Adult British Citizenship by Descent Claim

Hello everyone!

I am new and have read tons on here, super grateful to have found this forum. I would like to share details about my citizenship by descent claim in the hopes to get guidance from members of the group especially I do not have a solicitor and not much is being shared about this process, I guess it's not as common as naturalisation.

So here are details about my claim:
-I was born 1989 in the Philippines to unmarried Filipina mother and British father
-Father's name is on my Philippine birth certificate but no signature from him on the form
-Mother has worked in the UK and since become naturalised after my birth but they never married so I could not claim citizenship through her

Now, I have just sent in my online application for citizenship by descent through my father (UKF). After paying the fee, they gave me a checklistbof support documents to provide:


Here are the documents I plan on sending copies of:
-My birth certificate, passport, Philippine govt issued id and marriage certificate
-Father's birth certificate and passport copy
-Mother's certificate of naturalisation and British passport
-referee form and passport copy

My questions would be:
1.) As per checklist do I need to send my original passport to the Liverpool address?
2.) Do you think I need a paternity DNA test since my father never signed my birth certificate and PH being a 'high risk' nation for UK?
3.) Do I include pictures of me and dad (ex on my wedding day and on birthdays of his grandkids) when we were together?
4.) Do I need a sworn statement from him claiming me as his child?
5.) Will screenshot of fb or messenger correspondence be of any value here if I sent it?
6.) How do I get my original passport back?
7.) Will his British passport be enough to prove his domicile country (he never changed citizenship but he has lived abroad for a while)?

I'm sorry if my questions seem silly. Processing documents like this is very intimidating for me and if anybody has ever gone through this I would really appreciate them sharing any insight here. Maybe I am hoping for any sort of validation that I am sending the right documents.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Thank you @oss and yes I have read all the back posts of knightstrike even going back to 2015, he was a great chap but I'm afraid his main issue was getting the passport (as I now know will be another nightmare as he went through 18mos of it *cringe*) since he was already citizen when he was a child.

Greatly appreciate you making time for my post, looking forward to your comments.

Hi @lemonblast and welcome.
I see you have submitted your application and the screenshot is information they want.
To answer your questions
1 yes send your passport with all the other information to Liverpool send it recorded delivery
2 as there is no signature on birth certificate yes get a dna done.
3.they have not asked for it however there is nothing wrong with sending one.
4 the dna will say it all but no harm in including one
5 not worth it anyone could write them unless his photo is on them again they haven't asked for them.
6 they will post it or courier it proof of delivery.
7.certainly include passport that was valid when you were born and all since.
Very hard for a British citizen to lose citizenship so you will be ok

Good luck

Thank you @Mattecube for your thoughts on these and for the validation. It's good to talk to someone who has an idea about the process.

In addition, I'm just a little confused regarding getting the passport back. Will Liverpool pay for the return or should I maybe include a pre-paid return pouch? I don't know if that's even possible on FedEx or something. How does it normally go with these applications? What I currently read on is people just upload their documents to VFS or is this case not straightforward that they want to handle the documents personally?

I maybe just overthinking it all. I know that the DNA test would be like all the evidence they could ever need but I'm still banking on a chance it is not needed to save a few hundred quid on the test. The trade off might be the time it will take for me to send and wait for them to require it and I would have wasted a few months of waiting when I already have a feeling they will ask of it. Should I just go ahead with it instead? The checklist gave me 20 working days to send the documents, I assume this already includes the courier lead time so the DNA test could take longer since I am in the Philippines and Father is in Thailand, covid situation and lockdowns are not helping too. Should I just send the initial documents but proceed with DNA while waiting?

Yes she is in the UK right now, I was hoping to join her as she is not as young as she were thus the sudden urgency in my claim (oh if only it were precovid times). Is she required to have this test too? Maternity and paternity test? Hhhmm I hear the pounds rolling off my wallet already

Return of passport if it doesn't say then I would send a prepaid recorded delivery envelope.
You may find it tells you in the information somewhere

I shall find out, thank you.
Any thoughts on the 20 working day deadline and my DNA test predicament?

Again, I feel like I already know the answers to these questions. Having some else confirm gives a confidence boost and justification to spend money on the test

All I can say on the 20 day predicament is submit the fathers B/C in its current form with a sworn statement and see if that does the trick, if not they will write back to you asking for a dna in the meantime do the dna, at worst it will delay the application

Having this discussion puts my thoughts in order, thank you for helping me conclude. I shall send the document as per checklist whilst I proceed with DNA arrangements.

For @oss if you have some input regarding including my mother on the test, id be so grateful if you could please expound the importance? Also if there was a previous case like this that you know of? I will be looking into DNA test providers here in PH if they can help me with regards to my family’s different locations.

Thank you to you both, I will keep this thread updated.

Bedtime reading for you
https://assets.publishing.service.g...esting_for_British_passport_applications_.pdf

Is it ok to ask why they required the DNA test? Wouldn't the birth certificate suffice? If applicant is from the pH would UKVI or HMPO automatically presume foul play and ask for irrefutable proof?

And yes I agree with you and mattecube about sending the initial documents first. It is good to get more time to prepare for the DNA test as the logistics of it plus covid is crazy

I have read on mattcube's link (salamat by the way ) it is either maternity or paternity depending on who's lineage the relationship is based off. Nope, I was wrong. They require both parents unless someone is not with us anymore.

"To prove paternity, we need samples from both parents and the child, although there
may be situations where it is not always possible, for example, a single parent (see
also: sibling and other family members testing)."

And yes they are very strict about the capture of the specimen that I expect a video would be taken too along with identification. It gets even trickier when I cannot present my passport because Liverpool will have had it, I need to document why I cannot present it (I feel like I'm in law school now with all the smart speak )

Again I cannot be more grateful for your time and replies. I shall update if there is more news to share.

Thank you, I am now convinced I would definitely need the DNA as they would consider my father's signature not being on the B/C to be suspicious.

I have spoken to a local company here in PH who facilitate the custody of samples etc and the lab they use is US based, of course approved by UK govt. I shall have to dig deeper to find out if this is not a scam (oh Philippines )

I am very hesitant to go the UP route as I assume the pH genome lab is swamped with the covid variant testing and I am based in cebu, flying to manila would incure more cost with covid testing and all. It really is quite tricky and costly.

I hope your daughter and your wife Ana's citizenship/visas have been sorted out now. I am in the process of realizing that no one's citizenship/visa journey is as easy as it should be or else they would not be here on this thread

One question...why?