Apply for a certificate of entitlement

Question

I'm wanting to apply for the Certificate of entitlement for my son (11 months old) who I believe is a British citizen automatically.

We're not based in the UK; we plan to travel there in July - and because he is a British Citizen, he cannot be issued a visitor visa like I need. We're also not in a position to obtain his UK passport, as we do not have enough time for that.

His mother is a British Citizen who was born in the UK and her parents were both born in the UK as well, my understanding is that our Son then has automatic British Citizenship and for us to travel to the UK - he can get a CoE into his current (non-UK) passport for travel.

My questions around this are:

1. Should I use an immigration service (based in UK) to do this?
2. We have his mothers full birth certificate (Obtained from the register office) and UK passport - and our Son's full birth certificate with both parent details on it - including passport number of his mother. Do we need anything else? The UK site isn't clear on documents
3. If we do the application ourselves (It seems straight forward?) - there is a question about how long the applicant has stayed at an address - if we enter 11 months - it asks for previous addresses - we don't have any previous address for him of course. Can I enter 2 years and then explain it in the additional info section?
4. The application forms ask for an address; do we need to provide a residential address or can we provide a hotel where we will be staying?
5. Do I need to submit financial statements? My wife has a UK bank account with money we transferred to it recently for our trip - we can show the source of funds from our home country to her account. - If we need financial statements; would this account be fine?
6. Should I include our marriage certificate?

I've applied for multiple UK visitor visas for myself and had no issues there (except 1 refusal a few years ago) - I'm just wondering if I need to pay someone to do the CoE application - their fees are as much as the visa, so it is costly.

Answer 1

1. Should I use an immigration service (based in UK) to do this?

It's your choice. In your circumstances I think the application is quite straightforward so I don't think it's necessary.

2. We have his mothers full birth certificate (Obtained from the register office) and UK passport - and our Son's full birth certificate with both parent details on it - including passport number of his mother. Do we need anything else? The UK site isn't clear on documents

Technically this should be sufficient because it proves his mother is a British citizen otherwise than by descent (since she was born in the UK), and hence he must also be British.

3. If we do the application ourselves (It seems straight forward?) - there is a question about how long the applicant has stayed at an address - if we enter 11 months - it asks for previous addresses - we don't have any previous address for him of course. Can I enter 2 years and then explain it in the additional info section?

These forms for some reason don't account for young children. I agree you should enter 2 years then explain.

4. The application forms ask for an address; do we need to provide a residential address or can we provide a hotel where we will be staying?

This should be your home address (ie, the place you're living outside the UK).

5. Do I need to submit financial statements? My wife has a UK bank account with money we transferred to it recently for our trip - we can show the source of funds from our home country to her account. - If we need financial statements; would this account be fine?

No. You're not applying for a visa. Your son is British, this isn't dependent on how much money he has.

6. Should I include our marriage certificate?

I don't see how it matters but it wouldn't hurt.