Help assessing chance of Naturalization prior to 1949

[pairolakies]

I think I qualify for British citizenship based on my father. The facts are:

-Paternal and maternal grandparents were born in the UK in the late 1800s
-Parents were both born in Canada in the 1920s (before there was such a
thing as a Canadian citizen)
-Father lived in the UK from 1933-1949
-I was born in 1962 in Canada

Could you confirm that Canadian citizens became CUKC's with the ability to
pass on citizenship to their children if they were born before 1949? This
is something that I just haven't been able to figure out.

If I apply using the NS form via my father, how can I prove that he lived
in the UK? I haven't been able to determine that there was an official registration required at that time so there is no
official document. I have his British Army discharge paper that shows him
enlisting in 1939, re-enlisting in 1945 and being discharged in 1947. The
discharge papers were stamped Aldershot so there is evidence that it was
in England. I could probably get a copy of his official army records if
that was better.

Any thoughts about the likelihood of citizenship being granted?

Thanks.

[Amber]

I think I qualify for British citizenship based on my father. The facts are:

-Paternal and maternal grandparents were born in the UK in the late 1800s
-Parents were both born in Canada in the 1920s (before there was such a
thing as a Canadian citizen)
-Father lived in the UK from 1933-1949
-I was born in 1962 in Canada

Could you confirm that Canadian citizens became CUKC's with the ability to
pass on citizenship to their children if they were born before 1949? This
is something that I just haven't been able to figure out.

If I apply using the NS form via my father, how can I prove that he lived
in the UK? I haven't been able to determine that there was an official registration required at that time so there is no
official document. I have his British Army discharge paper that shows him
enlisting in 1939, re-enlisting in 1945 and being discharged in 1947. The
discharge papers were stamped Aldershot so there is evidence that it was
in England. I could probably get a copy of his official army records if
that was better.

Any thoughts about the likelihood of citizenship being granted?

Thanks.

See http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... noverseas/

[pairolakies]

See http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/briti ... noverseas/

I have read that article before and gather from it that I may have a claim. Any thoughts about how to go about proving my father's naturalization?
Thanks!

[vinny]

I am trying to figure out if my father was a CUKC otherwise than by descent due to his residence in the UK in the 1930s and 1940s and how I might go about proving it.

He was born in Canada, moved to the UK in 1934 and lived there until April 1949 (after the signing of the BNA). He served in the British Army during WWII and I have his discharge papers. It's a weird scenario, because he lived in the UK when the BNA took effect. before Jan 1 1949 he was a British Subject with full rights to live in Britain. When the BNA came into effect he would have been a CUKC , because he was living in Britain, I don't know that he would have been required to register his presence. I haven't been able to find any information about that.

Going through the UKBA's flow charts I came up with the following:

Annex C - he was a CUKC per s. 12(2) of the BNA 1948 (father born in the UK)
Annex E - he was a CUKC on 31 Dec 1982

From some UKBA working case notes, I see that to be considered a British Citizen on Jan 1 1983, he would have needed to satisfy 2 conditions: be a CUKC (check) and have the Right of Abode.

Looking at the 1971 Immigration act s2 (1)(c):"that he is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies who has at any time been settled in the United Kingdom and Islands and had at that time (and while such a citizen) been ordinarily resident there for the last five years or more" so he should have had the right of abode because he lived in the UK for more than 5 years (during the 1940s).

If this is all correct, I would then be eligible for citizenship by descent. My goal is to work in Europe, so getting a UK passport is ideal vs the Ancestry visa angle.

Am I reading this correctly, or has too much wishful thinking entered into the picture?

Any advice is most appreciated.

[vinny]

If your father was automatically British by descent, then I don't see how his residence in the UK would change this.

[JAJ]

Could you confirm that Canadian citizens became CUKC's with the ability to
pass on citizenship to their children if they were born before 1949? This
is something that I just haven't been able to figure out.

The circumstances in which Canadians became U.K. & Colonies citizens on 1.1.1949 are laid out in the British Nationality Act 1948:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/194 ... 056_en.pdf

Note that Newfoundland (& Labrador) was a country in its own right on 1.1.49. It did not become part of Canada until 3 months later.