MN1 child citizenship registration alongside a parent's ILR

If your child was born in the UK while you were on a visa route, they are very likely not automatically British — that only happens if a parent was already a British citizen or settled at the time of birth. Once you get your own settlement sorted, or once your child has simply lived here long enough, they may become eligible to register. Here's how the timing actually works.

Last verified: 2026-07-04 against gov.uk/register-a-child-as-british-citizen and Home Office children nationality policy guidance (section 1(3) and section 1(4), British Nationality Act 1981).

Route 1: your child becomes eligible once you settle

If your child was born in the UK and, at any point after their birth, a parent went on to:

• become a British citizen,
• get indefinite leave to remain,
• get settled status (or indefinite leave to remain) under the EU Settlement Scheme,
• get indefinite leave to enter, or
• get permanent residence status,

...then the child can be registered as British — provided they're still under 18 at the time you apply. This is the route most families in the "parent gets ILR, then registers the UK-born child" situation will use.

The sequencing matters. This route depends on the parent already holding the qualifying status — you cannot register the child under this route before your own ILR is granted, because the eligibility condition is that the parent "did" one of those things, in the past tense. In practice that means:

1. You apply for and are granted your own ILR first.
2. Once you have your ILR decision, you apply separately for your child's MN1 registration.

They are two separate applications with two separate fees, submitted one after the other rather than in the same envelope — plan for both in the Family Immigration Cost Planner, which totals them together even though they're submitted at different times.

Route 2: 10 years' residence, regardless of the parents' status

Separately, a child who was not British at birth (because neither parent was British or settled then) can still register once they turn 10, if they've lived in the UK for the first 10 years of their life. The specific conditions in the Home Office's own guidance are:

• they are aged 10 or over at the date of application,
• they have lived in the UK for the first 10 years of their life, and
• they have not been outside the UK for more than 90 days in any of those first 10 years.

This route doesn't depend on either parent's immigration status at all — it's about the child's own residence history. If your child was born here before you got your own status sorted out, it's worth checking this route even if Route 1 above doesn't apply yet. Evidence required includes the child's full birth certificate (to prove UK birth and age) and residence evidence covering the whole 10-year period — start gathering school letters, GP registration history, and similar records well before you apply, since reconstructing ten years of residence evidence at the last minute is one of the most common delays in this route.

Both routes carry a good character requirement once the child is 10 or over.

Fees

• MN1 registration fee: £1,000 (verified against GOV.UK's citizenship fees table, effective from 9 April 2025, checked 2026-07-04).
• £130 citizenship ceremony fee — only if the child turns 18 during processing (children registered while under 18 don't attend a ceremony).
• A fee waiver may be available if the child is under 18 and the family cannot afford the fee — check current eligibility criteria on GOV.UK before assuming this applies.
• No separate fee for biometric enrolment — children old enough to need biometrics still have to attend enrolment, but there's no additional charge for it.

Run the numbers for your whole family — main applicant ILR, any dependants, and the child's MN1 fee — in the Family Immigration Cost Planner.

Processing time

Home Office guidance aims to conclude citizenship registration applications within 6 months of receipt. That's a target, not a guarantee — build it into your planning rather than timing anything else (like travel, or a child's school enrolment abroad) against it.

Related reading: ILR application step-by-step and the Family Immigration Cost Planner.