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Hi,

Does anyone know what the rules are if you had a parent born in the UK (before 1983) but is no longer a British Citizen?

I’m am basically looking through my visa options and I probably do not qualify for ILR even though I've been in the country for 10 and a half years ( as I have been out of the country for more than 18 months in a 10 year period for school holidays etc.). However, my father was born in the UK around the 1950s but had given up his citizenship by the time I was born (to gain citizenship in a country that did not allow dual nationality). Will this help me in any way to get a visa (maybe ancestor visa?) or rights of abode/citizenship? I know it’s a bit of a long shot here but I’m very quickly running out of options and it’ll be useful to know whether I am able to pursue a visa application this way or not.

Thanks very much for your help!

How did your father excatly give up his British citizenship?
Did he inform in some way the British authorities?

Hi - thank you for the reply!

I'm not sure exactly - I believe he moved away when he was quite young and definitely does not hold a British Passport. Both his parents are not British either. I'll have to double check the exact situation with him but he's not sure either if he's counted as a British Citizen. I've been told by a few people that basically if he was born in England then he can be counted as a British citizen. I've also read in the UKBA website that:

"If you were born in the United Kingdom before 1 January 1983, you are almost certainly a British citizen."

I'm slightly confused at this point as to whether he would count as a British citizen or not and how it would be affected by him having citizenship in a country that does not allow dual nationality. And I'm not sure if him being born in the UK will help my visa applications or not...

The fact that the other country that your father holds its citizenhip does not allow dual citizenship has no bearing on the fact that your father was and still may be a British national as the UK does allow dual citizenship.

If your father did not give up his british citizenship through a formal procedure with the British authorities he may still be British. The fact that he does not have a British passport does not mean he can't obtain one if he applies for one.

Unless your father (or his parents) actively gave up his British nationality with the British authorites - your father may already be British and you may be already British by decent.

In that case, just apply for a British papport through your closest British mission. You would probably need to submit your dad's birth certificate

Other experts on this forum can also voice their opinion to the accuracy of the information I presented.

What is the other country?

Hi,

The country is Malaysia.

I've now checked the full story and he was born in the UK and never officially gave up any citizenship in the UK and has a British Birth Cert but does not have a British Passport. He knows that he used to be able to get Rights of Abode but he's not sure if rules had changed so he can't anymore...And he wasn't sure if that could help me get a British Passport either....

So your parent was born in the UK before 1983. Unless their own parent happened to be a diplomat they would have been a British Citizen from the moment of birth, and not only that, a British Citizen otherwise than by descent.

You tell us that such British Citizenship has not been renounced, and that being the case it remains in place.

This means that their children are British ..... wherever born in the world! So esg28 it appears you are British, and it is a shame that you did not appreciate that before going to the expense and bother of getting visas.

That assumes of course that your grandparent(s) were not diplomat(s) when your parent was born in the UK ..... please confirm.

If you can give that confirmation, get hold of your parent's birth certificate, and then apply for a British Passport!

Your own British Citizenship will be .... assuming you were born outside the UK ..... British by descent ..... and that means that your own children will not be British .... unless born in the UK.

That's great news!! And yes I can confirm that my grandparents were not diplomats!
It is a pity I never realised this before. We didn't even think this was even a possible route to citizenship but it would have saved alot of money for sure! definitely going to try apply for a British passport now though

thanks for replying so quickly and the help has been really really appreciated

Good luck! Update us on your results

Hi, your father is British otherwise than by decent and you are British by decent. Just in case, if citizenship is renounced it can be resumed as well. So renunciation should worry anyone. And your father's birth certificate is enough proof for you to proceed on. Even if one does not have birth certificate he can trace his ancestors who were British if birth was properly registered.

And again replying to a 4 year old post..