Can we become British citizens?

Hello everyone, my grandfather was born in Cyprus in 1934 and my grandmother in 1936. I have a British passport, birth certificate and ID card belonging to my grandfather and an ID card belonging to my grandmother (it says British Subject on it). In addition, the two have marriage certificates and their nationality is written as British. Apart from these, there is a British citizenship certificate belonging to my grandmother's father. We still live in Cyprus and can my father and I respectively become British citizens?

When (and where) were you and your father born?

Unlikely.

The British Nationality (Cyprus) Order 1960, made under the Cyprus Act 1960, which gave Cyprus independence from the UK, specified who retained Citizenship of the UK and Colonies (CUKC) and who lost it automatically when Cyprus became independent.

If a person met any of the conditions of Paragraph 2, Section 2 of the Order, they would automatically lose CUKC status and become a Cypriot citizen.

(a)a person who became a British subject under the provisions of the Cyprus (Annexation) Orders in Council, 1914 to 1943; or
(b)a person who was born in the Island of Cyprus on or after the 5th of November, 1914; or
(c)a person descended in the male line from such a person as is referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or (b) of this paragraph.

The certificate shows that your grandfather met the first criteria and so likely lost CUKC status automatically in 1960.

Some people were exempt from this automatic loss of CUKC status, but that was mainly if they, their father or father's father were born outside Cyprus, in the UK or a British colony or protectorate other than Cyprus.

So, where was your grandfather, his father and father's father born?

In any case, even assuming that your grandfather held CUKC status, if he did not hold Right of Abode in the UK in 1983, he would have become a British Overseas Citizen (BOC) without the right to live in the UK. And that status (BOC) is not inheritable. So your father and you would not be able to benefit from it.

meself2 wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 29, 2023 9:20 pm

When (and where) were you and your father born?

My father was born in Cyprus in 1965 and I in 2000.

Did anybody in the family either live in the UK or were they born in the UK, registered in the UK or naturalised in the UK (as it is now)?

The laws about British nationality and who can live in the UK on that basis changed significantly in 1971 and 1983.

In 1971, the concept of Right of Abode was created. Only Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) who were either born, registered or naturalised in the UK or whose father met those conditions or those who had lived in the UK for five continuous years had the Right of Abode granted to them.

In 1983, only those Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) who had the Right of Abode became British citizens. CUKCs that didn't have the Right of Abode became British Overseas Citizens without the right to live in the UK. That status is also not inheritable.

If none of the members had Right of Abode, none of them and their descendants have any right to British citizenship.