Is british nation (overseas) proof of no other citizenship?

im in the process of registering for my british citizenship, one of the requirements is that you can prove you have no other citizenship / nationality

as a british national (overseas) is that not proof in itself?

on this link
https://www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship
it states "You can’t have dual citizenship if you’re a British subject or a British protected person unless you’re a British subject from the Republic of Ireland."
as i am a bno i am classed as a british subject

but on this link
https://www.gov.uk/register-british-cit ... -nationals
it states

"You may be able to register as a British citizen if you’re a British national and can prove that you don’t have any other citizenship or nationality.

You’ll need to be a:

British overseas citizen
British protected person
British subject
British national (overseas)"


this is whats confusing me, if i have a bno, i cant have another citizenship or nationality so why the need to prove i dont?
cant they not take that as proof

Think it means any nationality other than a British-type one.

thesnowman wrote:im in the process of registering for my british citizenship, one of the requirements is that you can prove you have no other citizenship / nationality

as a british national (overseas) is that not proof in itself?

on this link
https://www.gov.uk/dual-citizenship
it states "You can’t have dual citizenship if you’re a British subject or a British protected person unless you’re a British subject from the Republic of Ireland."
as i am a bno i am classed as a british subject

but on this link
https://www.gov.uk/register-british-cit ... -nationals
it states

"You may be able to register as a British citizen if you’re a British national and can prove that you don’t have any other citizenship or nationality.

You’ll need to be a:

British overseas citizen
British protected person
British subject
British national (overseas)"


this is whats confusing me, if i have a bno, i cant have another citizenship or nationality so why the need to prove i dont?
cant they not take that as proof

I read somewhere if you are from Hong Kong and a BNO, China may have registered your birth as Chinese without you even knowing hence you could also be classed as a citizen of China. There is some way to check this but I am unsure (nothing a bit of research could help).

The only reason I say this is my flatmate is Hong Kong BNO and was interested in registering as a British Citizenship and faced the same question, going through a lawyer he found out this information. He abandoned it as soon as he saw the fee! Hope this helps.
Carrick

carrick wrote:as a british national (overseas) is that not proof in itself?

No.

Citizenship can be acquired by force of law even without being aware of it. So, for instance, as Carrick pointed out, if you are of Chinese ethnicity and from Hong Kong, Chinese law considers you a Chinese citizen automatically, even if you have never applied for it. So, as you have Chinese citizenship (even if you have never exercised it), you are ineligible for registration as a British citizen.

Similarly, a BNO on these forums was not of Chinese ethnicity, but was born in Pakistan, which automatically gave him Pakistani citizenship and hence he lost his chance of registering as a British citizen.

Likewise, if you have Italian or Polish ancestry for any number of generations, you get the relevant citizenship and lose the right to register as a British citizen.

So, to start with, I would suggest researching the citizenships held by both your parents and verifying that you have not inherited those citizenships under the law in force at the time of your birth and subsequently. Then also research the law of the place you were born. Finally get letters from the embassies of all those countries that you have never at any point in time held their citizenship.

both my parents were born in hong kong during british occupation
myself i was born in germany (but am not classed as a citizen because 1 or both of my parent is not of german descent) and have lived in england all my life since

after the handover of hong kong back to china my parents registered me as british born (overseas)
my understanding is that registering bno status you cannot have citizenship of any other country , they would not grant this otherwise

i tried to get in touch with the chinese embassy but that seemed futile , no email reply and no one answering the phone

i emailed ukcentre@visaforchina.org and they did get back with me
they said As long as your British passport detail your place of birth is not Hong Kong. Then we don't consider your formal nationalities is China

[/quote]

I read somewhere if you are from Hong Kong and a BNO, China may have registered your birth as Chinese without you even knowing hence you could also be classed as a citizen of China. There is some way to check this but I am unsure (nothing a bit of research could help).

The only reason I say this is my flatmate is Hong Kong BNO and was interested in registering as a British Citizenship and faced the same question, going through a lawyer he found out this information. He abandoned it as soon as he saw the fee! Hope this helps.
Carrick[/quote]

i was not born in hong kong, but my parents were
i dont blame your friend , the fees are ridiculous!!!$$$

as someone who is of chinese parents from hong kong but not born in there, can china still registered my birth as Chinese without me knowing and be classed as a citizen of China
i have german birth certificate that says otherwise

as stated in my earlier post i can only have gained bno status if i had no other citizenship/nationality

this is rather confusing

As both your parents would be treated as Chinese citizens under Chinese law, there is a good possibility that you would automatically be treated as a Chinese citizen by the PRC, even if you were born abroad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationali ... _nationals

Then again, if you have never been to China or Hong Kong, it is plausible for you to argue that you are not aware if you have Chinese citizenship, especially as your BNO passport states that you were born in Germany.

The only people who could authoritatively tell you one way or the other is the Chinese Embassy.

Also have a look at the document on Chinese nationality law on the gov.uk website.

Given that you were born in Germany, you may just want to also try registering directly and see what the Home Office advises you. In that event, you are obviously taking a risk that your application may be declined and you will lose the registration fee. But given that there are not a lot of people on this site in your situation, that may be an option for you to explore.