Child nationality ?

[maximo]

Hi ! I've been wondering for a while now, just hypothetically : I'm a French citizen, but I've lived in the UK for 5 years now. If I was to have a baby in the UK, with a British man, what nationality would my baby be ?

1 / Would he/she be automatically british for being born in the UK, 2/ would he/she automatically get both nationalities ( British AND French ), or 3/ would I have to chose one of the two ??

Sorry if this is a daft question, but I'm wondering ! Thanks !

[dancealot13]

Both nationalities (British and French) ;)

[kempie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law#Acquisition_of_British_citizenship

[Booldawg]

thats a very interesting question and caused me to ponder. My gf and I have a baby daughter, I am british and my gf has lived over here since she is 12 but still only holds a South African passport. She would have no problem getting a UK one but we havent got round to it due to money etc. Would our daughter have dual-nationality even when my partner gets her UK passport?

[kempie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_nationality_law

[Octavius]

A baby born to a British father in the UK is entitled to British citizenship, if the parents are married. In some cases, when the parents are not married, the child would be still considered a British citizen. However, this is left to the discretion of the IND (Immigration and Nationality Directorate).

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/applying/british_nationality/advice_about_nationality/bn11_-_british_citizenship.html

The French law (Civil Code, Articles 17 and henceforth) grants French citizenship to people of French cultural heritage et al

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/html/codes_traduits/code_civil_textA.htmY

[maximo]

Ok, so the way I understand it is : if the father of the child and me are NOT married, my child can only be registered as British if I have acquired the settled status ( ie : , or if he resides in the UK until at least his 10th birthday. However, he/she will automatically get the French nationality, by descent, even if he/she was born in the UK.

there is one point in the Wikipedia article I don't fully understand though...

"where the father is not married to the mother, the Home Office will usually register the child as British provided an application is made and the child would have been British otherwise." Does that mean it's usual practice to register the child as British without the mother having acquired "settled" status ? Or does she (in this case, I ! " need to acquire the status anyway ? Sorry, it's my post-lunch brain dead period....

[dancealot13]

Sorry I assumed you were married.

[maximo]

That's ok, Dancealot ! Actually, I'm not pregnant either ( unless miracles DO exist ! ;-) , it was just hypothetical.

[netibiza]

My daughter was born in Spain and her fatherand I are British, she is not Spanish but she can apply for a Spanish passport and nationality if she so wishes.