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Pathway

British Citizenship Through a British Parent

United Kingdom Citizenship
Pathway overview

At a glance

UK Section 3(2) is a registration route for minor children of a British citizen by descent where the British parent has lived in the UK for the required period. It generally requires the child to be under 18, proof of the parent's British status, and evidence of the parent's UK residence.

Type
Citizenship by descent
Family line
People with a documented family line to the United Kingdom
Core records
Civil records linking each generation
What to know
Usually a strong right if the facts and records line up
What it gives
Registration gives British citizenship by descent.
Main limit
It is not a general grandparent route and it does not use the child's recent UK residence.

Summary

Section 3(2) gives a child born abroad an entitlement to register when a parent was British by descent at the child's birth, a qualifying grandparent was British otherwise than by descent, and the parent completed the required residence before the birth. The application must be made while the child is under 18.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The British-by-descent parent must have lived in the UK for a continuous three-year period ending before the child's birth, with no more than 270 days outside the UK in that period. The qualifying grandparent must have been, or but for death would have been, British otherwise than by descent when the parent was born or on 1 January 1983 under the transitional wording. For a child born on or after 21 May 2002, residence in a qualifying British overseas territory can count.

The child must be under 18 and, from age 10, satisfy the good-character requirement. A narrow statutory exception removes the parent's residence requirement where the child is and always has been stateless.

What This Route Allows

Registration gives British citizenship by descent. The child can live and work in the UK and obtain a passport, but usually cannot automatically pass citizenship to their own child born abroad. There is no visa, renewal or settlement stage.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a general grandparent route and it does not use the child's recent UK residence. Section 3(5), which gives citizenship otherwise than by descent, may be preferable where the child and family have completed three years in the UK immediately before applying.

Next Steps

  1. Prove the child-parent-grandparent chain with full civil records.
  2. Establish the parent's by-descent status and the grandparent's otherwise-than-by-descent status.
  3. Document one continuous qualifying three-year period before the birth with passports, travel records, school, employment, tax or tenancy evidence.
  4. Count every absence before submitting Form MN1 and check the current £1,000 child fee or fee-waiver rules.
Compare your options

Other routes in United Kingdom.

Sources