Post
by secret.simon » Wed Jul 21, 2021 3:56 pm
In my opinion, I do not think that you have British citizenship nor is there a route for you to acquire British citizenship via your mother.
As you were born to a British mother, regardless of marital status, you could have acquired British citizenship if your mother were capable of transmitting British citizenship to you automatically.
But as a British citizen by descent herself, she was not capable of automatic transmission of British citizenship outside the UK (you would have been a British citizen if you were born in the UK).
If your mother had resided in the UK for any three consecutive years before your birth, you could have been registered as a British citizen before your 18th birthday. But, from the details you have given, we are well past that deadline.
The Secretary of State does not have any residual discretion to register anybody past their 18th birthday as British citizens.
So, in my opinion, you are not and have no direct pathway to British citizenship.
However, if you are a Commonwealth citizen (and I am not sure as to whether South Africa counts as a Commonwealth country for these purposes), as you have a British-born grandparent, you would be eligible for an Ancestry visa. Following five years of living in the UK on an Ancestry visa, you can apply for ILR and then naturalise as a British citizen in the usual way (rules for which vary between spouses of British citizens and others).
@CR001 would be best placed to advise on queries on Ancestry visas and immigration from South Africa.
I am not a lawyer or immigration advisor. My statements/comments do not constitute legal advice. E&OE. Please do not PM me for advice.
