A child born to any person in the UK is expected to be registered in the same way as any other child and this must be done within 42 days of the child’s birth in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and within 21 days in Scotland.[1] A child born to a refugee who is settled can be registered as a British citizen. If the child is born during the five years limited leave as a refugee, they will be granted ‘leave in line’ to expire on the same date as the parent, and can be included in a subsequent application for settlement.
A child born stateless in the UK who has lived in the UK for at least five years and who has always been stateless may register as a British citizen up to and including the age of 21.[2] The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 introduced additional requirements for stateless children aged five to 17 years. These are that the Home Secretary must be “satisfied” that the child cannot acquire another nationality. A child will be considered to be able to acquire another nationality if it is the same as one of their parents and they have been entitled to acquire the nationality since birth and it is reasonable to expect steps to be taken for them to acquire that nationality.[3]
Beneficiaries are subject to the same rules as UK or EEA nationals if they wish to marry in a register office; notice of the intention to marry must be given at a designated register office.[4] This also applies to non-EEA nationals who wish to marry in a religious ceremony.
The only difficulties, if both parties are in the UK, would arise if one of the parties did not have a Biometric Residence Permit or who didn’t have documentary evidence of a previous divorce, for example.
[1] Government website – applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, available here. For Scotland, available here.
[2] British Nationality Act 1981, sch 2, para 3(1).
[3] British Nationality Act 1981, sch 2, para 3A.
[4] A list of designated register offices in England and Wales is available here and for Scotland here.