Changing UK Citizenship to hereditary

[BigSteve]

Hi Everyone,

My question is a bit obscure. I have a British citizenship based on my mother.

Born before 1983 to a British mother
You can register as a British citizen if you fulfil all of the criteria:
you would have automatically become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if women had been able to pass this citizenship on to their children in the same way as men at the time of your birth
you would have had the right of abode in the UK and have become a British citizen on 1 January 1983 if you had become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies

This citizenship is not hereditary however. Now I have been living in the UK for 5 continuous years and I want to change this so that my future children will have the same right to citizenship based on parentage.

What do I need to do to effect this change and how much will it cost?

Many thanks in advance for any time and advice given.

[secret.simon]

Any children born to you in the UK after your registration will automatically be British citizens otherwise than by descent. They will be able to pass their British citizenship to one generation outside the UK (so, to their children, but not their grandchildren).

As you have spent more than three consecutive years in the UK, any children born to you abroad are entitled (i.e. can not be refused) to be registered under Section 3(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. But two things to keep in mind about that option;
a) It is not automatically inherited citizenship, but the child must be registered for it specifically. Currently the fees for registration run at about £1000.
b) The child will also be a British citizen by descent and so will not be able to pass on its British citizenship to their children born outside the UK.

As a broad principle, British citizenship can only be passed only one generation outside the UK. Exemptions are primarily for children born abroad to people in Crown (government) Service, who are treated as if born in the UK.