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Hi guys,

Can anybody please explain to me what is the practical difference between BC by descent and otherwise by descent. I have gone through many documentation but failed to understand the practical difference in terms of who can/can't transfer their British citizenship.

Thanks

A BC by descent cannot pass their citizenship on their children if the children are born abroad. The children if born in the UK though to a parent who is BC by descent, would be BC otherwise than descent, i.e. British born. BC by descent is obtained usually by being born abroad to a British parent.

A BC otherwise than descent can pass it on to their children if born abroad and the children would be BC by descent.

There might be other technical differences but this is probably the one most people are concerned about.

Naturalisation or child registration, is British otherwise than descent.

If a BC by descent has a child abroad, this child is not a British citizen. If a BC otherwise than by descent has a child abroad, this child is automatically British (by descent).

Edit: Whoops, too slow

CR001 wrote:Naturalisation or child registration, is British otherwise than descent.

Child registration is more complicated than that. If a parent (as defined by the British Nationality Act 1981) is British when the child is born, the child will be British by descent unless the child meets a residential qualification. The principle is that these latter cases (Section 3(2) and rarely 3(1)) are merely delaying the loss of Britishness down the generations away from the UK.

Registration of bastards born overseas under Section 3(1) is a curious anomaly - they seem to more British than if they had been legitimate! However, such registration has been refused on the grounds that the child's future did not seem to be in the UK. Possibly applicants in future cases will be told to apply under Section 4G.

For registration routes that are open to both adults and children, a disability in the manner of transmission is being overridden, and the place of birth or Crown service rules apply as for automatic transmission.