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!

This is the gov uk link

www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-british-parent

I don't know about Canada, but know about British. If one of your parents is British by birth or naturalisation, then you are eligible to apply for British citizenship by descent (if born overseas). It's all on the UK govt website. To claim citizenship by descent, you'll need to provide proof. If the mother is born in the UK, then you will need to also provide proof from the grandparents. Basically to proof the mother did not gain citizenship by descent herself. However, it's all just about being eligible. There might be rules for not granting you the citizenship, for example because of terrorism or criminal records. It's not a definite. (See the Begum case with Bangladash. I'm fairly certain they already said no to her).

Not sure about Canada. Just because the person is born there does not automatically means she's eligible to gain citizenship. You'll need to look at Canadian citizenship laws.

Hi OP join the British expats.com forum and go to the Returning to the UK section, there’s an amazing guy on there called Brit in Paris who
will answer your question he’s been around years and I suspect he works for immigration or similar - he knows his stuff.

I was about to post this. My mother is British but moved to Ireland where my sister was born in 1965. My sister has lived in UK since she was two but is not automatically British, I believe she could apply for citizenship, but she hasn’t and she has an Irish passport.

Doesn't that make the mother a UK citizen otherwise than by descent.
That's what my Dd has, she gets to give UK citizenship to her kids no matter where they are born.
My sons are UK citizens by descent so can't pass it on if their kid are born outside UK.

They hold a British passport

I'm pretty sure this is a massive clue. Don't you have to be British to get a British passport?

You don't apply for British Citizenship by descent. You obtain it at birth. If you are unsure as to whether you obtained it or not you just need to make an enquiry via the Home Office Nationality Department.

Is your father British and were they married at the time of your sister's birth? If so, then on the face of it your sister would be British through her father. If not, and as she's now an adult, she'd have to naturalise if she wanted to become a BC. The 1981 nationality act had a clause for the minor children of BC mothers to register their children as BCs in recognition of the outdated concept of mothers not being able to pass on citizenship before then if the child was born outside of the UK.

'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!'

@mikeyboo thank you, this is what I'm trying to confirm. Tried calling citizens advice bureau - they don't take calls from overseas :(

Sorry but I have a different scenario. You have 3 generations: your British grandma, who passed citizenship to your mum. Then your mum couldn't pass it to you.

I have just 2 generations: I am British by descent, just want to pass citizenship to my daughter.

(Daughter already has an Aussie passport - they allow dual citizenship), so no issues there.

I all British by naturalisation not descent!

You can ring the Nationality enquiry line direct from overseas.

If you're British by naturalization then your daughter is British by descent.

Oh I've never thought about that aspect because I don't have children.

But because I was born abroad does that mean my kids wouldn't be automatically entitled to British citizenship if I had them in another country?

Both my parents were British

Yes, usually. Unless the other parent is British otherwise than by descent or your parents were in crown service when you were born.

Ah ok @elodiesmith - thats interesting. But I only have 2 generations too. My mum could pass Britishness to me, as she was born and grew up in Britain, she moved to my dad's country as an adult where she had me, and then moved back to Britain when I was small. I grew up in Britain too and then moved to Aus for cokuple years as adult, where I had my DD - as I was British by descent, my understanding is that I couldn't pass my Britishness to her. Maybe I'm wrong. I thought similar to your situation (except could not get Aus citizenship for DD due to visa we were on).

The Canadian citizenship act of 1946 states that anyone born in Canada has the right to automatic citizenship. Under the Jus soli principle, children born in Canada are regarded as citizens, regardless of the parent’s nationality.

The one exceotion is if the child is born to diplomats of a foreign government. They are not entitled to Canadian citizenship.

Different for different countries.

One of my kids was born abroad and they do not have a right to citizenship in birth country unless they spend x amount of time here and in education. They can get a brownish passport as parents are British but the linage has to be proven with a lot of documentation.

I’m British born in 70’s my parents are British. I left UK to work overseas. When I returned to the Uk in 2010 with my 5 year old born in USA, I was given 1 month by authorities at Heathrow Immigration to get her a British passport or we would be kicked out of UK. They were quite strict with me actually. Anyway I applied and got it all done.

We’ve since moved abroad again and if my dd has her own dc overseas they will not be entitled to British citizenship. Although she has triple passports now UK/USA/Dutch so very fortunate. We only got the Dutch one because of Brexit to give her options.

It looks like you used to have to claim your citizenship, before age 28. If you've not done that it may not be as simple.