Immigrationboards.com

Hi,

I would be very grateful if someone could help, or point me in the right direction.

I was born in the UK after January 1983, my mother was settled in the UK - although she did not have BC. She arrived in this country in 1962, from Grenada and arrived on a British passport. Since then she has applied and become a British citizen.,
My issue is, that I have been unable to get my own British passport, purely because I cannot provide proof that my mother was settled. Her original passport was lost in a fire. As per the UKBA information, I have applied for a status letter from the Home Office - from NS. They have rejected it, in the letter they say I need to provide proof like my mother's passport(which I did state in the additional information has been lost - due to fire). If I had those documents I would have applied directly for my passport.
I have also not held any other passport.

It seems as though I am going round in circles. Furthermore, i am very reluctant to nationalize, as a) I am British, b) it's costly.

Also, I then have the worry that I am indeed stateless.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

See also Surprised Brits.

vixie83 wrote: I am very reluctant to nationalize,...

I'm not sure your application would be successful anyway as there is a good chance you would be refused on the basis that you are already a UK citizen (it's happened).

What date did your mother become a British citizen? I'm presuming it was after you were born?

How frustrating for you! My suggestion is that after this upcoming election is over, you go and talk to your MP. Send a letter, but also try to get face-time with the MP at a surgery if you can. I think it's human nature that you're more motivated to help someone you've met face-to-face.

In the meantime, gather up all the documents related to your and your mother's immigration and naturalisation that you do have (for the MP's surgery). If you can afford to see a lawyer who specialises in immigration matters, I'd find one and go and speak to him or her as well (again, bringing all the documents you do have).

It might also be worth applying for a Home Office Status Letter again (with the extra documents related to your mother's status, if you can find them) with an additional covering letter explaining your situation in detail (including the rejection last time you applied for a letter and your rebuttal to that rejection) and why you need this status letter. You might have been unlucky last time and had your application wind up in the hands of someone who didn't fully grasp your case and didn't realise that the very reason you need the letter is because you don't have your mother's passport to prove that you're already a British citizen.

If your mother naturalised as British then she must have a citizenship/naturalisation file in the Home Office archives that includes information on how and when she obtained her ILR.

When you submitted form NS, then it was reasonable you should expect the Home Office to look at their own records. I would concur that post-election, you should go to see your MP and request that the Home Office do just that. It might help if you add a copy of your mother's British citizenship certificate to the application, if you did not do so already. Out of interest, do you know when in 1962 your mother arrived? If before 1 July- as far as I understand- the cutoff date of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, then evidence of her entry to the U.K. on its own (shipping records, etc.) may be sufficient to demonstrate she had permanent residence.

Worst case- if you've lived in the U.K. from birth to age 10 you can apply for British citizenship using Form T [section 1(4) registration] but should not be necessary if you are British already.