I completely get the point of the benefits that having a British passport could bring, however being a British citizen and having a British passport do not make you automatically exempt of being scrutinised based on your country of origin. It can even be the case that foreign countries won't treat you very differently, everyone will know where are you originally from. I can comment on this from personal experience - if you see my flag you might understand what I'm talking about.tanha_rixby wrote: ↑Wed Jan 07, 2026 4:42 pmI would respectfully argue this is not the case for the specific cohort of people affected by these long checks. People choose countries for migration based on the opportunities they enable: innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, etc. For these people, travel isn't just leisure, it's business.secret.simon wrote: ↑Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:03 amI will also remind you that the lack of British citizenship does not affect the applicant's life within the UK at all...
If a researcher or investor cannot travel effectively because they are stuck on a weak home-country passport for years while waiting for the UK one, the "Global Hub" advantage of the UK would be nil for them. For an ordinary worker, sure, the UK passport is a nice-to-have. But for the very "brightest and the best" the UK wants, that mobility is their livelihood.
I would not rely on data from the timelines posted on this forum to formulate a claim to the Home Office. For example, that timeline from 2015 to 2023 can simply be a typo however, I'm not sure if the user clarified this when posted. Also there are some cases with incomplete information, one case has a post date before decision date (a typo or they can predict the future), etc.
On the other hand, I'm not sure how you could use that argument of the "brightest and the best" or achievements in your argument to the Home Office and how you determined that the "brightest and the best" are most susceptible to trigger extra checks and experience delays. I understand what you want to highlight here but there is simply nothing within the British Nationality Act pondering this to grant citizenship to an individual. Even people who have entered the country illegally (before the last amendment to the good character guidance last year), who served time in jail for criminal offences, etc are granted British citizenship.
Your case reminds me of a friend who has exactly the same name and nationality as someone who is in the list of the most wanted by the Interpol. Very often he has issues when applying for visas or travelling internationally due to this. I'm not saying that this is your case, it's just to highlight that the delay in your application can be due to a plethora of reasons that we don't know and the HO likely will not tell with details.