether the EEA national exercising Treaty rights could be regarded as
settled at the time of the child's birth. Only if the EEA national
exercising Treaty rights was settled would the child be a British
citizen.

Swiss nationals

15. Since 1 June 2002, Swiss nationals and their family members have
enjoyed similar residence rights to EEA nationals. They are not
normally regarded as having been free of immigration time restrictions
before that date unless they had indefinite leave to enter or remain
in the United Kingdom. From 1 June 2002, they are regarded as being
free of immigration time restrictions in the circumstances described
above.

Ordinary residence

16. Whether a person is ordinarily resident or not depends on the
facts of the case. A person who is not limited under the immigration
laws to any restriction on the period for which he or she may remain
is probably ordinarily resident if he or she:

a. has been living in the United Kingdom for a number of years,
without being absent, except for short holidays; and

b. is in the United Kingdom legally (without being in breach of the
immigration laws).

Long periods of absence from the United Kingdom (for more than a year,
for example) may mean that a person is not ordinarily resident.
Shorter periods of absence may also, in some circumstances, mean that
a person is no longer ordinarily resident (for example, if he or she
left the United Kingdom intending to live abroad permanently).

Children born to people who are not British citizens and are not
legally settled here",
<http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/applying/british_nationality/advice_about_nationality/bn9_-_citizenship.html?>).

As a side note (and I hope I am not sticking my nose where it doesn't
belong), this whole mess could have been avoided if the father was
married to the mother at the time of birth:
- The mother could get a legal permit due to the marriage; 
- The child would become a British citizen. 

I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer before you rate it. My search terms were:
[british citizenship illegal mother]
Comments  
Subject: Re: Nationality of baby born in UK by an illigal Thai mother.
From: answerfinder-ga on 15 Feb 2006 23:57 PST
 
You may be interested in this news item.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/3786083.stm
Subject: Re: Nationality of baby born in UK by an illigal Thai mother.
From: valbyrne-ga on 16 Feb 2006 11:18 PST
 
In the US, a baby born within the national boundaries to a non-citizen
mother (regardless of paternal status) is a citizen.  Because a
citizen cannot be deported like illegal immigrants, the mother is
almost always allowed to stay.

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