BNO Passport holder

[Marmalade]

Hello,

I was born in Hong Kong and am holding a BNO passport, I read that the latest Nationality,Immigration and Asylum Law has made changes to the British Nationality Act 1981 allowing British Nationals holding no other nationality to be able to register as British Citizens. This was made law on 7th November 2002.

May I please ask of your guidance?

1. Does the above law applies to BNO passport holder?

2. If the answer is yes to the above question - I also hold a Canadian passport - if I would like to register as British Citizens would I need to renouce my Canadian Citizenship?

Thanks so much for your time!

[JAJ]

Hello,

I was born in Hong Kong and am holding a BNO passport, I read that the latest Nationality,Immigration and Asylum Law has made changes to the British Nationality Act 1981 allowing British Nationals holding no other nationality to be able to register as British Citizens. This was made law on 7th November 2002.

May I please ask of your guidance?

1. Does the above law applies to BNO passport holder?

2. If the answer is yes to the above question - I also hold a Canadian passport - if I would like to register as British Citizens would I need to renouce my Canadian Citizenship?

1. No.

2. Even if it did, renouncing your Canadian citizenship now would not make you eligible (and you wouldn't get your Canadian citizenship back either).

Also - why on earth is Canadian citizenship not good enough for you?

Your options are:

a. if you are living in HK and not of Chinese ethnicity, then look to see if the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 could help you. If you were living in HK on 4 Feb 1997 and only acquired Canadian citizenship later, you might be in luck.

b. Assuming that you migrated to Canada and became Canadian, have you not got the skills to migrate to Britain on a work permit or HSMP? That would allow you to become a British citizen the normal way in due course, and under current law you'd keep your Canadian citizenship too.

[Marmalade]

Thanks JAJ for your guidance!!

My situation is that I came to London to persue my study in 2000 and graduated in 2004 after that I have obtain a 2-year working holiday visa...now I am on 6months tourist visa...

I don't know if I am qualified as an HSMP as I am in the design field, not IT or on shortage skills list...

Since I have fulfilled the 5 years residence requirements, do you think I can apply for Brtish Citizenship?

Would really appreciate your guidance again.

[sakura]

1. Does the above law applies to BNO passport holder?

2. If the answer is yes to the above question - I also hold a Canadian passport - if I would like to register as British Citizens would I need to renouce my Canadian Citizenship?

I doubt you could do that as you already hold another nationality and would have done so just until you applied. The law, from what I know, was only for those who were stateless (i.e. a Pakistani born in HK who could not have either Pakistani or Chinese nationality, making them stateless), not someone who just decides to register as British. But you are Canadian so it doesn't apply to you...

Since I have fulfilled the 5 years residence requirements, do you think I can apply for Brtish Citizenship?

You cannot apply for anything right now, since for the 5 years requirement you need to have been working for five FULL years, you have ben studying, and studying counts towards long residency.

Do you have any ties in the UK that explains (to me) why you are trying to extend your stay? I mean...family, partner, etc etc?

When does your visa expire (a VW tourist?) and when are you planning on going back?

[Marmalade]

You cannot apply for anything right now, since for the 5 years requirement you need to have been working for five FULL years, you have ben studying, and studying counts towards long residency.

Thanks Sakura for your advice!!
I read that in order to get British Citizenship you need to be " In the last 12 months of the 5 year period your stay in the UK was not subject to any time limit under the immigration laws" - So I take that as in you have to have PR/IDLR before you apply? So does the time I spent in studying count towards the five years requirment?

Do you have any ties in the UK that explains (to me) why you are trying to extend your stay? I mean...family, partner, etc etc?

Yes, I have a 3 yr boyfriend (who is British) in London...

I think I will heed JAJ's advice to apply for HSMP...

When does your visa expire (a VW tourist?) and when are you planning on going back?

What is a (VW tourist)?

My tourist visa expires in June, but am planning to go back next month. Can I apply for HSMP while on tourist visa by the way?

Endless thanks for your advice again!!

[JAJ]

Thanks Sakura for your advice!!
I read that in order to get British Citizenship you need to be " In the last 12 months of the 5 year period your stay in the UK was not subject to any time limit under the immigration laws" - So I take that as in you have to have PR/IDLR before you apply? So does the time I spent in studying count towards the five years requirment?

Time spend studying does count towards the 5 year rule but but must have ILR for at least 12 months, if not married to a British citizen.

Yes, I have a 3 yr boyfriend (who is British) in London...

I think I will heed JAJ's advice to apply for HSMP...

How long have you been living with your boyfriend? Are you sure you are not eligible for an unmarried partner visa. That may be a better option than HSMP (depends on circumstances).

What is a (VW tourist)?

My tourist visa expires in June, but am planning to go back next month. Can I apply for HSMP while on tourist visa by the way?

Endless thanks for your advice again!!

VW (Tourist) probably means admission to the UK as a visitor without a visa. I don't know if there are special rules for BNOs but normally you cannot switch status in-country if you are admitted as a tourist.

[sakura]

I'm just trying to figure out why she has a visa if she is Canadian...

I read that in order to get British Citizenship you need to be " In the last 12 months of the 5 year period your stay in the UK was not subject to any time limit under the immigration laws" - So I take that as in you have to have PR/IDLR before you apply? So does the time I spent in studying count towards the five years requirment?

Yes, you cannot apply for BC unless you have permanent residency, but what I'm telling you is that you yourself cannot apply for permanent residency because you haven't been here long enough. You entered as a student so you have to be in the UK for longer than 5 years...student time counts for 10 or 14 years' applications.

I apply for HSMP while on tourist visa by the way?

I'm not 100% sure but I don't think you can switch into any category if you are here on a tourist visa...but why, as a Canadian citizen, would you apply for a tourist visa??

Did you live with your boyfriend whilst in the UK? This might help you....alternatively, he could try a WHM visa to Canada, no? Do they have that in Canada, actually!?

[jes2jes]

Did you live with your boyfriend whilst in the UK? This might help you....alternatively, he could try a WHM visa to Canada, no? Do they have that in Canada, actually!?

Yes they do for both students and non-students I guess. BUNAC organises that world-wide and they are very popular. I guess the 2007 visa's have already been snatched by now!