Citizenship help

[redbyte]

Hello,

Im wondering whether or not I am entitled to apply for citizenship. Ill explain my case. I was born in London in 1986 to a father who, at the time, held a British Protected Passport without indefinite leave to remain, it was limited to visits. He got this passport by being born in a British Colony at the time, and his parents did NOT have this so he was the first from my family to recieve this.

I resided outside the U.K until recently. After I turned 18, my father was given full citizenship and currently holds a British Passport. I am currently back in London on a student visa that is valid for over a year while I pursue my higher education. This is pretty much my case summed up. I appreciate your help and look forward to your reply.

[Red Squirrel Publishing]

First off, did you live in the UK for the first 10 years of your life? If you did you can apply using Form T which makes it all a lot more simple. More information is on the UKBA site here - http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... ornintheuk

With British Protected Persons the UKBA accept this is confusing and recommend you to call them if you've got questions. To have a stab at it for them though... As you father didn't get his passport through desecent (called 'otherwise than by descent') then he can pass his citizenship on to you. The following, taken from the UKBA page 'Am I a British protected person?' should help clarify.

"From 1 January 1983, the following categories of people became, or were able to become, British protected persons:
* anyone who would otherwise be born stateless, on or after 1 January 1983, in the United Kingdom or an overseas territory if, at the time of their birth, their mother or father was a British protected person.

In most cases, British protected persons lost that status when they gained any other nationality or citizenship, including British citizenship, British overseas territories citizenship or British Overseas citizenship."

What this means is that if you were born stateless in the UK then you would be a British Protected Person, and eligible to apply for citizenship. However, if you subsequently became a citizen of another country you lost that staus, and the associated right to apply for naturalisation.

If your father only achieved ILR/citizenship after you turned 18 then you can't apply as his child either, as you are now classed as an independent adult. This means you will need to apply through the normal channels - http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... igibility/.

Hope this helps.