The Department of Immigration has granted Bermudian status to a six-year-old boy whose mother had been told he didn’t qualify.

The child was born on the Island to Bermudian parents, allegedly as the result of a rape, as revealed by The Royal Gazette on Monday.

According to his mother, the Department told her he could not have a passport or travel documents, preventing her from going overseas to further her education.

But on Monday afternoon, the 25-year-old woman met with immigration officers and was told her little boy could have status after all.

She shared the information with this newspaper yesterday, saying: “I’m happy. I’m very happy.”

She read out a certificate given to her by the officers, dated November 22, which states that her son has Bermudian status. She said the Department told her she should be able to collect his passport on December 4.

A Ministry of Home Affairs spokeswoman confirmed last night that the matter had been resolved, though she did not mention the boy’s Bermudian status.

She said: “The Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed this evening that the immigration matter reported in today’s [edition of] The Royal Gazette has been resolved.

“A careful review of the matter began last week. The young child will be issued a travel document, thereby allowing him to travel with his mother. The Ministry stressed that they receive inquiries regarding immigration and citizenship matters and cases which prove to have special circumstances are looked at individually and dealt with on their own merit.

“The public is reminded that there must be a level of confidentiality and sensitivity regarding matters such as this and the Ministry is always very careful in its public commentary regarding very private matters.

“That said, as it relates to this particular case, the Ministry is satisfied that there has been a favourable outcome for the benefit of all concerned.”

The unemployed mother hopes to go to university in the UK in January to study nursing but would have been unable to go if her son could not travel with her.

The woman, who was born overseas in 1988 to a Bermudian father and non-Bermudian mother, has lived here since she was a young child.

She applied for Bermudian status after her overseas passport expired, but was told she did not qualify to be a Bermudian.

After hiring a lawyer, she was eventually granted Bermudian status last year.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, alleges that she was raped by a Bermudian man when she was 19, resulting in the birth of her son in 2007, before her Bermudian status was granted.

She has since married a Bermudian and had another child, a three-year-old girl, with her husband. Her daughter, the little boy’s younger half-sister, has Bermudian status.

The mother said the Department of Immigration originally told her that because her son was born out of wedlock, he had no right to status and would have to wait until he was 18 to apply.

She said they did not explain to her on Monday what had prompted their change of heart.

This newspaper emailed Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy with questions about the case on November 20, when he said he would have to look into it.

The Home Affairs spokeswoman said on Monday that the matter was viewed as a “very sensitive one” so comment would be limited.

She confirmed that the Department of Immigration was working with the mother to resolve the matter.

The Government’s latest Throne Speech, delivered earlier this month, pledged to “provide pathways to Bermuda status for persons born in Bermuda or persons who have been adopted by Bermudian parents” in order to conform to human rights obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.