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To anyone who can assist:

My father was previously a CUKC born in Kenya in 1943 to CUKC parents (parents born in India in early 1900's and registered as CUKC in Kenya sometime in the 1950s I believe).

My father subsequently renounced his CUKC in 1972 and took up Kenyan citizenship 1) because Kenya did not and does not allow dual nationality; and 2) Kenyan citizenship was required for him to carry on in his business in Kenya.

Is he now eligible to register as a British Citizen? I have seen form RS1 and the guide to submitting it and it appears that he may have one chance at registering as a British Citizen, but we need to be absolutely sure he is eligible.

Any responses appreciated.

Had he remained a CUKC would he have become a British citizen on 1.1.83 or a British Overseas citizen?

The Home Office website isn't as clear as it could be but if you look at the Nationality Instructions it's clear that if you renounced CUKC before 1.1.83 you can only register as a British citizen if you have a "qualifying connection" with the United Kingdom itself.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... chapter16/

In other words, if a CUKC from a former colony, and without Right of Abode, ceased to be a British national in favour of another citizenship, Britain doesn't want that person back.

JAJ wrote:Had he remained a CUKC would he have become a British citizen on 1.1.83 or a British Overseas citizen?

The Home Office website isn't as clear as it could be but if you look at the Nationality Instructions it's clear that if you renounced CUKC before 1.1.83 you can only register as a British citizen if you have a "qualifying connection" with the United Kingdom itself.

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/siteco ... chapter16/

In other words, if a CUKC from a former colony, and without Right of Abode, ceased to be a British national in favour of another citizenship, Britain doesn't want that person back.

Thanks JAJ for your reply.

I believe he would have become a BOC on 1.1.83.

I had previously read Chapter 16 of the Caseworking Instructions but still not clear on the practical implications of applying under S. 10(1) which is registration as an entitlement and S. 10(2) -discretionary.

The main question is if he meets the qualifying connection criteria as per S. 10(4)-his father was registered as a CUKC in Kenya (a country which was included in S. 1(3) of the BNA 1948 and is listed as such in Annex B).

Your thoughts?

Isn't BOC pretty useless, only value if you are stateless and haven't made yourself stateless?

Wanderer wrote:Isn't BOC pretty useless, only value if you are stateless and haven't made yourself stateless?

If you don't have any other commonwealth citizenship, British Overseas Citizenship does have a few small advantages like right to vote in the UK and somewhat lower UK taxes if you are not a resident for UK tax purposes.

Even if you have another form of commonwealth citizenship, BOC status still has some advantages, but these are more minor, and include (1) converting to British Citizenship is cheaper and simpler (registration instead of naturalization), (2) ILR for BOCs is lifelong, regardless of time spent away from the UK and (3) you can hold certain jobs or offices in the UK.

Smit wrote: I believe he would have become a BOC on 1.1.83.

I had previously read Chapter 16 of the Caseworking Instructions but still not clear on the practical implications of applying under S. 10(1) which is registration as an entitlement and S. 10(2) -discretionary.

The main question is if he meets the qualifying connection criteria as per S. 10(4)-his father was registered as a CUKC in Kenya (a country which was included in S. 1(3) of the BNA 1948 and is listed as such in Annex B).

Your thoughts?

Kenya was only added to section 1(3) of the 1948 Act when it became independent in 1963.

The reference you mention was registration as a CUKC by a British High Commission before 1983 (before most British citizen registrations transitioned to the Home Office).