Please help me with former colonies and U.K citizenship :(

[Dominique]

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions.

I am a 24 year old Barbados native, Barbados is presently a Commonwealth member. My mother was born in 1956, her mother in 1936 our country acquired our independence in 1966.

My grandfather (mother's dad) was unmarried to her mother, but left Barbados in 1957 for the U.K and renounced his Barbadian citizenship, he is now a citizen of the U.K.

My grandmother, mother and myself hold Barbadian passports.
My grandfather, grandmother, mother and myself were born in Barbados.

My questions are-

.Did my grandfather earn citizenship by naturalization, or by birth. If by birth was it because he was born in Barbados while it was a colony? I'm not sure if nationality by birth works for colonies or if he would of had to be born in the actual United Kingdom.

.Can my grandfather still apply for my mother (he has tried before in her early teens but it was rejected for some reason, they have record of his application)

.Can my grandfather apply for his grandkids, even if we are now over the age of 16?

.Can my grandfather apply for his grandkids without applying for his own child?

.Does my mother or grandmother have any right to acquiring British citizenship themselves without the aid of my grandfather living in the U.K, because they were born while Barbados was a colony even if they have Barbadian passports?

.If the only way my mother can obtain her citizenship is through my grandfather, how many years does my mother have to wait to apply for her childrens' citizenship?

.Can parents or grandparents apply for married children/grandchildren over the age of 21?

[JAJ]

Hello everyone,

I have a few questions.

I am a 24 year old Barbados native, Barbados is presently a Commonwealth member. My mother was born in 1956, her mother in 1936 our country acquired our independence in 1966.

My grandfather (mother's dad) was unmarried to her mother, but left Barbados in 1957 for the U.K and renounced his Barbadian citizenship, he is now a citizen of the U.K.

My grandmother, mother and myself hold Barbadian passports.
My grandfather, grandmother, mother and myself were born in Barbados.

My questions are-

.Did my grandfather earn citizenship by naturalization, or by birth. If by birth was it because he was born in Barbados while it was a colony? I'm not sure if nationality by birth works for colonies or if he would of had to be born in the actual United Kingdom.

When Barbados became independent in 1966, anyone becoming a Barbados citizen at Independence automatically lost U.K. & Colonies citizenship unless they had ties by way of birth or descent with the UK itself or a place which remained a colony.

So as far as your grandfather is concerned,either:

- his circumstances were such that he retained UK citizenship on independence. Then, if resident in the UK for 5 years before 1983, he would normally have become a British citizen on 1.1.83; or

- your father re-acquired UK & Colonies citizenship by registration or naturalisation in the UK after independence.

.Can my grandfather still apply for my mother (he has tried before in her early teens but it was rejected for some reason, they have record of his application)

.Can my grandfather apply for his grandkids, even if we are now over the age of 16?

.Can my grandfather apply for his grandkids without applying for his own child?

.Does my mother or grandmother have any right to acquiring British citizenship themselves without the aid of my grandfather living in the U.K, because they were born while Barbados was a colony even if they have Barbadian passports?

.If the only way my mother can obtain her citizenship is through my grandfather, how many years does my mother have to wait to apply for her childrens' citizenship?

.Can parents or grandparents apply for married children/grandchildren over the age of 21?

The answer to all of the above is no, sorry,assuming your mother stayed in Barbados.

You should understand that the whole logic of Barbados becoming independent is that those connected to Barbados should as a rule be citizens of that country, not the United Kingdom. If that is such a problem - why become independent in the first place?

[Dominique]

O.K thanks.

So, that means that regardless of my grandfather being born a citizen and retaining it, he would only be considered a citizen by naturalization and not by birth.

Unfortunately that would mean that any of his children connected with him outside the U.K he would not be able to pass on his citizenship to unless they are under 18-
My mom is now almost 50, so chances are because of this system she cannot hope to reunite with him in England without going through her own avenues.
The U.K immigration system seems to have a lot less outlets for reuniting with families than that of the U.S

On another note, what is the purpose of them recording the fact that she had been "sent for" during her early teens? They tend to remind her of that at port of entry when she visits the U.K

[JAJ]

O.K thanks.

So, that means that regardless of my grandfather being born a citizen and retaining it, he would only be considered a citizen by naturalization and not by birth.

Once again, you didn't provide information to assess whether he kept British nationality at Barbados independence or re-acquired it in the UK later on. But for this purpose, it does not matter.

On another note, what is the purpose of them recording the fact that she had been "sent for" during her early teens? They tend to remind her of that at port of entry when she visits the U.K

They may have evidence that she previously was interested in migration to the UK.