Registering children as British citizens: caseworker guidance
Immigration staff guidance on the registration of a minor as a British citizen by entitlement and discretion.
- From:
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- Published
- 27 July 2017
- Last updated
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7
14AugustOctober20252024— See all updates
Documents
Registration as British citizen: children
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Details
UK Visas and Immigration guidance for staff on how to consider registration of minors by entitlement and discretion.
This guidance covers:
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children born in the UK
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children born outside the UK
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discretionary applications under section 3(1)
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children of unmarried British citizen or settled fathers
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parental arrangements
Updates to this page
Last updated 7
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Updated to reflect that children adopted by British parents can be registered under section 3(1) if they would have met the criteria to be registered under section 3(2) or section 3(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 had they been the adoptive parents’ natural born children.
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Update history
2025-08-11 14:54
Updated the guidance to clarify who is the parent of a child.
2025-08-07 11:33
Updated to reflect that children adopted by British parents can be registered under section 3(1) if they would have met the criteria to be registered under section 3(2) or section 3(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 had they been the adoptive parents’ natural born children.
2024-10-14 14:21
Guidance updated to re-order scenarios where we might normally register under section 3(1). The section on registering outside of the usual criteria has also been revised, and a new section added on children who were previously recognised as British citizens in error.
2024-07-24 12:00
The section on the ‘citizenship ban’ has been removed to reflect the Illegal Migration Act 2023 (Amendment) Regulations 2024.
2023-08-24 10:52
Added information about section 4D of the British Nationality Act.
2023-07-25 15:43
Accessible version added.
2023-07-21 15:40
Updated to reflect changes made by the Illegal Migration Act 2023. Clarified that a parent will be considered settled for the purposes of a child’s application under section 1(3) where they are ordinarily resident and have acquired a Withdrawal Agreement right to reside permanently on the basis of qualifying activity for the relevant period.
2023-06-07 14:44
Clarification on page 7 that registration under Section 3(2) would give British citizenship by descent. This is an exception to other registration entitlement provisions which give British citizenship otherwise than by descent.
2022-12-08 14:40
‘The Hague Convention on inter country adoption’ hyperlink amended under section ‘Overseas adoptions recognised by UK law’.
2022-09-20 13:39
Amendments to the guidance on provisions for children born to a parent registered under section 4C, 4G, 4H, 4I or 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981.
2022-07-19 17:00
Updated the ‘Registration as a British citizen: children’ document.
2022-06-28 00:15
The section on children of unmarried British or settled fathers has been amended to take into account changes made by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022. Following commencement of that act, a child whose mother was married to someone else at the time of the birth can apply under section 4G of the British Nationality Act 1981.