Deats

My child was born in Russia a few weeks ago
She is in the process of getting a Russian passport
I am British
My wife is Russian
To apply from Russia for my child's British passport will take 3+ months in all probability. Maybe a lot longer from what I've heard.

If I were to get a tourist visa in my child's passport and then go visit my family in England, can I then apply for a British passport whilst in the country? More importantly, will this process be quicker (i.e. 3 weeks max)? Or do I still go through the same process of applying?

We haven't registered the birth with the UK because this again takes 10 weeks and we must send original documents to England, which we need here in Russia for processing her other documents.

Any info would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance.

BritInParis

If your child is a British citizen then they shouldn't be able to get a tourist visa in their Russian passport. If you do manage to get a visa and get them into the UK then the processing times would remain the same.

Deats

My child is British by descent (through me). But she has NO British documents (passport, right of abode, registration etc) yet. Why can't she therefore get a British visa to travel there to visit her family? If she has a Russian passport, then why would they deny her a visa/entry? Or are you saying that any person born to a British parent is denied entry into the UK unless they apply for a British passport or right of abode? This surely can't be right.

BritInParis

She should be refused a UK visa because she is a British citizen. Any UK visa issued to a British citizen (other than a Certificate to Entitlement of Right of Abode) would be null and void. You need to be a British citizen to hold a British passport - you don't become a British citizen once you are issued a British passport. She may be granted a visa in error but she shouldn't receive one.