Has anyone on here tried to get citizenship by descent from Caribbean?

[pinkcoconutcandy]

My mum is from Trinidad but my dad is British. Is it possible to get citizenship via my mums nationality? She now has a British passport though.
I have read up on it but am not sure due to my age and my mum having a British passport.

Thanks

It depends on when, and where, you were born. The Immigration Act which came into force in January 1983 changed the rules regarding British citizenship.

If you are able to share more regarding your background, I'm sure others more knowledgeable will be able to advise.

Top of Google search

This means that if you were born on or after 1 July 2021 you did not automatically have British citizenship, in most cases. You will still be a British citizen automatically if both of the following are true: your parent with permanent residence status had applied for settled status on or before 30 June 2021

I don’t think OP wants British citizenship; I think she wants Caribbean citizenship?

Or my Friday cooking wine has gone to my head!

This was before covid, not sure if it has been extended or not. Linked yo brexit and eu citizenship. www.gov.uk/family-permit

OP I was doing a Google search to see how you could get Trinidadian citizenship and found this:

"As granted in Chap 1:50 Section 5 of the Citizenship Act, persons born outside of the country are entitled to citizenship by descent, as long as either of their parents is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago by means other than that of descent themselves."

Link-
www.dualcitizenshipreport.org/dual-citizenship/trinidad-and-tobago/#:~:text=Dual%20Citizenship%20Trinidad%20and%20Tobago,-Allowed&text=As%20granted%20in%20Chap%201,than%20that%20of%20descent%20themselves.

Can your mum prove she is a Trinidadian citizen and it isn't by descent? In other words would she be willing to renew her Trinidadian passport if you paid for it? After that you should be able to apply. I know people who have had to do this to get citizenship of EU countries e.g. get a parent to get a passport before they can.

@pinkcoconutcandy similar position here, when I looked I wasn’t eligible as my mum had a British passport rather than Trinidadian passport. Rules may have changed but sounds similar to upthread. Not sure what use a T&T passport is though if living here?!

I think T&T only let you have one passport, like France. So you would have to give up your British citizenship!

Even if your mother's passport has expired, she's still a Trinidadian citizen so you shouldn't have any problems applying.

Oh wow I am so grateful for the replies. I was born in 1986 and want to work in the Caribbean and ideally have citizenship for TT

I have a job that means I can work in the Caribbean and I believe as a citizen I would be able to work in other islands too but I wouldn't want to move and never make it permanent if I chose to. I believe I can have dual citizenship as can my mum if she chose to but if my dc who have no 'direct' citizen as family were to apply (or someone moving there with no connection) they cannot have dual citizenship.

@SavoyCabbage

I think T&T only let you have one passport, like France. So you would have to give up your British citizenship!

They do let people be dual citizens now but it isn't exactly clear on what their criteria is.

@RedWingBoots excuse my ignorance but my has a British passport and no Trinidad one, would she still be able to retain a T&T one now?
She was born and lived all her life there until she married my dad in T&T and came here with him maybe 1982. And she acts more like she's left a week ago which is too much fun 😂

Not sure what use a T&T passport is though if living here?!

While I know less people as the years go by, plenty of older people want the passport of the country of their birth if they are in to having a passport.

Being a dual citizen is more a problem for their children if they want to do certain jobs, added to that there are the shitty UK laws that are now being passed.

OP whether she is allowed a new one isn't actually clear as T&T changed the law in 1988 to allow dual citizenship, before then you couldn't have it.

Thanks @RedWingBoots she only got the passport in the early 90's I asked her why she didn't attempt dual citizenship passports but she said she was scared she'd lose her citizenship here. (I don't think she would have done but she was scared and it was different times, so she didn't keep the T&T passport)

I don't know about TnT, I know about Jamaica,

Yes, have to go down Kensington, apply there - you apply for citizenship and the passport at the same time. Takes forever, the counter staff are rude, it's all in cash, it's bloody expensive (my family of four was about a grand) but once you get past all of that you can safely pay local rates in the hotels..... and you are a dual citizen, which is the very most important thing. Feels great.

Also, with a JA passport there are several countries in Africa that you can visit without a visa.

Thanks @Jamdown123 was that at the embassy? I'm thinking maybe I can email the T&T embassy then and ask.
Did you have to have a lot of details with you? (My mum is not great at keeping paperwork. Probably take her 5 years to find everything let alone waiting on anyone else! )

My dad and all grandparents were born in JA. I took my dad's child passport and his birth certificate. I needed my birth certificate to prove I was his offspring, I also had my kids' documents as I anted to secure passports for them. Then I needed the other forms they gave.

It was quite straightforward APART from bits like they only accepted cash and there were no arms nearby and I had two children with me, one in a buggy. Waited ages, lost my place in the queue, cried, no one cared just muscling in to get seen themselves, rude counter staff who rejected my photo because they said I 'looked naked' (I was wearing a boat cut top in the photo which was clear, but apparently to much of my neck showed' etc etc. I do forget how conservative caribbean communities actually are!

So had to go back a second time. That time they objected to something else.

It was a horrible process but I think maybe just fine for someone else!

Do email or call, you'll get answers you need.

atms

@Jamdown123 thank you. Yes I've just got back from Caribbean and lol at the conservative ways. Weird they only accept cash. Think I will see if I can get any help from the embassy then.

I was born in Canada to two Trinidadian born parents, but Canadian citizens. I was able to get Trinidadian citizenship by decent automatically because at the time of my birth, 1971, Trinidad refused to acknowledge dual citizenship. Once my parents became Canadian, Trinidad no longer recognised their citizenship. My understanding is that children born to such Trinidadian parents were grandfathered, otherwise your Trinidad parent had to have a citizenship at the time of your birth to qualify for automatic citizenship by decent. I went through this process many years ago and maybe things have changed since then.