A child born in the UK may be a UK citizen automatically or they may have to be registered as a British citizen depending on when they were born and what was the immigration status of their parent in the UK.

Automatic British Citizenship for a child born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983

A child born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 will be a British citizen automatically if one of their parents was either a British citizen or had ‘settled’ (i.e. indefinite leave to remain or EU settled) status at the time of birth of their child.

If you were born before 1 January 1983

You become a British citizen automatically if you were born in the UK before 1 January 1983 unless;

Your father was a diplomat working for another country
Your father was ‘an enemy alien in occupation’ and you were born in the Channel Islands during World War 2

If your child is a British citizen automatically you don’t need to apply for citizenship for your child. You can apply for your child’s first British passport.

You were born on or after 1 January 1983 and before 1 July 2006

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and before 1 July 2006 youbecome a British citizen automatically if either of the following is true at the time of your birth:

Your mother was a British citizen or had settled status.
Your father was a British citizen or had settled status in the UK and both your father and mother were married to each other

You were born on or after 1 July 2006

You can become a British citizen automatically if you were born in the UK after 1 July 2006 and one of your parents was either a British citizen or had settled status in the UK.

Registering the child as a British citizen

You may be eligible to be registered as a British citizen if you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and either of the following is true:

You are under 18 and one of your parents became a British citizen or acquired permission to stay in the UK permanently after your birth.
You lived in the UK until you were 10 years or older.

You were born on or after 1 January 1983 and before 1 July 2006

You may be eligible to be registered as a British citizen if you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 and before 1 July 2006 and at the time of your birth either of the following was true:

Your mother and father were not British citizens or settled in the UK
Your father was a British citizen or settled in the UK and was not married to your mother

And you must have lived in the UK until you were 10 years or older which means you must not have spent more than 90 days outside the UK in any of the first 10 years that you lived in the UK.

You were born on or after 1 July 2006

You may be registered as a British citizen if you were born in the UK on or after 1 July 2006 and one of your parents became a British citizen or acquired settled status in the
UK after you were born.