UK Rights/Citizenship Guidance Required

[Louloubell]

Hi Everyone,
I am looking for guidance on whether my aunt has any UK rights based on the following:
1. Father (now deceased) was holder of British Passport from birth (1916 - St Helena Island). We have his passport issued in 1970 by the British Consulate in Mozambique, national status British Subject Citizen of UK and Colonies.
2. Registered as child dependent on father's British passport as above (born in then Rhodesia in 1961)

Any advice would be appreciated as we are currently going round in circles with our research. Thank you!

[contorted_svy]

It is unlikely to have any impact that she was registered as dependent on her father's passport.

[Louloubell]

Fair enough, what about the first point?

[contorted_svy]

Other members with more in-depth knowledge than me on these matters will be able to advise further, but I think it is important to understand whether father had right to abode (ROA). That may be on his passport. From my knowledge only people that had both Citizen of the UK and colonies (CUCK status, equivalent to British subject) and ROA can claim citizenship.

[secret.simon]

Your aunt is very likely eligible for a British passport. She would be a British Overseas Territory Citizen (not to be confused with British Overseas Citizen, which is a different category of British nationality with far fewer rights) by descent from her father, based on Section 23 of the British Nationality Act 1981. All BOTCs were given British citizenship in 2002, so she should be able to apply for a British citizen passport directly.

To apply for this passport, she will need her father's St Helena birth certificate, her parents marriage certificate and her own birth certificate.

Note that many UK social benefits are based on residing in the UK and having paid taxes here. So, for a start, your aunt will not be eligible for the State Pension, which requires a minimum of 10 years of National Insurance contributions (35 years for a full State Pension). Even the NHS requires the British citizen to be "ordinarily resident" in the UK. So she may not be eligible for NHS coverage from day one.

And note that she will herself be a British citizen by descent. So her children will not benefit from her UK citizen status. And she would need to meet all the financial requirements (minimum annual income of £29,000, etc) if she plans to sponsor a spouse to the UK.

[Louloubell]

Thank you for input, this is very helpful.
She is more interested in obtaining the passport to travel freely to the UK than anything else.
I will update as we progress in case anyone else is in a similar situation.
Much appreciated!