Advice on what to do once a resettled family have welcomed a baby.
For children born to parents with Indefinite Leave to Remain
If the family you support has welcomed a new baby after their parents were given Indefinite Leave to Remain, the child will acquire British citizenship by birth. The family will not need to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain for the baby but can instead apply for a British Passport. The family can apply for the baby’s first passport via the GOV.UK website ‘Apply for a first child passport‘.
If you are unsure whether the family you are supporting will have received Indefinite Leave to Remain, we have further information in the following ‘Changes to status for UKRS‘ resource.
For children born to parents with five years leave to remain in England and Wales
If the family you support has welcomed a new baby since resettling in the UK, and they do not have Indefinite Leave to Remain, then the family will need to register the child’s birth with the Home Office. The family will need to apply to the Home Office for a ‘Leave in Line’ request for the baby, so that the baby may receive the same immigration status as their parents. It is best to do this as soon as possible after the baby’s birth. Resettled refugees can make Leave in Line requests for free.
To make a Leave in Line request for children born in England and Wales
At the time of writing, the Home Office no longer require the original birth certificate to be submitted for families where births were registered in England and Wales. This means that resettled families in England and Wales can submit Leave in Line requests via e-mail to [email protected].
All requests must include:
- Letter of request from parent(s)
- Birth certificate of the child – a scanned copy of the child’s birth certificate
- Photocopies of the parents’ BRP cards
To make a Leave in Line request for children born in Scotland and Northern Ireland
If you are supporting a family in Scotland or Northern Ireland, they must submit a Leave in Line request by post to:
Refused Case Management
UK Visas and Immigration
Department 87, Level 7
The Capital
New Hall Place
Liverpool, L3 9PP
All requests must include:
- Letter of request from parent(s)
- The original birth certificate of the child – this will be returned to the family so be sure to include a pre-addressed envelope with the documents
- Photocopies of the parents’ BRP cards
- A passport photograph of the child
Additional considerations
- Resettled families will need to register the birth of their baby. Some hospitals may offer this service, or this might need to take place in the council’s registry office within a certain timescale. You can find further information on birth registration on your council’s website.
- Your Lead Sponsor should email the Community Sponsorship Team at the Home Office to let them know that the family have had a baby.
- The family will need to let Universal Credit know about the addition to the family. They can do this by creating an entry on their online journal.
- The family can apply to receive Child Benefit for their baby.
- The family should register the baby at their GP surgery. The GP surgery can help the family contact the health visiting service and be appointed a health visitor.
- The family should apply for the NHS Healthy Start vouchers (they can apply for this prior to the baby’s birth).
- If the family are welcoming their first child born in the UK, then they may be eligible for the Sure Start Maternity Grant (if eligible, then they can apply for this prior to the baby’s birth).