Adopted when 14 and now 40 years

Please I need urgent help. I was legally adopted in the high court of my original country when I was 17 outside the EU by a British Citizen. I never came to uk then because I was in school and my adopted parents chose to sponsor me from abroad while my cousin who was adopted with me was brought to the uk and she is now a British citizen. They provided accommodation and all. Records of our adoption are there at the National registry of my country of adoption and even the country’s juvenile adoption centre has the records. The adoption wasn’t registered here in the uk. My adopted mother is in possession of the Adoption certificate and so do i. Can I be advised if anything can be done to claim citizenship in the uk as my adoptive mother is still a British Citizen and working. Can one be stripped of something which is binding in court because he is no longer a minor? And how about my children, don’t they have the right to claim as grandchildren of my adoptive parents? I urgently need help, I don’t have a status now after being refused family life application. I came as a student and didn’t really have advise on how I could use the adoption certificate. Anyone with any helpful information please. Kind regards

Which country were you adopted in and when?

Freemovement: Immigration and nationality law for adopted children wrote:Under section 1(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981, there are two instances where adopted children will become British automatically at the time of the adoption:

• When the final adoption order is certified as having been made in accordance with the terms of the Hague Convention and at least one of the adoptive parent was British and habitually resident in the UK at the time of the adoption order

• When the child is adopted by order of a court in the UK and at least one of the adoptive parents was a British citizen at the time the adoption order was made

In these cases the parents can simply make an application for a British passport for the child, sending in the required proof of adoption and other required documents.

In all other instances, children will need to register to become British under section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act.

If your adoption was done in a non-Hague Convention country, then you did not acquire British citizenship automatically based on your adoption and therefore neither can your children claim British citizenship based on your adoption.

A’yanda wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 10:48 pm

Can one be stripped of something which is binding in court because he is no longer a minor?

This would be irrelevant as you would not have acquired British citizenship automatically anyway if your country of origin was not a signatory to the Hague Convention. So you will retain your status as the adopted child of your British parent, but may not have become a British citizen automatically.

The registration mentioned above under Section 3(1) can only be done before the adoptee's 18th birthday. It is possible that your adoptive parents may have registered your cousin when s/he was in the UK, thus making her a British citizen.

As a general rule, British citizenship can be inherited only one generation outside the UK. It is not possible to claim British citizenship directly on the basis of the grandparent being British. The intervening parent must also be a British citizen, at least by descent, for citizenship by descent to be an option.

@ secret.Simon. Thanks for your response. It is Very helpful. I have searched for such information for years to no avail. At least it gives me peace of not putting my hopes high on this adoption. I was adopted in the Zambian high court 1995. I am not sure if it was a member of The Hague conventions but their adoption was acceptable by the uk government and still acceptable. Thanks for your kind response.

See also adoption.

vinny wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 08, 2019 2:17 am

I was adopted in the Zambian high court 1995.

Zambia signed up to the Hague Convention only in 2014. As your adoption was a couple of decades before then, your adoption order would not have been made in accordance with the Hague Convention and therefore would not have conferred automatic citizenship.

While your adoption is recognised by the UK government, for you to acquire British citizenship, as mentioned above, you needed to have been registered as a British citizen before your 18th birthday.

If that action (registration as a British citizen before the 18th birthday) was not done, you did not acquire British citizenship through your adoption, even though your adoption is recognised in the UK.

Thanks once more for taking time to respond. In short nothing can be done. The adoption remains only on paper as the UK government is concerned I guess

You would qualify for a UK Ancestry visa if your adopted parents have a British born parent, ie your adoptive grandparents.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 09, 2019 9:20 am

You would qualify for a UK Ancestry visa if your adopted parents have a British born parent, ie your adoptive grandparents.

Thanks for the above. Maybe I ought to focus on Ancestry Visa.

Note that you will need the adoption papers and birth and marriage certificates for yourself, adoptive parent, adoptive grandparents,

CR001 wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 17, 2019 9:36 am

Note that you will need the adoption papers and birth and marriage certificates for yourself, adoptive parent, adoptive grandparents,

@CR001.... I have all that in place including the court documents prior to final adoption. I have the adoption certificate and one of the adoptive parents is still alive... living in the UK and still working. She too has all the paper work.

Kind regards

Sounds good then