# Baby born in UK



## LK2012 (Sep 13, 2012)

Hi There,

I tried to look through the previous forum posts to get some advice on our situation, but I seem to get conflicting information. My husband and I are both South African citizens - he is currently on a Tier 2 visa of which I’m a dependent. We qualify for ILR in July 2013. We had a baby who was born in the UK during June 2012 and are considering visiting South Africa during December 2012 for a wedding. I’m aware that our baby doesn’t automatically qualify for UK citizenship so we would need to get her a dependent visa on my husband’s work permit (now Tier 2). I was just wondering how long this process will take if we do it via the mail as I noticed it would cost around £500 whereas the in-person appointment would cost around £800. 

Also if we decide not to travel to South Africa in December for this wedding, would our baby still need a dependent visa if we do not leave the country before we qualify for ILR in July 2013. :confused2: This could save some costs then we could all apply for ILR at the same time without having to incur the additional costs for our baby’s dependent visa.

Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

LK2012 said:


> Hi There,
> 
> I tried to look through the previous forum posts to get some advice on our situation, but I seem to get conflicting information. My husband and I are both South African citizens - he is currently on a Tier 2 visa of which I’m a dependent. We qualify for ILR in July 2013. We had a baby who was born in the UK during June 2012 and are considering visiting South Africa during December 2012 for a wedding. I’m aware that our baby doesn’t automatically qualify for UK citizenship so we would need to get her a dependent visa on my husband’s work permit (now Tier 2). I was just wondering how long this process will take if we do it via the mail as I noticed it would cost around £500 whereas the in-person appointment would cost around £800.


Currently such application is taking 6-9 months by post. Even at £867, I strongly urge you to go for same-day premium service.



> Also if we decide not to travel to South Africa in December for this wedding, would our baby still need a dependent visa if we do not leave the country before we qualify for ILR in July 2013. :confused2: This could save some costs then we could all apply for ILR at the same time without having to incur the additional costs for our baby’s dependent visa.


Once you become settled (after successfully applying for ILR), your child can be registered as British citizen under Section 1(3) of British Nationality Act 1981. 

_Section 1(3)
A child born in the UK whose parents are not British citizens and were not settled in the UK will have an entitlement to register when their parents become settled in the UK or become British citizens._

You apply on form MN1, and there is no application fee.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/form_mn1.pdf

Once you get her registration certificate (takes 3-4 months), you can apply for her British passport.


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## LK2012 (Sep 13, 2012)

Many thanks for your helpful response Joppa.  I would just like to clarify...So basically if we don't travel out of the UK before my husband and I successfully applied for our ILR during next year, we won't need a dependent visa for our baby and can then automatically apply for her British Citizenship once we have our ILR.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

LK2012 said:


> Many thanks for your helpful response Joppa.  I would just like to clarify...So basically if we don't travel out of the UK before my husband and I successfully applied for our ILR during next year, we won't need a dependent visa for our baby and can then automatically apply for her British Citizenship once we have our ILR.


Well, register for British citizenship as she is entitled to it (and not at the Home Office's discretion). And it costs nothing (other than her British passport at £46). You may like to apply for her SA passport if you intend to visit RSA at some stage. It only costs £35, but turnaround time is 4 months, so you may want to do this now before your ILR next year.
http://southafricahouseuk.com/passports/psprt_chpsprt.html


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## LK2012 (Sep 13, 2012)

That's great and we'll look into that - thanks again Joppa!


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## TrudyA (Apr 17, 2013)

Hi LK2012

I'm in the same boat as you were and would really like to know how you got on please. Baby due in September 2013, best friend getting married in Cape Town March 2014 and Indefinite leave to remain due in April 2014. If we attended the wedding I understand that we will have to get baby added as a dependant on my hubby's visa. What I'm not sure of is:

If we don't travel to SA until after our ILR comes through do we still need to get baby added as a dependant on our visa?

Thanks in advance


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## LK2012 (Sep 13, 2012)

Hi TrudyA

From what we gathered over the past few months, once both parents are on ILR your baby will automatically qualify for a British passport if he/she has been born in the UK. Therefore, you won’t need to add your baby as a dependent on your visa, unless you plan to travel out of the country after she/he has been born and you haven’t obtained your ILR yet.

So in our case, we ended up not travelling to the wedding or out of the country since our baby has been born. We now just have to wait to get our ILR in July and will thereafter apply for our baby’s British passport. I’m not sure how long this process will take but really hope not long since we desperately need an out-of-UK holiday


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## TrudyA (Apr 17, 2013)

Congratulations on the birth of your baby 

Thanks very much for sharing, that's very helpful. 

Hope the ILR and British passport for your baby is a speedy process so that you can get some sunshine soon ;-)

T


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## LK2012 (Sep 13, 2012)

TrudyA said:


> Congratulations on the birth of your baby
> 
> Thanks very much for sharing, that's very helpful.
> 
> ...


Many thanks TrudyA Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and best wishes for your ILR process.


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## mefoster (Apr 19, 2013)

Joppa said:


> Once you become settled (after successfully applying for ILR), your child can be registered as British citizen under Section 1(3) of British Nationality Act 1981.
> 
> _Section 1(3)
> A child born in the UK whose parents are not British citizens and were not settled in the UK will have an entitlement to register when their parents become settled in the UK or become British citizens._
> ...


I hesitate to have my very first post on this forum contradicting someone as knowledgeable as Joppa, but: are you *really* sure that there's no fee? Because as far as I can see, it actually costs £673 (up from £551) for "Nationality Registration -- minor". _I can't post a link to the document since I'm new, but if you search Google for "UKBA fees 2013" it's the first hit._

My son was born in the UK two years ago and my husband now has ILR, so we're going to do this process very soon, so that's why I've been reading up on this and was surprised by your statement above.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Fees are now payable for registration of a child under section 1(3).


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## mefoster (Apr 19, 2013)

Joppa said:


> Fees are now payable for registration of a child under section 1(3).


I assume you mean "not" instead of now ... I'd love not to pay -- could you point me at the information where it says that on the UKBA website? I can't find it anywhere.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There are no fee-free exceptions for registration of a minor. 
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/applicationforms/nationality/guide_mn1.pdf Page 29 The Fee. 
"The fee must be sent with the application form. Details of the current fee are available on
our website at UK Border Agency | Home Page.
NB. If you do not send the correct fee, the application will be invalid."


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