Thread: Step son is not eligable to Join up, Any Ideas?

My 14 Year old Step son is starting to become Army Barmy, and is looking at joining up when he leaves school, the problem is He is German and we have always lived in Germany.
I did mention the Kraut Army But he is not too keen, He has been educated in the SCE System for 5 years so all of Secondary and last 2 yars of Primary education has been British. I'm not sure how to break it to him that he will have to move to the UK for 5 years first then apply for citizenship. Unless anyone out there knows different (Some Random EU thing I dont know about) Is that the only way he can get in?

Mum wont change Nationality (Long Story)
Adoption is out of the question.

I cant see a way forward, and He'll Have to do his German national Service too.

Taff

You rule out the obvious. However - I would write to the Home Office. I assume he is your legal step-son and lives with you. Also that he is in SCE I assume you are a serviceman or UKBC. You could argue a case that he would be living with you in the UK if your service was not in Germany and he is living there as a British step-child would do. They may consider waiving the 5 years as it is HM Service that takes him out of the UK so he could apply at 18.

I am not a lawyer but I think that would be worth a bat.

How he gets round the National Service in Deutschland is another matter...

Good luck mate.

Yeah, I am Serving, he is my legal step son and lives with me in our quarter. Will put some feelers out Ref the Home office. I know he is keen to do his A levels and apply for a commission, time will tell how that goes, so we will be looking at adult entry. I'm just going to let him know what his options are, Nationality was never seen as an issue before due to the EU live and work agreements, however he chooses the one career that is dependant on nationality, pain in the arrse.

I heard years ago of someone arguing this 5 years thing for a German wife, cannot remember the outcome but should be easy to find that precedence.

Don't forget to tell the home office that at least he is not Welsh - may gain some sympathy

Originally Posted by taffridge

Yeah, I am Serving, he is my legal step son and lives with me in our quarter. Will put some feelers out Ref the Home office. I know he is keen to do his A levels and apply for a commission, time will tell how that goes, so we will be looking at adult entry. I'm just going to let him know what his options are, Nationality was never seen as an issue before due to the EU live and work agreements, however he chooses the one career that is dependant on nationality, pain in the arrse.

Taff, I think you might have a case that your quarter is therefore technically UK. I was going to ask if your wife realised that the nationality change was to "British" not "Lookyousee" which might be the main objection?

Originally Posted by one-flew-over

Taff

You rule out the obvious. However - I would write to the Home Office. I assume he is your legal step-son and lives with you. Also that he is in SCE I assume you are a serviceman or UKBC. You could argue a case that he would be living with you in the UK if your service was not in Germany and he is living there as a British step-child would do. They may consider waiving the 5 years as it is HM Service that takes him out of the UK so he could apply at 18.

I am not a lawyer but I think that would be worth a bat.

How he gets round the National Service in Deutschland is another matter...

Good luck mate.

OFO

you have to be dead unlucky to get dicked for national service in Germany nowadays..but it does happen..cue a few pissed off young guys in my work, and the others avoiding it sniggering.

Taff,

can you not apply for him to have dual nationality being as you are now the legal guardian?? - long shot but may be worth a stab in the dark if all else fails - needs to be done before he is 18 mind.

If it's something the lad wants to really do, then I think you should seriously talk to the Mrs about the adoption route before he turns 18. After all if this is the road that he wants to go down, and this is the path of least resistance for him to do it, then surely Mrs Taff would be understanding? Only a thought. Any other way has no guarantees, is full of uncertainty and HM Gobment is liable to refuse.

No such thing as dual nationality anymore.

ACIO is based in Herford for any help they could give.

why wont your Mrs allow you to Britishise him? Scared he´ll take up Braty munching and cheap lager drinking....er, hold on I didn´t think that one through :D

Originally Posted by TaffYorkie

Any other way has no guarantees, is full of uncertainty and HM Gobment is liable to refuse.

Tell ém he is a Muslim, Black, Single Mother, with learning disabilities, and a physical handicap. He´ll be straight in to a 4 bed council house with all costs met. Maybe even allowed in the Army too.

Originally Posted by chocolate_frog

No such thing as dual nationality anymore.

ACIO is based in Herford for any help they could give.

why wont your Mrs allow you to Britishise him? Scared he´ll take up Braty munching and cheap lager drinking....er, hold on I didn´t think that one through :D

Originally Posted by TaffYorkie

Any other way has no guarantees, is full of uncertainty and HM Gobment is liable to refuse.

Tell ém he is a Muslim, Black, Single Mother, with learning disabilities, and a physical handicap. He´ll be straight in to a 4 bed council house with all costs met. Maybe even allowed in the Army too.

my son is dual nationality
if he doesnt have a british passport then unlucky he aint eligible

Thanks for the help, Unfortunately Mrs Taff's nationality is a complex one as she emigrated to Germany from S E Asia when she was young and I think 3 passports would be taking the p1ss. She also has bog all chance of passing the Citizenship test, I had a look and I could'nt answer half the questions, and her written English is ropey to say the least.
The adoption route is a bit of a touchy one as he has a good relationship with his real Dad and sees him most weekends, (Something I fully support as I was bought up in the same circumstances.) I would'nt like to be seen to be driving a wedge between them.

However I may mention it to his Dad the next time I see him, cant see it going down well though.

By the way Alsacien, thanks to SCE he has one of those funny English accents. (The do make me chuckle)

Originally Posted by taffridge

Thanks for the help, Unfortunately Mrs Taff's nationality is a complex one as she emigrated to Germany from S E Asia when she was young and I think 3 passports would be taking the p1ss. She also has bog all chance of passing the Citizenship test, I had a look and I could'nt answer half the questions, and her written English is ropey to say the least.
The adoption route is a bit of a touchy one as he has a good relationship with his real Dad and sees him most weekends, (Something I fully support as I was bought up in the same circumstances.) I would'nt like to be seen to be driving a wedge between them.

However I may mention it to his Dad the next time I see him, cant see it going down well though.

By the way Alsacien, thanks to SCE he has one of those funny English accents. (The do make me chuckle)

I'm sure adoption would probably be the simplest option. Hopefully his old man can see it for what it would be, just an admin answer to one of the lads problems. At the end of the day its only a bit of paper and shouldn't bring any change to their relationship, its not like he even has to change his name if he doesn't want to.

Kid eh, don't you just love em. ;)

Originally Posted by chocolate_frog

No such thing as dual nationality anymore.

Eh? http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...sas/DG_4000020

Taff most of the valley commandos couldnt pass the citizenship test!