Automatic acquisition of British citizenship for children born to an EEA parent on or after 1st July 2021

As of 1^st July 2021, the legislation has changed regarding the ability for a child born in the United Kingdom to acquire British citizenship after the grace period ended on 30^th June 2021.

This article may be relevant to children you are responsible for or those you may come into contact with.

The British Nationality Act 1981 (Immigration Rules Appendix EU) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 amended the British Nationality Act 1981 to enable certain children born in the United Kingdom after the grace period to acquire British citizenship automatically without making an application and they can apply directly for a British citizen passport if they wish to.

The requirements are set out below:

1. The child was born to an EEA parent on or after 1^st July 2021;
2. EEA parent was ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom;
3. EEA parent was granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) after the child’s birth;
4. One of the two scenarios below applies to the parent:
   1. Submitted a settled status application to the EUSS by 30^th June 2021 but the decision was still pending at the point the child is born in the United Kingdom; or
   2. Applied for settled status under EUSS after 30^th June 2021 and the application is accepted on the basis of having reasonable grounds for missing the deadline. The parent would then need to prove that s/he could have met the requirements by 30^th June 2021 had the reasonable grounds for delay not intervened

The child will become British automatically from the date on which the parent is granted settled status under the EUSS.

For more details, please kindly refer to:

https://www.gov.uk/check-british-citizenship/born-in-the-uk-from-1-july-2021-onwards

Should you have any questions relating to the automatic acquisition of British citizenship for a child born on or after 1^st July 2021 in the United Kingdom, please contact our expert team of London immigration lawyers at Barar and Associates at barar.london@bararassociates.co.uk or call us on 020 7487 8370. You can access more information about us via https://bararassociates.com/.