Nina, our specialist lawyer, has acted successfully in helping adoptive parents to register their children as British citizens.
Nina acted in an application for registration as a British Citizen under Section 3(1) BNA 1981 for a Filipino child who was the adopted child of a British couple. The child was born to the relatives of the adoptive parents. The biological parents were unable to care for her, and she was in the care of our clients since she was weeks old. The child was not aware that she is adopted and had no contact with the biological parents, who had no involvements in her life.
The adoption was finalised under the Domestic Law of the Philippines.
We made an application for her to register as a British Citizen, so that she can reunite with her parents in the UK. The application was made under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 which is a discretionary provision for registration of the child. The Home Secretary may exercise discretion to register people as British Citizens under this Section if the Applicant is under 18 at the date of the application; is of good character and the Secretary of State thinks it is fit to register them. These are the only statutory requirements. A Home Office guidance also provides additional criteria to be met for an adopted child to be registered.
Section 1(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 and adoption (Recognition of Overseas Adoption) Order 2013
Children adopted overseas by British Citizens may have an automatic claim to British Citizenship under Section 1(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981 if the adoption is a Hague Convention adoption. When the adoption is not a Hague Convention adoption, as is the case here, Nina had to look to the Adoption (Recognition of Overseas Adoptions) Order 2013. According to the Home Office guidance, adoptions carried out in the countries listed in the Order are, subject to certain requirements being met, recognised in the UK.
In other words, for these overseas adoptions, the Home Office has special guidance setting out additional criteria to be met in application for registration as a British citizen. Version 17.1 published 15 August 2025, provides that the criteria will be met where:
- The adoption is not informal or temporary under the law of the country where the adoption took place;
- The child is a child of the adoptive parents alone and the legal relationship with the birth family has been completely terminated.
- At least one of the adoptive parents is a British citizen, other than by descent, and the current parents have consented and there is no reason to refuse on character grounds.
- All relevant adoptions laws have been adhered to and that includes the laws of the country in which the adoption has taken place.
- The adoption is not one of convenience, arranged to facilitate the child’s admission to the UK.
The child was adopted after the Order of 2013 came into force and her adoptive parents were both British Citizens other than by descent and consented to the registration. We provided the decision of the Court confirming that she was legally adopted by the British Citizens, demonstrating the adoption was plainly not informal or temporary, and that the adoption had been finalised in the Philippines. There was no reason the application should be refused on character grounds and most importantly, the child was adopted in compliance with and adherence to all relevant adoption laws in the Philippines and all the required documents have been submitted. This included the child study report, home study report and the decision of the Trial Court.
Finally, it was manifested that the adoption was not one of convenience or arranged to facilitate the child’s admission to the UK as she had been part of the household since birth and the parents had taken the decision for her to live in the Philippines.
The application was successful.
Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973
Nina also acted in an application for registration as a British Citizen under Section 3(1) of the BNA 1981 for a Kenyan national. This child was born in 2009 in Kenya and was adopted by a British mother and a Kenyan father who identified her at an orphanage, where she was abandoned. She was living with the adoptive parents since she was six months old and they formally adopted her. The adoption was finalised under the Domestic Law of Kenya in 2010. She considers them to be her parents, and she does not know she was adopted. The identity of the biological parents is unknown.
The application that we made was under Section 3(1) Acquisition by Registration which is a discretionary position. Again, Section (1)(5) did not apply and the child did not have automatic claim to British citizenship because it was not a Hague Convention adoption.
However, the child was adopted before 3 January 2014 in Kenya which was listed in the Adoption (Designation of Overseas Adoptions) Order 1973 meaning that adoptions carried out in that country are, subject to certain requirements being met, recognised in the UK. Nina could make the application in reliance on this Order.
The same factors as in the Filipino adoption had to be satisfied and this application was also successful.