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You don't normally get a passport because of a UK-born grandfather and Southern Rhodesia was treated as a country rather than a colony (from 1949) for nationality purposes only.uvb76 wrote:Hi,
I was born in South Africa in 1984 (so I'm 25) to a mother with dual nationality: South African and British.
My mother:
* Born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (Now Harare, Zimbabwe) in 1950
* Got a British passport because her grandfather was born in the UK (http://ukinzimbabwe.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... s/Eligible) - so that would make her a British citizen by descent (according to the definition given under "Terms Explained" at http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... tizenship/).
* Worked in the UK for 4 years
At http://ukinzimbabwe.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... s/Eligible it says:But based on the plain facts shown I cannot see how mother could have been a UK citizen to begin with, unless there are other ties to the UK or a place which was a colony that we haven't been told about.
This information may be on the British Embassy website, but it appears to be wrong.uvb76 wrote: At http://ukinzimbabwe.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... s/Eligible it says:
To claim British citizenship and passport facilities through your birth in Zimbabwe, you must prove the following:
* Applicant must have been born in Zimbabwe after 1 January 1949
* Applicant’s father must have been in Zimbabwe born before 12 September 1923
* Applicant’s paternal grandfather must have been born in the UK
I would be interested to know the outcome.uvb76 wrote:He's an immigration lawyer regulated by the OISC.
Yeh, it is quite an odd clause. My mom's brother was able to get citizenship in the same way as well (born after 1949), but the oldest brother born before 1949 was not!
She seems pretty certain that she didn't receive a registration certificate. When she was resident in England, she had a temporary British passport (issued especially for Rhodesians, apparently) and as she was about to go to renew it for the third time, the immigration officer in London realised that she'd be eligible for a full citizenship + passport through that clause (whereas the previous two officers did not realise!).
Unclear what these "other avenues" could be (either your mother is British or she isn't). Will be interested to know how you get on.uvb76 wrote:With regard to the way in which my mother got her citizenship, the lawyer is going to search through the Nationality acts for me to see if it's classified as citizenship by birth or by descent (I'm sure he'd write down his findings as proof). But I'm sure other avenues will be explored as well.
That would have simply been as a result of the 1981 British Nationality Act, which came into force at the start of 1983. Among other changes – and even this is a over-simplification – the basic nationality status of people connected with the UK became "British citizen", and the term "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" ceased to be used. So the change was automatic, as it were and, for most people, was simple a change in terminology.uvb76 wrote:One small, extra piece of information: I was looking at my mom's old passports, and her first British passport, issued in 1977 (at the passport office in London) says:
National status:
British Subject
Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies
Her next passport, issued in 1987 (British consulate in Cape Town), says:
National status:
British Citizen
I don't really understand it... at which point did she become a British citizen? Apparently she didn't receive a registration certificate for being registered as a British citizen (I asked her again) ... but surely there must be a record of when she became one?!