Dual-Citizenship Through Parent

Hello,

My mother does not currently have a UK passport and was born in Canada, but according to the Gov website, she is eligible to apply for British Citizenship, as she is considered to be "automatically a British citizen." (https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-br ... efore-1983)

I am writing here to ask if it would be possible for myself to apply for a UK passport as well, after my mother goes ahead with the application for her UK passport.

I am looking at the wording of the following guidelines and am wondering if my mother, despite not having her British passport when I was born, was technically considered to be a British citizen when I was born (1989) since she falls into the aforementioned "automatically a British citizen" category. If yes, does this mean that I would be eligible for citizenship as well?

1. your mother or father was a British citizen when you were born (they must have been married if your father had British citizenship but your mother did not)
2. your British parent could pass on their citizenship to you

(https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-br ... 3-and-2006)

If you are able to clarify this, I would very much appreciate it.
Thank you.

The question as to whether your mother had a British passport at the time of your birth is irrelevant.

What is relevant is how your mother acquired her British citizenship.

As a general rule, British citizenship can be passed automatically to only one generation born outside the UK.

Only British citizens otherwise than by descent could pass British citizenship automatically to their children born outside the UK.

"Otherwise than by descent" means that the person became a British citizen by birth in the UK (and meeting certain conditions) or by being registered or naturalised in the UK itself.

If, on the other hand, your mother acquired British citizenship because her father was a British citizen born in the UK, she would be a British citizen by descent and would not be able to pass British citizenship to you automatically.

So, how did your mother acquire British citizenship? How did your maternal grandfather acquire British citizenship? And were you born before or after 1st January 1983?

secret.simon wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 17, 2022 8:08 am

The question as to whether your mother had a British passport at the time of your birth is irrelevant.

What is relevant is how your mother acquired her British citizenship.

As a general rule, British citizenship can be passed automatically to only one generation born outside the UK.

Only British citizens otherwise than by descent could pass British citizenship automatically to their children born outside the UK.

"Otherwise than by descent" means that the person became a British citizen by birth in the UK (and meeting certain conditions) or by being registered or naturalised in the UK itself.

If, on the other hand, your mother acquired British citizenship because her father was a British citizen born in the UK, she would be a British citizen by descent and would not be able to pass British citizenship to you automatically.

So, how did your mother acquire British citizenship? How did your maternal grandfather acquire British citizenship? And were you born before or after 1st January 1983?

Hi,

Thanks so much for your response.

My mother, I believe, would automatically be considered a citizen given that bother her mother and father were born in the UK, as well as her grandparents, great parents, etc. Her family moved to Canada right before she was born, so she has a Canadian passport/birth certificate. Her parents were married at the time of her birth.

I was born in 1989. I have had two UK ancestry visas (2012-2017, and 2017-2022), and am now approaching the time where I must apply again - hence me asking if there might be a chance that I can be granted citizenship through my mother).

The reason I have not applied for indefinite leave to remain is because I did not end up moving to the UK until the third year (2015) of my first visa, then received my second visa in 2017 while I was living in the UK. However, I returned to Canada in 2018 to pursue a humanities graduate research degree. I moved back to the UK after receiving my qualification in 2021 and am currently living here now. Since I did not have continuous residency in the UK for a full 5 years, I do not believe I am eligible to apply for ILR next year (although I will have technically lived here for 5 years) - unless my time away from the UK, which was solely for the purpose of study, is somehow an allowance.

Thank you again for your assistance.

Just wondering if someone could confirm my eligibility based off of the information I provided above? Thanks so much.

You don't qualify for British citizenship.

As a general rule, British citizenship is passed automatically only one generation outside the UK. And for British citizenship to pass to children born outside the UK to British citizen parents, at least one of the parents must be a British citizen otherwise than by descent (i.e. the parent themselves should have acquired their British citizenship by birth in the UK or by naturalisation or registration in the UK).

Because your mother was born outside the UK herself to British parents, she is a British citizen by descent. Therefore she can't automatically pass on her British citizenship to you.

There are some provisions to allow for a British citizen by descent to pass on British citizenship to their own children born abroad, but they require
(a) the British citizen by descent parent to have lived in the UK for at least three years before the birth of the child, AND,
(b) the child to be registered as a British citizen before their 18th birthday.

I believe that in your case, neither of the two conditions is met and so you have no ability to claim British citizenship directly.

Re the details of your Ancestry visa, I do not have any direct knowledge of that and hence will not comment on that. But @CR001 has some knowledge of that field and may be able to guide you more on questions relating to that specific visa.

Thank you for clarifying. Should I contact them directly about the UK Ancestry question, or should I start a new thread?