British-born children policy update
The new asylum and returns plan confirms a harder line on families with no right to stay in the UK, including children born here to parents without secure status. Ministers have now been clear that where a family’s claim fails, removal will normally cover the whole family unit, including UK-born children who are not British citizens. The policy is framed as closing down what the Government calls “perverse incentives” to start a family in the UK to resist removal.
Legal powers to remove non-British children already exist. The shift is about how far the Home Office intends to use those powers, how much weight officials give to family life arguments and UK-born children, and how removal is handled in practice under the new temporary protection model.
UK-born children now treated as part of removal planning
The asylum minister has confirmed that children born in the UK to parents whose asylum claims fail will be removed with their parents where no one in the family holds leave to remain. In other words, birthplace will not in itself keep a child in the UK once the family’s legal options are exhausted. The stated aim is to make family removals “seamless”, with an increased focus on voluntary return first and enforced removal where families do not leave.
Policy papers around the asylum overhaul also stress that family and private life arguments under Article 8 will be tightened, with plans to legislate on how family life is assessed in immigration cases. The direction of travel is towards quicker decisions, shorter periods between refusal and enforcement, and fewer cases where children act as a de facto brake on removal.
Who is affected?
The immediate focus is on families who are in the asylum or illegal stay system: people with temporary protection that is under review, refused asylum seekers, and those with no leave. For these families, UK-born children who are not British citizens are now firmly in scope for removal with their parents if claims fail and returns are judged safe and reasonable.
Different parts of the reforms also affect family reunion routes for people with protection status, which are being pushed into paid Appendix FM applications rather than dedicated reunion provisions.
Children who are already British citizens are not the target of these measures. A child born in the UK is automatically British only where a parent is British or settled at the time of birth. Other children can sometimes register later, for example if a parent becomes British or settled while the child is still a minor, or where a child has lived in the UK for the first ten years of life under section 1(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981. None of those underlying nationality routes has been changed by the latest announcements.
DMS Perspective
As at today, the British citizenship framework for children born in the UK remains in place. There has been no change to who is British at birth, who can register, or the statutory tests for registration based on long residence, statelessness or parental status. What has changed is the political and policy context around families with insecure status and UK-born children. The Home Office is openly planning for more family removals, shorter grace periods after refusal and a narrower approach to Article 8 family life arguments in asylum and returns cases.
For families, the practical question is less “was the child born here” and more “does anyone in the family have, or could they secure, a stable immigration route or British citizenship in the foreseeable future”. Where a child already qualifies to register as British, that route should be explored early, with careful evidence on residence and parental status.
Where no one has a stable route, relying on the child’s birth in the UK or a vague expectation that removal will not be enforced is now significantly higher risk under the current policy direction.
