Father is British Citizen, non-British Mother, Still Married

[ReakCMcQueen]

I am interested in applying for British citizenship on the basis of my father being British.

I imagine I would use form UKF, however, the reason it confuses me is that it also says: Application for registration as a British citizen by a person born before 1 July 2006 whose parents were not married: form UKF

My parents are married, but my mother is non-British.


So which form do I use?

Thanks in advance.

[Casa]

How old are you, where were you born, and how did your father obtain British citizenship?

[ReakCMcQueen]

Age 34 (born in 1982)

Born in US, father obtained British citizenship by being born in India while under British rule, and maintained British citizenship after India independence (he doesn't have India citizenship).

[Casa]

If your father holds British Overseas Citizenship without right of abode in the UK and you were born in the US, I'm not sure that you are entitled to register as a British citizen. Wait for others to confirm your options.

[ReakCMcQueen]

I thought anyone who has a British passport has a right of abode in the UK.

[CR001]

I thought anyone who has a British passport has a right of abode in the UK.

No, not all forms of British citizenship have Right of Abode, British Overseas Citizen being one of them.

[ReakCMcQueen]

Is there a way I can see in my father's passport whether he has Right of Abode, or if he's a British Overseas Citizen vs a full citizen?

Under Nationality, it says BRITISH CITIZEN.

Under the Official Observations page it says THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS.

[CR001]

User secret.simon is very good with such queries, suggest wait for him to advise. It also depends on the date of your fathers birth etc. so you will likely need to supply a bit more information in terms of dates etc.

[JAJ]

Being born in British India pre-1949 would not in itself normally give a claim to British citizenship. At best, without any further U.K./Colony/Dominion ties, someone in that situation would be a British subject without citizenship if he or she had not acquired Indian or Pakistani citizenship in the years after independence.

The father must have got his British citizenship some other way- most probably by descent from his own father, if that person had been born in the United Kingdom. Less probably- if he had been registered as a Citizen of the U.K. & Colonies at a British High Commission before 1983.

In order to comment more specifically, it would be important to know where the father's parents were born. Also, whether the original poster was born before or after 1.1.1983.

[ReakCMcQueen]

I've confirmed my father does have a Right to Abode. He was registered as a Citizen at a British High Commission in the late 1970s.

He also worked in England for 8 years.

He was born in 1934. I was born in 1982.

If this indeed gives me the right to apply for British citizenship, which forms would I use? That part is what has me most confused.

[JAJ]

Do you have a copy of his U.K. Citizenship certificate? What exactly does it say. Excluding personal details.