Part 1: Nationality Chapter 1: British Overseas Territories citizenship Registration of stateless minors Section 11: Citizenship: stateless minors
Overview: This section amends Schedule 2 to the British Nationality Act 1981 ("the 1981 Act") to introduce a new requirement for the registration of a stateless child (aged 5 to 17) as a British citizen or a British Overseas Territories citizen (BOTC) and maintains the existing requirements in relation to those aged 18 to 22.
	Background: Provisions for reducing statelessness within the nationality framework are set out at section 36 and Schedule 2 of the 1981 Act. Specifically, paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the 1981 Act provides for a stateless child born in the UK or an overseas territory to be registered as a British citizen or BOTC. The conditions which apply to this provision include, amongst others, a residential requirement and a requirement that the individual has always been stateless.
	There have been cases where parents have chosen not to register their child’s birth, which would have acquired their own nationality for their child, which means that the child can register as a British citizen under the statelessness provisions.
	This section ensures applicants are unable to take advantage of the statelessness provisions by choosing not to acquire their own nationality for their child. This is achieved by adding a requirement that the Secretary of State be satisfied that the child cannot reasonably acquire another nationality.
	Subsection 1 notes that the section amends Schedule 2 to the 1981 Act.
	Subsections 2 and 3 amend the age requirements at paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the 1981 Act, from having to be aged under 22, to having to be aged between 18 and 22.
	Subsection 4 inserts new paragraph 3A into Schedule 2. This provision applies to those aged between 5 and 17 and mirrors the registration provision at paragraph 3 (as described above), with an additional requirement that the Secretary of State be satisfied that the child cannot reasonably acquire another nationality. Paragraph 3A(2) provides that a person is able to acquire a nationality where: that nationality is the same as one of the parents’; the person has been entitled to acquire that status since birth; and in all the circumstances, it is reasonable to expect them (or someone acting on their behalf) to take steps to acquire that nationality.