I was born in the UK but neither of my parents are British, am I?

The short answer is, you may be. Nationality law is complicated. If you were born in the UK on or after the 1st of January 1983, lived in the UK up to the age of 10. You have not been absent from the UK for more than 90 days in the first 10 years of your life, and you can satisfy the Home Office that you are a person of good character, then you have a right to register as a British citizen.  

Your application does not have to be made while you are a minor (although it often is) since the right to apply to register as a British citizen continues into adulthood.

The Home Secretary can exercise discretion and allow absences of more than 90 days if there were special circumstances to explain these. You would need to set out the special circumstances in your application in order for the decision maker to consider exercising discretion.  If the number of days absent from the UK in any one of those years does not exceed 180 days, and the total number of days absent over the 10-year period does not exceed 990 days, then discretion will usually be exercised.

If the number of days absent exceeds 180 days in any one year or 990 over the whole 10-year period, and the excess absence was as a result of circumstances beyond your control, for example, serious illness. In that case, discretion will also be exercised.

Your application will have to meet the good character requirement. Good character relates to criminality, financial soundness, deception in dealings with the Home Office or other Government departments, and immigration history. Two referees will have to support your application, and usually one of the referees must be a person who has dealt with you in a professional role, such as a teacher, doctor, health visitor, or social worker. If you are unable to produce this, discretion can be exercised by the Home Office if you can show that you have attempted to get such a referee but have been unable to do so.  

You will need to enroll your biometric details for the purpose of identity verification, and you will also need to provide supporting documents, including your full UK birth certificate, evidence of your residence in the UK for the first 10 years of your life and your current and expired passports.

Your application will usually be dealt with within six months.  If your application is successful and you are aged 18 or over when you make the application, then you will attend a Citizenship Ceremony.   

The fee for the application is £1,214, although it is possible to apply for a fee waiver, and children in local authority care are exempt from paying the fee.

This is one of the ways in which a child who is born in the UK may be entitled to register as a British citizen. There are of course other routes and we would be happy for you to contact us so that we can advise on this and other routes.