Immigrationboards.com

Hi guys,
I'm an Australian currently applying for a US green card through marriage and they are requesting to know, definitively, if I'm a citizen of anywhere other than Australia.
I always figured I wasn't but recently in the news several Australian senators have been booted out of the government for being dual citizens (which isn't allowed, under the Australian constitution) and some of them have remarkably similar situations to myself.

I was born in Australia in 1987 and have never held another nationality or passport.

My mum was born in Singapore in 1960.
Her dad was born in Australia in 1928 and her mum was born in the UK proper in 1929.
My nana acquired Australian citizenship voluntarily only in the 80's and never renounced her UK citizenship in any way. She held no other citizenship before that.
My maternal grandmother's mother was born in the UK, but her father was born in Australia in 1882 and so would have been a British subject.

For some reason, even though Mum's dad was born in Australia (as were his parents), he is listed on Mum's birth certificate as "Race: Australian. Place of birth: Australia: Nationality: British". This means both Mum's parents on her birth cert are listed as British nationality.

My mum had dual nationality at birth, Singaporean because she was born there and we are unclear if the second citizenship was UK&C (since she was born in a crown colony) or proper UK citizenship through her Uk born mother. She moved to Australia in 1962 and travelled on her mother's UK passport as she was only 2 years old.

She voluntarily renounced her Singaporean citizenship in 1982 as they would not allow her to hold dual nationality after the age of 21.
After I was born, my family planned a holiday and during the visa process mum discovered that she was in fact not an Australian citizen and she had to apply for naturalisation which was hence granted in 1988.
This means that at the time of my birth, my mum was probably a British citizen as far as we can tell, we just aren't sure if it passes to me.

In order to complicate matters, as good old Mum didn't know she wasn't Australian at the time, she put down Australian as her nationality on my birth certificate so it shows both parents being Australian.

I've thought about just eating the application cost and shooting off an app to see what happens but was wondering if anyone could help to shed some light on this incredibly complicated web!

If your mom was British, she would have been British by descent as she was born outside the UK. Not possible for this to automatically transfer to you, so you would therefore not be British at all.

Singapore is unusual. According to this Home Office document it ceased to be part of the U.K. and Colonies for nationality purposes in 1959, even though it was not attached to Malaysia until 1963.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... lonies.pdf

If this is the case- then the mother did not acquire Citizenship of the U.K. and Colonies by birth (mothers could not pass on U.K. citizenship at the time) and could not as a result have become a British citizen in 1983. Unless her own father was born in the U.K. or a colony or had U.K./Colonies citizenship-but this appears not to be the case.

Even if mother had become a British citizen in 1983 it would likely have been British citizenship by descent which would not have passed on to the next generation. Again- unless there are other relevant facts that have not been shared (such as U.K. recruited Crown Service of grandparent or if she was married to a man born in the U.K.). Unless- if she was registered as a Citizen of the U.K. and Colonies at some stage? IF she was registered as British before 28 October 1971 then her British citizenship would be otherwise than by descent.

Mother may be eligible for British citizenship under the UKM provisions if she does not already have it. It's unclear based on the facts if she could claim Right of Abode or not.

The original poster may be eligible for a U.K. Ancestry Visa and if any of the U.K. born grandparents were born in Ireland or Northern Ireland, Irish citizenship by registration.

As I understand the (British) State of Singapore Act 1958 established Singapore as a de-facto independent Commonwealth country for most purposes, including nationality, with effect from June 1959. On that basis, birth in Singapore would not have automatically conferred Citizenship of the UK & Colonies but may have given Singapore citizenship. Singapore citizenship was a form of British nationality but separate from that which covered the U.K. and remaining colonies. From 1963-65 Singapore citizenship was a subset of Malaysian citizenship before emerging to its current form at independence in 1965 (CUKC).

However- your mother was added to her own mother's British passport. Do you have details of that passport? If it was a standard U.K. British passport, your mother would normally have had to be a CUKC herself in order to have a British passport. While this was not enforced as much as in more recent times, it's possible that your mother was registered as a CUKC by the British diplomatic authorities in Singapore in 1960-62. If this is the case, she would have become a British citizen otherwise than by descent (pre-October 1971 registration) and you would therefore be a British citizen by descent.

She renounced her Singapore citizenship in 1982 due to dual citizenship- so she must have had some other valid citizenship/passport at the time? Does she have any British passports issued later in life and/or a British citizenship registration document?