Adopted child process
 

Hi all,
Advice required. I am moving back to the UK next month and my family will follow once my wife's visa is issued. Giving me time to set up home etc. we have 2 kids (one adopted and one biological)
We can get the biological child a uk passport easy enough, the question is can we bring the adopted child over on a visitors visa initially and then apply for citizenship with the mn1 form once he's here? Or will we have to do it all state side?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Adopted child process
 

I presume you have checked that your adopted child is eligible for registration but here's the relevant information just in case.

Ideally you should apply from the US and then obtain their British passport once you receive their Certificate of Registration of a British Citizen.

Re: Adopted child process
 

I did indeed.
He is eligible as an adopted child. US is on the list of countries eligible.
The main thing I was trying to avoid was a longer separation from them.
We have all the relevant documents and fully intend to register him, I was just curious as to wether he could travel first then get registered.
I assumed it wouldn't be that easy and we'd have to register him here and get his passport before traveling, but thought I'd ask for some help first.

Re: Adopted child process
 

We faced exactly this situation in June 2015. Applied for MN1 in April from the USA, Home Office last the applications, when we moved in June and had to enter the UK with our daughters and no visa. I did bring copies of the MN1 applications, we struggled but after a couple of hours we were admitted with a "CODE 1A" stamp, 6 months entry allowing education and NHS and told to sort out their status within 6 months. I quickly applied for ILR, a day after that was granted the Home Office found the MN1 applications. The MN1 applications were approved in late September and both now have their UK passports.

Re: Adopted child process
 

That's a great help. Did your daughters have U.S passports on entry?
Also subtracting the home offices "lost application time" how long did the process take?

Thanks again

Re: Adopted child process
 

Yes both have USA passports. Applications found in early July completed in late September. ILR was done same day with premium processing, at considerable expense!

Re: Adopted child process
 

Excellent.
That gives us a timeline to work with and finally some peace of mind.
Thanks.

Re: Adopted child process
 

I would concur with fathermike's comments. It would be possible to bring your adopted child into the UK on a US passport but you will face delays at the border. I wouldn't however pay out for ILR if you get a Code 1A stamp and you're lodging Form MN1 for citizenship as it would be an unnecessary expense.

Re: Adopted child process
 

I'm a bit confused, are you saying that a UK citizen returning the UK to live there permanently with their adopted child, who currently only has US citizenship, will only face a delay at the airport?

That would be fantastic news for my family as we would like to move asap but I was advised that we can not return to the UK to settle as a family until our adopted children have received their UK citizenship (MN1) or have settlement visas. We want to avoid the expense of the visas (3 kids) so are currently waiting on their UK citizenship applications.

I knew about fathermike's experience but had assumed that he was just lucky to get the Code 1a stamp. If that is normal practice then we would move tomorrow instead of waiting on the citizenship but as I understood it the Border Agency staff would most likely refuse us entry if we tell them we are moving back permanently as our kids are not citizens yet and do not have settlement visas.

Regarding an MN1 application made whilst in the UK our experience this summer was that we were told we could not submit the applications whilst the children were in the UK - even though we explained repeatedly that they were only there on vacation. We were allowed to have NCS mail our photocopied documents to them but we had to wait and mail the applications once we were home in the USA. Very frustrating!

I'm still not convinced they were correct to say we couldn't submit them since the applications were all in our US address with the kids US schools listed and all supporting documents showed our US address (which IS our home and only address!) but the NCS did call the HO twice while we were there and they were adamant that we could not apply with the children in the country so there was nothing we could do except wait till we were back home in the US.

Given that we were not allowed to apply while visiting then I would have thought that it might be a problem to apply once settled in the UK unless the child had a settlement visa.

As a side note, we recently got our letter of acknowledgement of our MN1 applications but it is currently still not possible to do the biometric enrollment in the USA (gah!) but we were told that as our application is urgent we can request to have the biometrics done in another country which is what we will probably try to do.

Gareth, please do share what your experience is if you go home prior to receiving your child's citizenship. If you received a Code 1A stamp too (like fathermike) then I think I'd feel confident to try it too.

Re: Adopted child process
 

I agree with BIP that the ILR was an unnecessary expense, however the turmoil that the unpleasant entry experience caused for my wife made the peace brought by the ILR whilst the MN1 was still "lost" made it worth every penny. If we had received any kind of confirmation that our MN1 applications had been received by the Home Office we would never had considered ILR. Our reality at that point was that we may never have seen the original adoption documents again, leaving us in a very difficult position.

Re: Adopted child process
 

NiHao I must point out that I did have copies of our Hague Adoption Certificates with us, I think these were very important in us being given admission by code 1a.

Re: Adopted child process
 

Possible, not certain. Worst case scenario is that the non-British children could be refused entry. Applying for citizenship outside the UK using Form MN1 and then obtaining their British passports before returning will always be the safest option.

As fathermike says he essentially had to prove his children's eligibility for registration at the border to get the Code 1A stamp so it's not standard practice by any stretch.

Re: Adopted child process
 

Yes, it is possible as fathermike's case proves, and no doubt there have been other instances, but I think it is good for anyone in a similar position to be aware that there is also a risk of being refused entry.

Fathermike - good point about your adoptions being Hague I would imagine that it did help but again not a guarantee. My guess is that it also made a difference that in your situation it was impossible for you to have applied for settlement visas for them instead because the HO had, at that point, lost all your original paperwork.

I'm really glad it all worked out just wouldn't want anyone reading this to think that entry for settlement was a sure thing without the adopted child having UK citizenship or a settlement visa.

Re: Adopted child process
 

Hi

It's helpful reading these threads, but my case is slightly different and we have what feels like quite a unique situation. I'm hoping that someone might be able to help because I am so worried.

My husband and I move to Trinidad and Tobago 5 years ago - in search of a better quality of life. We tried for a family of our own, but unfortunately that didn't work out. We are both British Citizen's and decided to adopt from Guyana - as I am second generation Guyanese. After a long horrific process we adopted two children from Guyana and now 3 years on we have decided to move back to the UK.

We bought a house in the UK and my husband is currently there sorting everything for us, we applied for a settlement visa for the children and we were refused - I don't think we realized how much information and supporting documentation we had to provide and clearly did not do this the first time round. We fast tracked it and paid a fortune only to receive a refusal. Immigration seemed to think that we still lived in Guyana and declined us based on the fact that we provided no evidence that the children were not in contact with biological family - even though the adoption order from Guyana was recognized as being on the list of designated countries in 2013.

We spoke to an immigration solicitor in the UK who told us to apply again, which we did and we fast tracked again. We provided two huge folders full of information about the children and an additional photograph album with over 200 photos of the children spanning the 3 year period that we have had them. And spent thousands of pounds.

We sold our house in Trinidad and we are living at a friends house, the children are being homeschooled by me currently. It's been 4 weeks and we know that they are processing the application again - however I am terrified that they will refuse us again. I'm going out of my mind with worry.

We legally adopted these children and we are British Citizen's - can anyone share a similar story. Any information would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Adopted child process
 

jasminecottage45,

I really feel for you because I know how incredibly stressful (and expensive) the process is.

Our situation was not exactly the same as yours and we went straight for UK Citizenship instead of settlement visas. However, we did speak to a UK Immigration lawyer who was helpful and we discussed the settlement visa option should we need to move back before citizenship was granted.

We were told that one of the things to emphasis in our applications (for Citizenship or visas) was that the adoptions "meet all of the UK criteria of a "de facto adoption".

Did your lawyer explain the "de facto adoption" info to you?