UK Citizenship or Right of Abode CUKC

Here's hoping someone may be able to provide some advice on my wife's interest in UK Citizenship or Right of Abode.

The background on her and family is as follows:
My wife parents held both held British passports; and she felt she may be entitled to a claim of UK residency, citizenship or right of abode.

Her parents’ background is as follows:

Mother
Born in Nairobi, Kenya on 25/8/1935
Was issued with a British passport during her early adult life.
Married 30/4/1954 in India (she travelled to India and returned, soon after, to Kenya with her husband)

Father
Born in Ludhiana, India on 16/9/1934
Married 30/4/1954 in India (and returned to Kenya with his wife)
Subsequently applied for, and was issued, a British passport

Both her parents lived together in Nairobi in the former Kenya Colony, and are now deceased

My wife was born in Nairobi, Kenya on 1/7/1961 while the Kenya Colony existed.
She was automatically granted Kenyan citizenship when Kenya gained independence on 12/12/1963.
She migrated to Australia in 1988 and was granted Australian citizenship on 23 January 1992.

The pertinent questions seem to be:

1. Were my wife's parent's British Overseas Citizens automatically?
2. Was my wife a British Overseas Citizen automatically?
3. Can she claim UK residency, citizenship or right of abode as a result of the above?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The mother of your wife and your wife were Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) before Kenyan independence in 1963, by birth in Nairobi.

It is unclear how the father acquired British citizenship. This may be pertinent. He may have registered as a British citizen. If he had, it would be relevant as to which law he was registered under and whether that registration was done under the government of the British Kenya colony or by a UK High Commission.

It is likely that your wife and her parents lost CUKC status on Kenyan independence (See Sections 2 and 3 of the Kenya Independence Act 1963).

As neither she nor her parents seem to have retained CUKC status after 1963, they would also not have BOC status now.

In any case, Right of Abode would only be acquired if either parent had a connection with the UK itself (i.e. not with a colony, but the UK itself). So, for your wife to have acquired Right of Abode, she or one of her parents or grandparents needed to have been born in or registered or naturalised as a British citizen in the UK, not in a colony.

Dear secret.simon,

Thank you for your response. It seems that the concepts of citizenship, naturalisation and Right of Abode are interrelated in a fairly complex way. For example,the following phrases appear in the Kenya Independence Act 1963 that you referenced.

Upon asking, I am informed that the father and mother never took up Kenyan citizenship. However, with the passage of time, and the demise of the parents, it is unclear how they gained British citizenship.

So, in order to move my research forward, I have found a source for records for naturalisation and citizenship here: National Archives Would this be the next best step?

On a slightly different note, is their British Overseas Citizenship (BOC) status relevant here ?

Thanks & Regards

Iluvatar wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 2:43 am

It seems that the concepts of citizenship, naturalisation and Right of Abode are interrelated in a fairly complex way.

Naturalisation is a way for a non-citizen (generally a non-citizen adult) to acquire citizenship.

Right of Abode was an immigration restriction that was later incorporated into British citizenship.

Iluvatar wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 2:43 am

Upon asking, I am informed that the father and mother never took up Kenyan citizenship.

They may not have to take it up. It may have applied to them automatically, just like the Independence Act stripping them of their CUKC status if they had acquired Kenyan citizenship.

Indeed, it applied to your wife automatically, as you mention yourself in the original post.

Iluvatar wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 2:43 am

So, in order to move my research forward, I have found a source for records for naturalisation and citizenship here: National Archives Would this be the next best step?

You can give it a go, but I suspect that if your father-in-law had registered as a CUKC, the registration certificate would likely not be with the National Archives in the UK, but in the relevant archives in Kenya. I suspect that the National Archives in the UK would have the registration and naturalisation certificates of people so registered or naturalised in the UK itself, not in a colony.

Your mother-in-law would have been a CUKC by birth in a colony and so there would be no record of registration or naturalisation in the National Archives in the UK.

Iluvatar wrote: ↑

Sun May 30, 2021 2:43 am

On a slightly different note, is their British Overseas Citizenship (BOC) status relevant here ?

I don't think so.

In any case, even assuming that your wife is a BOC (which I doubt), she has no special pathway to British citizenship, except the usual migration pathways (work, etc) open to all non-EEA citizens.

Simply put, a British Overseas Citizen has no special privilege when it comes to UK immigration.

So, as best as I can determine, Kenyan citizenship had to be claimed. I don't think it was automatically granted.

See the Kenya Citizenship Act
It seems to be silent on the automatic granting of citizenship.

I am informed that the parents did not apply for citizenship of Kenya after independence.

An excellent review of Kenyan Citizenship Law, which addresses changes to the original Citizenship Act, can be found here: Report on Citizenship Law: Kenya - Edinburgh University

Even if we assume that the parents retained CUKC status, your wife's CUKC status would have been extinguished by the sections of the Kenyan Independence Act mentioned above, unless her father had registered as a CUKC in a part of the UK and Colonies that was still a UK possession after Kenyan independence.

And even if she retained her CUKC status (perhaps because her father had registered as a CUKC citizen outside Kenya), she would still not have acquired the Right of Abode in 1971.

So, even assuming that she is a BOC, she has no immigration advantage to move to the UK.

I am curious, why is your wife so intent in pursuing retention of her BOC? In any case, she should be aware that BOC status can't be passed on to her children, unless they are stateless.

The Wikipedia article on British Overseas Citizenship and this article on the history of British citizenship linked therein is also worth a read.

Dear secret.simon,

Thank you for the feedback. My wife is not particularly 'intent in pursuing retention of her BOC'; rather she is investigating her Right of Abode in the UK, or to hold a British passport (to obviate the need for visas and the pursuit of residency and/or ILR).

The Home Office appears to be intent on making it more difficult, and expensive simply to visit Britain.