The law has changed in our favour. In brief, Lord Avebury, who had been advocating citizenship equality in Parliament since at least 1981, succeeded in inserting provisions into the Immigration Act 2014 to allow children of unmarried British fathers, provided that those fathers were ‘citizens other than by descent’ (which for most purposes means that the fathers were born in Britain, though there are some other possibilities), to register for British citizenship subject to a ‘good character requirement’ and attending a citizenship ceremony. The new clauses, which constitute section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014, commenced (came into effect) on 6 April 2015 and insert sections 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H and 4I after section 4D of the British Nationality Act 1981. Laws and application materials: The relevant law can be found here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/65 The materials to register for British citizenship through unmarried fathers can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-to-register-as-a-british-citizen-form-ukf The page contains two pdfs, of which the first is the application form itself, and the second (the ‘guide’) consists of instructions, which applicants should read carefully before filling in the application form itself. There is another guidance document https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/425980/Chapter_7A.pdf which sets out who belongs to which section of the new law. Regarding fees, as explained in section 4 (Fees) of the above document, everyone except those registering under section 4F of the new law must pay only a citizenship ceremony fee of £80 to apply for citizenship under these new provisions. Those registering under section 4F must pay a regular registration fee, namely either the adult fee of £913 if they are over 18, or the registration fee for minors, which is £749, if they are over 18. These fees come from this document: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/415145/Master_Fees_Leaflet_2015.pdf Any changes to fees should be announced on the page which bears the above pdf, namely this: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-for-citizenship-applications After the registration application has been approved, the applicant must attend a citizenship ceremony within three months of being notified of the approval; only then will they receive their citizenship certificate, on the basis of which they can subsequently apply for a British passport. Please note that recently introduced policies create problems for issue of a British passport in one name when the applicant holds a foreign passport in another name (this may cause difficulties for those who, for instance, want their married names on their British passports but have another citizenship which forbids name changes). The policy is here (click on the active link at the bottom of the article and find the pdf on the resulting page): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crackdown-on-criminals-who-change-their-names-to-avoid-detection Some ramifications of this, and concrete examples of resulting difficulties, are discussed on this forum: http://www.immigrationboards.com/british-citizenship/passport-refused-uncancelled-passport-in-maiden-name-t183170.html As you can see, registration for citizenship through fathers is now included (item 4) on the citizenship registration page of the government’s website: https://www.gov.uk/register-british-citizen How did this legal change come about? In a nutshell, the proposal was first made by Lord Avebury on 19 March 2014 (find ‘Amendment 79G’): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140319-0001.htm#st_86 It was fleshed out and then approved in the Lords on 6 May 2014 (scroll down to ‘Amendment 3’): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140506-0001.htm#14050619000594 It was approved in the Commons on 7 May 2014 (see column 225): http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140507/debtext/140507-0003.htm#140507-0003.htm_spnew21 The bill, containing the new section 65, received Royal Assent and therefore became law on 14 May 2014: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140514-0002.htm#14051468000223 Section 65 came into force (commenced) on 6 April 2015, as in Part 1, paragraph 4 of this document: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/371/contents/made It is also worth noting that the Liberal Democrats explicitly declared a policy of extending citizenship to children of unmarried British fathers during their Spring Conference 2014 (page 31, sections 4.3.18-9): http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/libdems/pages/4138/attachments/original/1392840151/116_-_Making_Migration_Work_for_Britain.pdf?1392840151 For those who are interested, here is evidence of Lord Avebury trying to rectify this injustice as far back as 1981 (do a search for 30A to find the part which concerns us, which begins at 8:39 PM): http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1981/oct/06/british-nationality-bill#S5LV0424P0_19811006_HOL_76 The various developments leading up to this legal reform (parliamentary debates and the like) are also explained in multiple entries of the blog www.ukcitizenshipequality.com. Scroll down, and if necessary click on ‘older posts’, to see another account of how this happened (posts are in reverse chronological order). The blog also provides various explanations relating to the law itself as well as links to relevant articles. These legal changes occurred as a result of many years of efforts, not only in Parliament itself but also behind the scenes, by various people, of whom Lord Avebury and Dr Julian Huppert must be especially praised for their sustained struggle to overcome what seemed for decades to be insurmountable obstacles; Tabitha Sprague, who runs the aforementioned blog, also deserves a special mention for having created a focal point which made similarly affected people realise that they were not alone in their predicament, and various people at ILPA, Ealing Law and PRCBC played a decisive role in making this happen. Organisation of the people suffering from this injustice, followed by their concerted efforts to contact various authorities and people who might help, made the campaign more effective, ultimately securing the prize which many of us had sought all our lives. A list of those who helped in various ways includes: Lord Avebury Dr Julian Huppert MP Solange Valdez, Ealing Law Centre and PRCBC Alison Harvey, ILPA Sonel Mehta, BritCits Tabitha Sprague, ukcitizenshipequality.com Laurie Fransman QC, Garden Court Chambers Adrian Berry, barrister at Garden Court Chambers Colin Yeo, barrister at Garden Court Chambers Steve Symonds, Amnesty International - UK Lord Taylor of Holbeach James Brokenshire MP Kelly-Marie Blundell MP Tom Brake MP Meg Hillier MP Baroness Lister of Burtersett Baroness Smith of Basildon Baroness Hussein-Ece Baroness Faulkner Lord McNally Alison Seabeck MP Tim Farron MP Stewart Jackson MP Damian Green MP Mark Harper MP Fiona MacTaggart MP Sue Shutter (Fiona MacTaggart MP's assistant) Sally Smith Puffles’ Bestest Buddy Maureen Box Paul Lewis, Deputy Director of One-Parent Families (now Gingerbread) Baroness Birk (Deceased) Jo Richardson MP (Deceased) Those who cannot be named for professional reasons but whom we thank anyway. If, after perusing the materials provided, you still have questions, you can contact me by clicking on the link at the top of the petition where it shows who started the petition, or if that doesn’t work for some reason, you can write to me at fesenjun@gmail.com. To those who will apply for citizenship - good luck!