MissMagdalen

Hello.
I am struggling to find a solution to this problem.
I am British citizen by descent. I was born in Oman and got British citizenship through my mother. I only lived in the UK a few years in my childhood.
My boyfriend was born in Belgium from American parents, but he never even lived in the US. He also is American only by descent.
We live in France, but because of my job I am required to go to Japan in July, but by then I will be too advanced in my pregnancy to be able to fly back. I have to either give up the job, or remain there till after delivery. I chose to stay in Japan to carry on the pregnancy safely.
My work is arranging all the medical care for me to have the baby delivered in Japan, but I just realised my child will not have any citizenship.
My boyfriend and me are not able to pass him out citizenship, because for both of us is only through descent, and we never lived in the countries of our passports, except for a few years in the UK when I was 2 to 6 years old.
But Japan operates a strict Jus Sanguinis, so my child will not be able to get Japanese citizenship.
We are only residents of France since 2 years, so that’s not enough for our case either.
I am really worried.
What options do I have?
Will my child be stateless?
In that case, how does it work? How will he be able to even travel back to France when it’s time to go back home?
Thank you to all those who will read my post.

christmasoompa

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

I've moved your thread to our Moving Back to the UK forum, I'm not really sure of the right place for it but I'm hoping that our resident citizenship guru, BritinParis, will see your thread and be able to help.

Good luck.

Pulaski

Does your boyfriend have any recent European ancestry, for example Irish, Italian, Hungarian or Polish, as those countries all have possibilities of citizenship for descents of emigrants .... though whether that would extend to your child is entirely another question.

I think the UK has a possibility of registering a child as a citizen to avoid them becoming stateless, but if anyone here knows it will be BiP.

BritInParis

You mentioned receiving British citizenship through your mother. Was your mother born in the UK? Where was your father born? Were your parents married when you born? Were either of your parents or any of your grandparents born on the island of Ireland? Were both your boyfriend's parents born in the US? Were any of your boyfriend's grandparents born outside the US? If so, where?

MissMagdalen

My mother was born in the UK, my father in France.
Yes my parents were married when I was born but divorced now.
Nobody was born in Ireland in my family.
My boyfriend parents were also English the mother and French the father, coincidentally like mine. But they had naturalisation of US. But they were already living in Europe again when he was born.
His grandparents are English and French.

WEBlue

Did your boyfriend's USC parents live for 5 years or more as adults in the United States? And is there proof of these years of residence there? If so, I believe one of them (even if deceased) can possibly transmit US citizenship to his child.

https://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ug...-a-grandparent

We have a thread going on this route to USC on the US immigration board of BE:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/us-im...cently-853150/

BritInParis

If you spent three consecutive years living in the UK then your child will be entitled to British citizenship by registration under Section 3(2). The disadvantage of this is that their status will be fixed as a British citizen by descent and they will not be able to use the same procedure if their own children are born outside the UK.

If you plan to live in the UK as a family for at least three consecutive years as some point before your child turns 18 then it would be advantageous to wait and register them then under Section 3(5) as this will bestow British citizenship otherwise than by descent meaning your child's children will be automatically entitled to British citizenship regardless of their place of birth. If you get to the stage when this won't happen, i.e. your child has turned 15, then you can still register them as a British citizen under S.3(2). Please note that both these options expire once your child turns 18.

Your and/or your boyfriend's French citizenship can be passed to your child providing you were recognised as French citizens whilst you were minors. This may be preferable for the time being if you will be returning to France and you wish to keep the S.3(5) registration option open.

https://jp.ambafrance.org/Naissance-...ncais-au-Japon

Your boyfriend only needs to have been physically present in the US for one continuous year in order for your child to be a US citizen. If your boyfriend has never lived in the US at all then he won't be able to pass on his US citizenship. There is an option for your child to be naturalised depending on how long your boyfriend's parents resided in the US.

Pulaski

I thought that was "five years, two of them after the age of fourteen", or is there some reason why it is only "one continuous year"?

MissMagdalen

If we do wait and do this registration under section3(5), what happens in the meantime?
I don’t think either of us has French citizenship.
Unfortunately I’m not even in contact with my father anymore or his family.
And my boyfriend never lived in the US.

I am interested in my child getting proper citizenship, rather than by descent, but for example how can he travel in the meantime if he can’t even get a passport?

BritInParis

That requirement only applied to unmarried fathers whereas unmarried mothers only required one year of continuous residence at any time. The gender bias was deemed unconstitutional in June by the Supreme Court although the law has yet to be changed to recognise the decision.

BritInParis

Citizenship by descent is 'proper' citizenship - it only affects the ability to pass on that citizenship to children born abroad under a system of jus soli nationality law. British citizenship otherwise than by descent is preferable for this reason only.

You should clarify with your parents whether either of you were ever registered with the French authorities. Your mother may remember if you were even if you are no longer in contact with your father. If neither of you were then the only practical option will be S.3(2) registration unless your child qualifies for US citizenship under the route WEBlue has outlined. If that is the case then you should start gathering the evidence that you were resident in the UK for the years you state as this may be very difficult given how young you were.

MissMagdalen

We actually qualify for this! I didn’t know this was an option.
But I just did some research and it looks like you have to go to the United States to apply for this, not an embassy.
Will they allow my child to enter the US while having no citizenship at all though?

MissMagdalen

My mother has my documents of attending a nursery school and certificates of vaccinations and my nhs card where it says who my paediatrician was.
Hopefully it’s enough?

BritInParis

That will certainly help but you will need to account for at least three consecutive years which may be tricky. US citizenship through your boyfriend's parents looks to be a better bet for the time being - there is no requirement to travel to the US. Providing your child can obtain a US passport and you return to France before Brexit then he or she will be able to reside there as a family member of an EEA citizen.

MissMagdalen

I copied and pasted the information I found:

“The child must temporarily enters the US pursuant to a lawful admission. The child does not have to be a green card holder. It is only required that the child entered the US legally, and is still in proper status. ( a visitor’s visa for this purpose is available.)


This "grandparent citizenship" procedure is processed in the United States, not at a US Embassy . It applies even if the grandparent is deceased.”