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Nationality & Citizenship

1. UK-born stateless children can become British immediately

• British Nationality Act 1981, Sch 2, para 3: A stateless child born in the UK can register as British with no residence requirement.

2. Continuous residence for nationality is policy, not statute

• Absence limits (90 days/year, 450 days/5 years) are policy, not law — Home Secretary can waive them (R (Fayed) v SSHD [1998]).

3. Automatic citizenship loss doesn’t exist

• Once someone is British otherwise than by descent, it can’t be lost automatically — only renounced or deprived under ss.40–41 BNA 1981.

4. British Overseas Territories citizens can become British without residency in the UK

• s.4A BNA 1981 allows BOTCs to register as full British citizens without any UK residence, if BOTC status came through connection to a territory.

5. Registration under s.1(4) BNA is not discretionary

• A child born in the UK and resident for 10 years must be registered — no Home Office discretion (R (Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens) v SSHD [2021] EWCA Civ 193).

Immigration Rules – Leave & Settlement

6. The 7-year child rule is about “reasonableness”

• Appendix Private Life, PL 5.1: Focus is on whether it’s “reasonable” for the child to leave — not purely on their rights.

7. Private Life ILR shortcut for children

• PL 14.1: A child on private life leave can get ILR after 5 years — faster than the 10-year adult route.

8. Overstaying exceptions are time-limited

• Paragraph 39E: Grace period for certain late applications is 14 days (old rules: 28 days) — strict deadlines.

9. 10-year lawful residence route can use multiple visas

• Paragraph 276B: Any mix of visas counts towards 10 years, as long as residence is lawful and continuous. 

This does not include visitor visas, short term study or work visas (eg seasonal worker visas). 

However, when applying for the 10-year long residence ILR, you must have held your current visa for at least a year. 

10. There’s no “minimum income” for ILR on long residence

• Financial requirements don’t apply under 276B — a gap many applicants don’t realise.

Refusals & Deception

11. “Deception” refusals can last decades

• Paragraph 9.8.2: False representations can justify refusal years later, unless formally addressed (AA (Nigeria) [2010] EWCA Civ 773).

12. Non-disclosure can be deception even if irrelevant

• Failure to declare facts the Home Office would consider material can count as deception (Agha [2017] EWCA Civ 1214).

13. Caution vs conviction

• Even police cautions can be grounds for refusal under character requirements — but not all cautions are proportionate grounds (R (MK) v SSHD [2017] EWHC 1365).

ILR & Loss of Status

14. ILR can be revoked without leaving the UK

• s.76 Immigration Act 1971: Can be revoked for deportation liability or deception, while still in the UK.

15. ILR lapses automatically after 2 years abroad

• s.1(1) Immigration Act 1971: 2 years’ absence (now 5 years for certain routes) leads to loss, but a Returning Resident visa can restore it.

16. Deprivation of citizenship can render a person stateless

• Only permitted where acquired by fraud or false representation (s.40(3) BNA 1981).

Article 8 & Human Rights

17. “Insurmountable obstacles” ≠ impossible

• Agyarko [2017] UKSC 11: Means “very significant difficulties,” not literal impossibility.

18. Children’s best interests are a primary consideration

• ZH (Tanzania) [2011] UKSC 4: Applies even if parents have poor immigration history.

19. Tribunal can consider post-decision evidence

• Olatunji [2013] EWCA Civ 1275: Appeals can rely on events after the decision date.

20. There is no statutory limit on how far the Tribunal can remake a decision

• s.86 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allows full remaking.

Special Categories & Historic Rights

21. Right of abode can survive decades without proof

• s.2 Immigration Act 1971: Certain Commonwealth citizens keep right of abode without a certificate if pre-1983 rules apply.

22. Zambrano rights still have legacy impact

• Even post-Brexit, historic Zambrano residence can count towards permanent residence in certain scenarios.

23. Windrush cases often qualify for direct citizenship

• Many Windrush claimants are entitled to registration rather than naturalisation — avoiding tests/fees.

24. ECAA businesspersons had unique switching rights

• Turkish ECAA applicants before 31 Dec 2020 retain specific transitional rights under Withdrawal Agreement.

Procedural & Practice Points

25. Subject access requests can reveal unpublished HO guidance

• Under UK GDPR and DPA 2018, SARs can be used strategically to get file notes and internal policy documents.

26. There’s no fee for certain human rights applications

• If the application is made on Article 8 grounds and is the only option (outside the Rules), fee waivers can apply — but evidence is critical.

27. Fee waivers can also apply for children’s nationality

• PRCBC litigation confirmed the Home Office must consider inability to pay when setting nationality fees (R (PRCBC) v SSHD [2021]).

28. Late appeals can succeed if “in the interests of justice”

• Tribunals have wide discretion to admit out-of-time appeals, especially in protection/human rights cases.

29. There is no statutory limit on how many times you can apply

• Immigration Rules don’t cap the number of reapplications — only time bars in some refusal grounds apply.

30. Some biometric refusals can be overridden

• The Rules allow biometric requirements to be waived in exceptional cases — rarely used but powerful in practice.