Advice Needed

[curiousanonymous]

I have a situation here which does not have any clear cut answer. I have seen an immigration lawyer, but because this is a gray area, would love to have a second opinion.

I was born in the UK in 1983. This was before my parents got their PR.
My brother was born in the UK after they got their PR.

However, my parents did not apply for British Citizenship on our behalf back then.

My lawyer mentioned that both my brother and I are eligible for British Citizenship, my brother, being born to parents post-PR status, and for me, via retrospective application of the law.

As of today, my parents have already lost their PR years ago.

The problem we face now is holding dual citizenship. We come from a country which does not allow for this.

My questions are:
1) Would we still be eligible for the right of abode application? My reasoning would be that since we are both British Citizens (technically through being born here), we may qualify for this option, and hence avoid holding dual citizenship. Can anyone tell me if this is possible?

2) Even if we can't apply for a right of abode, instead of obtaining a British Passport, can we obtain a letter from the Home Office just to confirm our citizenship (and hence, avoid holding a British Passport so that the other country to which we belong will not find out), and maybe have a ILR stamp in our non-UK passport?

Your thoughts and contributions are very much welcomed on this issue.

Thank you.

[Wanderer]

Did ur parents apply for ILR (PR) for you at any stage? Doesn't sound like it but just confirm.

In any case if u've been away from UK for over two years you will have lost ur ILR unless u managed to keep ties to UK which it doesn't sound like.

[sakura]

I have a situation here which does not have any clear cut answer. I have seen an immigration lawyer, but because this is a gray area, would love to have a second opinion.

I was born in the UK in 1983. This was before my parents got their PR.
My brother was born in the UK after they got their PR.

However, my parents did not apply for British Citizenship on our behalf back then.

My lawyer mentioned that both my brother and I are eligible for British Citizenship, my brother, being born to parents post-PR status, and for me, via retrospective application of the law.

As of today, my parents have already lost their PR years ago.

The problem we face now is holding dual citizenship. We come from a country which does not allow for this.

My questions are:
1) Would we still be eligible for the right of abode application? My reasoning would be that since we are both British Citizens (technically through being born here), we may qualify for this option, and hence avoid holding dual citizenship. Can anyone tell me if this is possible?

2) Even if we can't apply for a right of abode, instead of obtaining a British Passport, can we obtain a letter from the Home Office just to confirm our citizenship (and hence, avoid holding a British Passport so that the other country to which we belong will not find out), and maybe have a ILR stamp in our non-UK passport?

Your thoughts and contributions are very much welcomed on this issue.

Thank you.

You need to provide more information. When did you/your parents leave the UK? How long did you live in the UK? Did your parents apply for ILR for you? When was your brother born?

[curiousanonymous]

Hi Wanderer, and Sakura,
I'm not sure if my brother and I had ILR at the time, but our pictures appeared on their passport, on which they had the ILR stamp. Does this mean we had the ILR?

I need to double check this point. Whatever the result, my parents already lost their PR more than 15 years ago, so did my brother and myself.

To answer your question Sakura, my brother was born in 1987, and I myself lived in the UK for 6-7 years.

[parvus1202]

According to HO, if you are out of the UK for 2 years then your ILR will be terminated. So How can you apply for nationality if you are not ILR holder anymore. Also right of abode means when you were born, one of your parents should be British citizens. As per your statements none of your parents were British.

[curiousanonymous]

Dear parvus,

Right of abode applies not only to persons whose parents were British citizens, but those who are 'legally settled' in the UK. Check the BIA website.

"So How can you apply for nationality if you are not ILR holder anymore"

This is where I need a second opinion. The lawyer I spoke to mentioned that by being born post-1983, into a family which eventually obtained its settled status, I have the right, under law to apply for British citizenship, even though my parents did not apply it on my behalf. It's kind of a mandatory thing if you were born to parents who were PRs (hence, 'settled'), or who had PR (hence, retrospective application). He seemed to imply that this had been tested in court before.

Anyway, please tell me what you think. I'm open to your opinions so that I can use them to challenge the lawyer. I just want to know what are the possibilities I have under the law, if any. Thanks.

[parvus1202]

Here is what was written on HO. See if you qualify.

Eligibility
Who has the Right of Abode in the UK?

All British citizens automatically have this right. In the case of dual nationals, i.e. people who are citizens of more than one country, it is possible to get a Certificate placed in their passport.

This right may also apply to some people who are not dual citizens but are from a Commonwealth country. Commonwealth citizens qualify under the following circumstances.

* If they are UK citizens
* If they were born before January 1st 1983 and have a parent who was born in Great Britain.
* If they are a Commonwealth woman and married a person before January 1st 1983 in one of the above categories.

(N.B. Pakistan and South Africa were not included in the Commonwealth before January 1st 1983 and as a result their citizens do not qualify)

To demonstrate that you qualify you must be able to produce either:

* A United Kingdom passport which describes you as a British citizen or as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
* A foreign or Commonwealth passport which contains a certificate of entitlement.

[Frontier Mole]

In essence you are a foreign national born to foreign national parents in the UK. Neither held UK citizenship but had ILR after your birth. They have not maintained their access to ILR and they did not exercise their right to citizenship so you have no access to UK citizenship.
It is that simple.

Whatever the lawyer is stating is total pants. It sounds like a "give me all your money and I will see what I can do about spending it" type scam.

Ask him to quote you the specific law he is relying on, if you get the "I won't because you will go and do it yourself" reply then that is a clear indication of that he is trying to do - line his pockets with your money and not represent you effectively.

[vinny]

If your parent(s) had ILR at the time of your brother's birth, then he may claim British citizenship.
If you had spent the first ten years in the UK, then you may be eligible to register as a British citizen.

British citizens, without British passports, may apply for Certificates of entitlement to right of abode.