Naturalised british citizen

[Rocadownunder]

I am a naturalised British Citizen being born in another EU country and having lived in the UK since I was 3 years old.

I have a daughter born in Australia to an Australian mother.

Does my daughter have a right to British citizenship or does she need to apply for naturalisation if and when she has lived in the UK for the required period of time?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Rocadownunder

I am a naturalised British Citizen being born in another EU country and having lived in the UK since I was 3 years old.

I have a daughter born in Australia to an Australian mother.

Does my daughter have a right to British citizenship or does she need to apply for naturalisation if and when she has lived in the UK for the required period of time?

Read this as there are several factors to be taken into consideration as to whether your daughter qualifies for British Citizenship

UK Border Agency | If you were born outside the United Kingdom or a qualifying territory

Most important elements are when your daughter was born and whether or not you were married to the mother. By the sounds of it you were not.

[Rocadownunder]

Thanks Crawford.
Daughter was born 2003 and yes we were married at the time of her birth.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Rocadownunder

Thanks Crawford.
Daughter was born 2003 and yes we were married at the time of her birth.

From the way I read it your daughter is eligible for British citizenship and could obtain a British passport.

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by Rocadownunder

I am a naturalised British Citizen being born in another EU country and having lived in the UK since I was 3 years old.

I have a daughter born in Australia to an Australian mother.

Does my daughter have a right to British citizenship or does she need to apply for naturalisation if and when she has lived in the UK for the required period of time?

Welcome to the forum.
Let me establish a few facts first.
When were you naturalised? How old were you? What was your nationality at birth? On what basis were you naturalised - at the same time as your parents? How old is your daughter?
Your answers will determine whether your daughter is British or not. Information you have given so far isn't conclusive.

[Rocadownunder]

Hi Joppa
Thanks for the reply - much appreciated. To answer your questions:

When were you naturalised: I was naturalised in 1980.

What was your nationality at birth?: Spanish

On what basis?: Not sure what you are asking me here? My parents have never naturalised themselves. My father is deceased and my mother is resident in the UK and still on Spanish passport.

How old is your daughter?: 9 in July, born 2003

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by Rocadownunder

Hi Joppa
Thanks for the reply - much appreciated. To answer your questions:

When were you naturalised: I was naturalised in 1980.

What was your nationality at birth?: Spanish

On what basis?: Not sure what you are asking me here? My parents have never naturalised themselves. My father is deceased and my mother is resident in the UK and still on Spanish passport.

How old is your daughter?: 9 in July, born 2003

So you were naturalised as an adult having lived in UK for 5+ years? Then you are indeed British citizen otherwise than by descent. Your marriage to your daughter's mother is important (either at the time of her birth or subsequently), as only those born of British citizen father abroad since 2006 are British from birth. Parents prior to that had to be married. (They had this rule to prevent British men fathering lots of illegitimate children who could then claim British citizenship; but it was considered discriminatory for men and the government realised there would only be few cases of abuse).
So just apply for your daughter's passport through the High Commission. She is British citizen by descent and can't hand down nationality to any children born outside UK. But if she lives in UK for 3 years prior to having them, any children born abroad can be registered as British - a fairly simple administrative procedure that costs nothing and takes about 3 months, but rules can of course change.

She may even be triple British/Australian/Spanish national if you have retained your Spanish nationality, but there is no advantage in having a Spanish passport as UK one will do just as nicely in Europe. Spain is a kind of funny about muti-nationals. While they don't stop people getting or having other nationalities, only Spanish citizenship is recognised within Spain. This isn't the case in UK.

[Rocadownunder]

Hi Joppa
Thanks yet again for your reply - much appreciated.
I was naturalised when I was 22 years old having lived in the UK since I was 3 years old.

We have just this past weekend applied for UK visas for my Australian wife and step daughter and my daughter (born here in Oz). Biometrics are booked in for all of them this coming Tuesday in Perth.

So the $100 question is should I now wait until they (hopefully) approve the UK visas and then apply for a UK passport for my daughter? - I don't want to muddy the waters.
I suppose I could apply for this when we are all hopefully back over there.

Yes - I think I still have my Spanish nationality intact - I never told them officially when I became a naturalised British Citizen. This occurred in the days when Spain was not a member of the EU.

Cheers

[Joppa]

Originally Posted by Rocadownunder

Hi Joppa
Thanks yet again for your reply - much appreciated.
I was naturalised when I was 22 years old having lived in the UK since I was 3 years old.

We have just this past weekend applied for UK visas for my Australian wife and step daughter and my daughter (born here in Oz). Biometrics are booked in for all of them this coming Tuesday in Perth.

So the $100 question is should I now wait until they (hopefully) approve the UK visas and then apply for a UK passport for my daughter? - I don't want to muddy the waters.
I suppose I could apply for this when we are all hopefully back over there.

Yes - I think I still have my Spanish nationality intact - I never told them officially when I became a naturalised British Citizen. This occurred in the days when Spain was not a member of the EU.

Cheers

You don't need a visa for your Australian-born daughter as she is a British citizen. As you haven't yet given biometrics, I think you can withdraw your application, get full refund on fees and re-apply just for your wife and stepdaughter (do check first). This will save you some significant fees. If you leave the application as it is, UKBA will probably realise from the information given that your daughter is British from birth and doesn't require a visa (indeed they aren't allowed to issue a visa to British citizen), but you won't get any refund on her fees.
Meanwhile apply for your daughter's passport. They say it can take more than 6 weeks but someone recently got her child's first passport in about 3 weeks. Download C1 form on High Commission site.

[Rocadownunder]

Thanks Joppa
I will call the help line here tomorrow and check / seek advise.
Then if necessary apply for a UK passport in parallel
We don't intend leaving Oz until November due to the step daughters Uni exams.
The visas should take 8-12 weeks which might not leave time for a UK passport application were they to not issue a UK visa for my (British) daughter as you say above.