Can a child born in the UK obtain permanent residency? Child citizenship and the two paths of ILR compared

Register a minor child for British citizenship, now £1,000.

The Home Office fee table, effective April 8, 2026, reduced this item from £1,214 to £1,000, which is a rare reduction on the entire table. In the same table, the application for settlement (ILR) for dependents is £3,226 per person, with no discount for minor children and no family cap. These two figures together represent the most common dilemma faced by families with children born in the UK.

What license do parents have at the moment of birth?

The only criterion under section 1(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 is: on the day the child is born, the father or mother is a British citizen, or has settled status (permanent residency or other status without immigration time limits). If either condition is met, the child automatically acquires British citizenship at birth, without needing to submit any application, and can directly apply for a UK passport. If the parents were holding a limited-time permit such as Skilled Worker, student, or spouse visa, the child will not be a British citizen and will not gain permanent residency due to birthplace.

The UK birth certificate does not state the nationality; it is merely a birth registration and does not constitute a proof of nationality.

Parents obtained permanent residency after the child's birth, following paragraph 1(3): the child was born in the UK, and one of the parents later became a British citizen or obtained settled status. Before the age of 18, the child has the right to register for citizenship using form MN1. This is an entitlement, and the Home Office cannot arbitrarily refuse it if the conditions are met. However, it requires active application and payment of fees, and it does not automatically take effect with the parents' permanent residency approval. The only exception close to "automatic" is on the EU Settlement Scheme side: according to relevant regulations in 2021, in some cases, the parents' granted settled status after the child's birth can be considered as having been settled at the time of birth.

Should I apply for ILR first, or wait until the parents get permanent residency?

My judgment: For families where the child was born in the UK and the parents are currently applying for permanent residency, it is not necessary to specially apply for permanent residency with a fee of £3,226 just to "stabilize the status". It is more cost-effective and time-saving to save the budget and time for the registration after the parents' application is approved, which is also more thorough. Children under 18 years old do not need to take the Life in the UK test or the English language test when registering for citizenship.

There are two exceptions. First, if there is an unavoidable trip in the next year: the child does not have a valid dependent visa, and after leaving the country, he or she needs to re-apply for an entry visa to return to the UK, and overseas processing is usually slower than domestic processing, making it difficult to arrange family flights; such families should keep the child on a valid dependent visa for a period of time. Second, if the child is approaching 18 years old, but the parents' permanent residency timeline is still uncertain, the registration window will close upon the child's birthday. If you are unsure which category you fall into, you can pay £5 at justiscript.com to have a UK-qualified lawyer provide a written response within 24 hours regarding this issue.

The side of the parents has not been processed yet, and the child has his own ten-year path.

Article 1(4) does not consider the parents' status: children born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, who are over 10 years old, have spent no more than 90 days outside the UK during each of the first ten years of their life, and meet the good character requirements, can register using Form T, with a fee of £1,000. If the child is over 18 years old before the decision is made, an additional £130 citizenship ceremony fee applies.

Guide T (February 2026 edition) specifies the discretionary line beyond 90 days: absence of no more than 180 days in any one year, and a total of no more than 990 days over ten years, are usually exempted; if the absence exceeds these numbers but the reason is uncontrollable (such as serious illness), it may also be considered; if the parents are not aware of this requirement, or the absence is entirely voluntary, it is usually not exempted.

This step is easy to miss: for the past ten years, it's divided by the birthday year, from the birth date to the first birthday is considered the first year, not aggregated by calendar year. For families who plan to keep this as an option, they should keep the air tickets, boarding records and passport pages according to the birthday year since the child's birth. Every time they return home for a visit, they should keep it within 90 days, which is much easier than gathering evidence retrospectively ten years later.

Another boundary that is easy to confuse: children of parents without permanent residency may still meet the requirements of paragraph 1(4); conversely, parents obtaining permanent residency will not automatically complete the child's registration. The two paths are independently verified.

The last thing to mention, which would reduce the urgency mentioned above: children born in the UK with no documents at all remaining in the UK do not constitute illegal residence. Immigration Rules Part 8 paragraphs 305 to 308 are a channel for families wanting to regularize their status, not a requirement that each child must obtain a permit. The real time when the cost is paid is only on the day of departure. Therefore, this matter can be arranged calmly, just don't let it clash with an already booked ticket.

[Data source] GOV.UK "Home Office immigration and nationality fees, 8 April 2026"; Home Office "Registration as British citizen: children"; Home Office "Guide T" February 2026 edition (www.gov.uk is searchable).

This document is for reference only. For specific issues, please consult a licensed attorney.

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