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I am a naturalised British citizen.

My infant daughter was also born abroad and is therefore British by descent - I have passed my citizenship to her, but she cannot pass it on (unless she goes through the naturalisation process also).

My question is: Can my type of British citizenship be determined directly from my passport, for instance from the passport number or another code?

If so, the passport and her identity card would prove she is a British citizen. (If not, the passport would only prove I am British by descent, in which case she would need her own passport to prove her citizenship).

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  • Are you trying to determine if your passport and her identity card are sufficient to travel to the UK, without requiring you to obtain a passport for her?
    – Roddy of the Frozen Peas
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 15:04
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    I doubt your daughter can be naturalized in the UK as she is already a British citizen. As I understand it, if she lives in the UK (or territories) for 3 years, she will be eligible to register future children born outside the UK (and territories) as British citizens (if they are born under the current law). Also, any future child of hers born in the UK (or territories) will be a British citizen from birth. The answer to your question probably depends on whether your passport shows a place of birth in the UK (or territories). Does it?
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 15:06
  • See Guide NS: Confirmation of British nationality status (pdf), which says "It is not possible for people holding British citizenship by descent to 'up-grade' their status to British citizenship otherwise than by descent." There are other ways to prove British citizenship aside from a UK passport, but they all cost rather more than a passport.
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 16:37
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    @Roddy of the Frozen Peas - yes, and also whether it is enough documentation to allow her to stay.
    – nsandersen
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 18:43
  • @phoog that's interesting, thank you. We are both born in Europe outside the UK. My mother is British, but I have done the full naturalisation (5+ years of residence + language knowledge + plus Life in the UK test) before my daughter was born. Perhaps this worked because my parents didn't register me as a UK citizen originally..
    – nsandersen
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 18:56

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I assume you are attempting to determine if you can take your infant daughter abroad without her needing her own passport, and relying on her birth certificate/identify card along with your passport to prove that she is a British citizen. I believe you are on tricky ground here. Even if it were technically true that you could determine such a thing, you cannot rely on any immigration agreeing with your determination.

It would be much more sensible to register her as a British citizen, and to get her own passport. This will remove any doubt and enable her to enjoy the full privileges of travel.

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It depends. Your place of birth is recorded on your passport. If you were born in UK (or Gibraltar, or the Falklands...), then I believe you could not possibly be a British citizen by descent. However there are some British citizens by birth who this doesn't apply to (for example, the foreign born children of British officials). They would need some further evidence. Therefore, the place of birth field may be sufficient (but is not necessary) to prove British citizenship by birth.

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    Why the downvote?
    – phoog
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 19:10
  • @MJeffryes - I see what you mean. In my case I am born outside the UK/dependencies. I have updated the question.
    – nsandersen
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 21:07

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