Other routes to British citizenship

British citizenship by adoption

The rules governing adoption in British nationality law are complex and you will need specialist advice if claiming British nationality on these grounds.

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If a child was adopted in the UK after 1 January 1983 and a parent was a British citizen at the time of the adoption, then that child is a British citizen.

Adoption outside of the UK

If a child was adopted outside the UK, then one needs to look at the natural (or biological) parents to determine whether the adopted child has a claim to British nationality. The nationality of the adopting parents will normally have no bearing on the nationality of the child, though again there are some exceptions.

If either adoptive parent had a UK-born parent, then the UK Ancestry visa is available to the adopted child (as long as they meet the other criteria of this visa class).

Children under 18

For as long as the adopted child is still under the age of 18, then that adopted child will be eligible for the same UK visas that a natural child will have rights to. Also, it is possible to apply for a discretionary registration for British nationality if it can be shown that it is in the child’s best interest to do so.

British citizenship: Birth out of wedlock

Recent legislation has addressed the question of illegitimacy in the former nationality law. Limited claims can now be made down the male line through a British father.

New legislation applies to all births

Legislation was made effective in 2006 to allow claims to be made for those born illegitimately to a father who was British otherwise than by descent (i.e. where a father could pass their British nationality down to children). It was only in 2014 that further legislation was passed to allow those born before 2006 to have a claim.

Claiming British nationality as an illegitimate child

This means that where someone has been disadvantaged in the past due to being classified as an illegitimate child, it may now be possible to lodge a remedial application to give the subject the rights that they would have had from the start but for this prior discrimination. The new law even allows some to qualify if they were disadvantaged as an illegitimate child with the relevant country's independence arrangements.

However, there are a few catches. We can deem some illegitimate children British by operation of law using the domicile laws of other countries. If someone is already a British citizen by operation of law, it would be wholly inappropriate to register that person as a British citizen

it would either:

• Potentially remove rights from any children already born to that person, or
• Remove nationality of another country because the subject has made a voluntary application to acquire nationality

Get an assessment to see if you may apply for British citizenship

If your father was unmarried at the time of your birth, but he was born in the UK, you may still have a claim to British nationality.

British citizenship by marriage

Marriage to a British citizen allows a person to potentially qualify for the UK spouse visa. However, old Colonial law also passed on further rights to women (but not men) who were married to British husbands before 1 January 1983 and to the children of women married before 1949.

You can qualify for a UK spouse visa if you are married to, or in a relationship with, a British citizen.

Women married between 1 January 1949 and 31 December 1982

A woman who married a British citizen (or a man whose father was born in the UK) before 1 January 1983 - and this woman was a Commonwealth citizen on 1 January 1983 - can claim the right of abode.

The right of abode is takes the form of a stamp in a passport and allows the holder to live and work in the UK. You may eventually naturalise as a British citizen if you have the right to abode.

Please note the following important anomalies to the above requirements:

• Commonwealth nationality can come from one of the following:
  1. Birth in a country that remained a Commonwealth country on 1 January 1983 (so this excludes South Africa)
  2. b. Descent from the father (in most cases, his country of birth)
• Previous marriages can also convey the right of abode. So, even though a woman may have remarried, divorced or become widowed, she keeps the right of abode from the previous marriage. This means that a South African-born woman could qualify if her father was born in Rhodesia (as an example).
• The man can be British by birth or by descent. This means that the woman can get the right of abode from her father-in-law.

Women married before 1 January 1949

A woman became a British Subject on her wedding day if she married a British man (including a man whose father was born in the UK) before 1 January 1949.

Please note the following three important anomalies:

• Previous marriages also convey this transfer of British nationality. So even though a woman may have remarried, divorced or become widowed, she remained a British subject.
• Any children born to this woman after 1 January 1949 can claim British nationality.
• The husband can be British by birth or by descent.

A consequence of this old nationality law occurs where a person born after 1 January 1949 can have a claim British nationality from a paternal grandfather born in the UK.

A strange consequence could arise if all three of these factors apply: A person born after 1 January 1949 can have a claim to British nationality from the father of his mother’s former husband.

UK Crown service: Obtain British citizenship

Crown service means employment in the service of the Crown under His Majesty’s Government. It includes the British military, the Overseas Civil Service, the Colonial Service and the Diplomatic Corp.

Who can claim?

Defining Crown service

Matters are complicated with the definition of colony, protectorate, protected state, etc., which will vary in line with the status of territories at different times in the past and within the meaning within the British Nationality Acts 1948 to 1981. The most common situation that this nationality solution would cover (but there are others) was where your father was on war duty (and recruited in the UK) between 1939 and 1945. So, an obvious indicator of eligibility in this instance is if you were born during these years. The position is complicated further with the definition of "Crown service" and what we term as "designated service".

In the case of military service, it is entirely possible that even though military service was completed, the parent was still "on call" and placed on a reserve list. This period may count towards this provision.

Designated service is, as the name suggests, a service that is designated by law as being good for this purpose. There are numerous statutes adding new occupations to "designated service", including employment with a number of organisations which are not so obvious (such as the British Tourist Authority).

The broadening of the scope of “designated service”

After recent research by Philip Gamble, and a successful British citizenship application on behalf of a client in December 2014.

Let us handle your British citizenship case

The list on this page is not exhaustive and there are numerous other scientific, defence, communication and international organisations that would qualify. You may have a claim to British nationality through Crown service.

Renunciation and resumption of British citizenship

It is possible to renounce British nationality. In most cases, this is as a result of the nationality laws of another country which doesn’t (or didn’t) allow for dual nationality. It is possible to resume British nationality under certain circumstances, but you can normally only do this once.

Renunciation of British nationality

It is possible to renounce any form of British nationality. This can be necessary where the nationality laws of another country don’t allow dual nationality and you wish to retain the other citizenship.

Applications for renunciation of any form of British nationality can only be processed by the Home Office in the UK. Some forms of British nationality cannot be resumed after renunciation and given the severe consequences of the action, professional advice should be obtained on the ramifications before any application is lodged.

Resumption of British nationality

An application can be made to resume British nationality where a valid claim to British nationality would have been available had the prior renunciation not taken place.

There are two situations covered here - resumption after the renunciation of:

• Citizenship of the UK and colonies (CUKC) or an old form of British nationality
• British nationality (the modern form of British nationality)

Resumption after the renunciation of citizenship of the UK and colonies (CUKC) or an old form of British nationality

An application can be made to register as a British citizen in the modern day where a person held (but later renounced) citizenship of the UK and colonies or any one of the previous statuses of British nationality.

This renunciation must have taken place before 1 January 1983 (at the time when the main British nationality status was citizen of the UK and colonies (CUKC). For renunciations that took place before 1 January 1983, the registration is a discretionary decision (made by the Secretary of State)

The "appropriate connection to the UK" is taken as, but not restricted to

In practice, the applicant should demonstrate that they had a reasonable belief that the renunciation was a result of being deprived of nationality of another Commonwealth country.

Resumption after the renunciation of British nationality

For renunciations that took place after 1 January 1983, the applicant does not need to demonstrate an appropriate connection with the UK.