My UKM application rejected, but my sister's ACCEPTED!

[upsidedown]

I have recently applied for British Citizenship by descent (born before 1983 to a British Mother) with the UKM form, but have been rejected. My younger sister applied in 2012 with the same form and was successful (she now holds a British passport). The reason given for rejection is that my mother was not born in the CUKC, and so is British by descent and not by birth (so cannot pass on her citizenship to her children).

I am an Australian citizen born to a dual Australian-British citizen mother. She was born to British parents in 1947 in Madras Province, India in March 1947 (ie. well before Indian independence). I was under the impression this makes her British by birth. As far as I can tell, CUKC didn't exist as a concept until 1949 so she can't very well have been born there. But if British India wasn't the pre-1949 equivalent of a colony, then what was it? (And why doesn't it qualify?)

My question is thus, should I ask for the decision to be reconsidered on the grounds that:
1. the precedent of my sister already being granted citizenship has been established?
AND/OR
2. my mother is indeed British by birth?

It costs 80 pounds just for a reconsideration (which is 'refunded' if they find in my favour).

[secret.simon]

I won't remark on your case itself as I have insufficient knowledge of UKM or Ancestry applications.

This post is to address your question of the status of India pre-independence.

It may surprise you and others to know that British India was legally a separate international jurisdiction from the rest of the British Empire. The Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, Section 1, specifically excluded "such Territories as may for the Time being be vested in Her Majesty under or by virtue of any Act of Parliament for the Government of India" from the definition of a colony. India attended the peace talks after the First and Second World Wars as a separate (though not independent) entity and was a founder member of the United Nations in 1945 (before independence in 1947). While all other colonies had governors or governors-general, India had a viceroy. The monarch of the United Kingdom was King (or Queen) of the British Dominions beyond the seas, but Emperor of India.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the concept of British citizenship itself came into being on 1st January 1949. Before that, there was the vaguer and broader concept of "British Subject". Even better (or worse, depends on how you see it), the rules regarding being a British subject were regulated by custom, common law and case law, not by statute law. Your mother may have fallen through the legal cracks and become a British subject without citizenship. That status can typically not be passed on (https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nat ... sh-subject). I am not a lawyer and all the details above are conjecture based on information gleaned from the Internet. But it seems to me, to answer the specific question about the status of your mother would require some legal research.

Returning to your application, did your sister have her application accepted on identical grounds? If so, I would say you have very good grounds for a reconsideration. On the other hand, if she had other grounds (such as having studied or spent time in the UK or being in a relationship with a British citizen, etc), that would not necessarily strengthen your application.

[milan69]

My knowledge regarding this topic is insufficient as well but I think one of the conditions is that your mother must have lived for a minimum of 3 years in the UK with no more than 270 days of absences.

[upsidedown]

Thanks so much for the response, guys. Yes - very interesting info on the the status of India. It might take me a while to get to the bottom of that.

My sister did indeed have a more or less identical situation to me, so I guess I will ask for reconsideration based on this precedent alone. They can't reconsider her citizenship at this stage, can they!?

[secret.simon]

So long as there was no deception involved in her application, your sister's citizenship is safe.

It seems ironic (to me atleast) that the caseworker who rejected your application had a more indepth knowledge and understanding of the history of British citizenship than the one who approved your sister's application.

Be that as it may, if you apply for reconsideration, the application will be reconsidered by a different caseworker. So, definitely worth applying for.