British nationality?

[citizenshipquestion]

Sorry I'm posting for traffic as I need answers to this asap.

Bit of a strange question but... if your mother is British yet travels to another country after her birth where she then has you (let's say America for arguments sake), are you automatically both of British and American nationality by default because your mother is British?

Thanks in advance for any help!

British citizenship by descent exists, but not in all circumstances - it depends how the mother acquired her British citizenship.

Also, not all countries have birthright citizenship so again it depends which country the child is born in. The USA does, but many countries (including the UK) don’t.

I’m British and had my dd in USA so she has both passports. She also has an EU passport through her dad.

I understand that if she has a child overseas then that child will not automatically be entitled to British citizenship.

Different countries have different rules. UK is no, USA is yes and Ireland was but I don't know if it still is. Best to google those countries.

Depends on how the mother is British.
If by birth (and not descent) the child can access a british passport. Then cannot pass their britishness down to a child born outside the uk, as they were born outside the uk themselves

Ireland is a yes if you are British but not automatically for anyone else.

Some countries have different rules. I am British, but live in another country where my children were born, but this country doesn’t acknowledge the children of foreign citizens as anything other than foreign citizens. As in, I can’t get my kids a passport or citizenship or anything from this country. They have British passports and need visas.

It’s slightly different for DH’s country (India) - the children can get Indian citizenship as their dad is Indian, but they need to give up their British citizenship to do so as they don’t acknowledge duel citizenship:

Depends on the countries and how the parent came to their citizenship . There may be a time limit on some (eg need to be registered within a certain time of birth), and it may depend whether citizenship comes from mother or father, and whether parents were married at time of birth. Not all countries allow dual citizenship, so the child might have to choose once an adult.
research the countries

Mikeyboo is 100% correct.

If mum is born in Croatia, gets raised in the UK (and obviously gets a British passport)....

Mum then moves to Australia and has a daughter. Can the mum get British passport for her daughter?

I had this. I was born overseas but to a mum that was British by birth, so I am British by descent. I had my DD overseas also (lived abroad for a couple of years) and DD could not be British by decent from me. Luckily, she is British by decent from my husband, who is British by birth. Sadly she didn't qualify for citizenship in country she was born in due to their local rules.

In fact, @elodiesmith this was pretty much my situation, I was living in Aus when DD was born (though it wasn't Croatia I was born in). DD is British through my husband not me.

It depends on the country. You often have to apply for citizenship it's not automotive. And some countries, Spain for example don't recognise duel citizenship

Lots of countries say they don't recognise/allow dual citizenship but many of their citizens have another one anyway. It's very difficult to prevent in practice.

Naturalised British citizens have the same ability to pass on citizenship by descent as British-born citizens, I believe - I’m not an immigration lawyer though!

Your situation is how I was born & grew up: Born overseas to one British-born parent, so I automatically received British nationality, but could never claim any sort of citizenship from the country I was born and spent 18yrs in!

Ok so it might help to get more accurate answers if I give more specific info about the scenario.

The person to whom this query relates was born in Canada to a British mother (their mother was born in England and emigrated to Canada as an adult where she met and married this person's father). After the person's birth, mother moved back to England when the person was aged 2. She then met and married a British man, who legally adopted the person at aged 2 and became their legal father.

This person is now aged 63 and has lived in England for the past 61 years. They hold a British passport and have lived and worked in this country their whole life.

My question is: Do they currently as it stands have both British and Canadian nationality?

Also - was their British nationality present automatically at birth due to mother being a British national? Or did it apply from the moment their returned to England as a child?

Thank you

Looks like usually if born on Canada you would be a Canadian citizen, however I've seen this:

"Some Canadian citizens lost their citizenship over the previous decades because they became citizens of other countries, lived overseas, married citizens of other countries or failed to apply for proof of citizenship before age 28. All of these rules that caused these Canadians to lose their citizenship have been repealed. However, not every single person who would be Canadian under the current law can “resume” citizenship.

This can be quite confusing. If you are not sure whether or not you can retain/resume your citizenship, we suggest a consultation. Alternatively, you can submit a question on this website and we will respond to it within 2 business days."

It looks like potentially if you didn't apply for citizenship before age 28 you wouldn't be a Canadian citizen, although the rule has since been repealed not everyone can resume citizenship. Sounds like it's quite complex and on a more case-by-case basis so maybe some professional advice would be good.

Thanks @AdInfinitum12

Any ideas on whether they would automatically hold British citizenship in this instance due to mother being British by birth?

It's hard to know because countries change their rules but don't always do it retrospectively.

The country I was born in happened to be giving nationality to people that were born there at the time I was born. Had I been born a few years later I would not have that entitlement.

So you need to understand what the rules were at the time they were born, rather than the current rules I think

Ah ok, thank you.

They were born in Canada in 1960. I guess I'll have to do some extra digging.

Unless it’s idle curiosity on your part, surely this is far too important an answer to seek on MN?

No disrespect to the expertise here.

It’s not just about the complexity of the rules - it’s that you might have incorrect second hand information.

I would agree with this, looking at the repeals Canada has brought in and who it affects it doesn't seem like a straight forward answer

I am British by birth and have had my children in a different country. They automatically have had British citizenship since birth. However as PP have said, these rules do and have changed over the years so you would really need to find out what the rules were at the time the person was born.

My children will not be able to pass British citizenship on to their own children unless they become resident in the UK for a certain amount of time.

A woman born in Britain before 1983, but then had her children overseas or even in Britain - could not pass on her British citizenship. The law changed after that.
My sister born 1966 in the UK, married and Aussie, DCs botn in NZ. They were not entitled to British citizenship through her. They had to get an ancestry visa to come and live in GB via their fathers parents which then entitled them to live in GB and apply for GB citizenship after lviing here for 5 yrs.

Same for me - my DCs have a naturalsied British citizen father - they got their British passports from their father not me as I was born in 1972

The 1983 law change stopped this discrimination

Glad you posted this.

OP a quick google led me to this gov.uk page - www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-british-parent

It's got the periods in years with different rough rules.