Dawson AKJ

I am wanting to find out some info in regards to ones siblings gaining British Passports.
My wife and I are on British passports, I gained my passport through my Mother.
My wife gained hers through ancestral and or son was born in the UK and was given a
British passport.We worked and lived in UK for eight years
We are currently living in South Africa and are expecting our second child in November.
We are wanting to find out if we could register our newborn as a foreign national,
and whether they would be eligible to gain British Citizenship (passport) like the rest of our family.

Any Information would be greatly appreciated as we have many things to sort out before the arrival of our new child.
Many Thanks

Tegwyn

If you both have British passports then you are are recognized as British citizens and your baby is entitled to the same. Just register the birth at the British Embassy. They will either add the baby's name to your wife's passport or issue your child her/his own.

ExKiwilass

Not necessarily. If it's BC by descent, it stops at the second generation born out of the UK. OH has British citizenship and I could also get it, however we can't pass it on to our daughter as she is the 2nd generation born out of the UK.

To the OP: Not sure in your situation because of you having lived in the UK and having a british born child. JAJ might be a good one to ask.

Tegwyn

Yep, you are right. That law passed a few years ago. I was thinking along the line of British subjects. My children have theirs because both hubby and I am born subjects. I was told that any grandchildren would be last to be entitled.

JAJ

You have some fundamental understanding gaps, it seems. For the correct information, read:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Britis...hip_by_Descent

JAJ

You are British by descent but if your wife has a Home Office Certificate of naturalisation then she is British otherwise than by descent.

Hence your child should be a British citizen by descent.

Apart from that, you don't tell us what countries you're from, or living in, so any other nationality entitlement is speculation.

Dawson AKJ

My Wife gained her citizenship through ancestral, she gained a naturalization certificate as well as British passport. She was born in South Africa. Myself gained it through my mother as she was born in the UK, I was born in South Africa and unsure wether I have a cert of Naturalization. Our Child was born in the UK so gained British Citizenship.
Thanks for advice

Tegwyn

In my sister's case, her children and grandchildren are born in South Africa. Fathers are South African and Rhodesian (before independence). In SA, the grandchildren were denied a British passport. Her children and grandchildren moved to Canada and they applied again. To their surprise their applications were successful. (1996) Is there any way the laws become flexible depending on the county of application? They have since moved to the UK.

john.t

I applied for citizenship for my children in this way. Because you have lived in the UK for 8 years you have naturalised and you can therefore pass the citizenship on to your children. Unfortunately that is where the line will end as you gained your citizenship through one of your parents. What you will need to is make application at the Embassy in Pretoria but YOU HAVE TO DO THIS BEFORE YOUR CHILD’S FIRST BIRTHDAY! As part of the application you will need to provide all of the addresses at which you lived in the UK and you will also need letters and documents to prove that you were there - letters from employers, council tax bills, etc. I did it twice, the last time being 7 years ago and it was a relatively painless process. It can be quite costly - at that time it was about R3500. Good luck!

JAJ

The circumstances you outline are unclear, but it is possible that their British passports have been issued by mistake. The Home Office says, in the Nationality Instructions:

6.3.8 Cases sometimes come to light where, due to official error, people have been consularly registered while ineligible for such registration or wrongly issued with British passports or certificates of entitlement to the right of abode. As a result they might have lost age- or time-limited entitlements to citizenship. So that they are not disadvantaged by the official error we should be ready in such cases to construe the application as an undetermined application for citizenship and process it accordingly.


Normally British nationality only extends to the first generation born overseas and neither South Africa nor Southern Rhodesia were part of the UK & Colonies under the British Nationality Act 1948. So you're going to need to tell us a lot more if it can be determined whether or not they are really British or not. One thing is clear - if a British passport is issued by mistake to a non-British citizen, it does not make that person British.

JAJ

Well meaning but unnecessary - if the child's mother is a British citizen otherwise than by descent (naturalisation) then the child is already a British citizen.

By the way, the age limit for section 3(2) registration was increased from 12 months to 18 years in January 2010.

Tegwyn

They have been there for many years now without issue, so I do not plan to rock that boat.

pimpmycode

My paternal grandfather was born in the UK and moved to Zambia whilst it was still under British rule. My father was born in Zambia in 1957 which is before Zambia got independence.

In 2003 i applied for a British passport in Pretoria and was issued one based on my paternal grandfather and according to the embassy, the fact that my father was born in Zambia whilst it was under British rule. I was born in 1981 in South Africa. I was told by the embassy in Pretoria that i cannot pass this on to my children and that a law was signed in 1981 that put an end to entitlement to British citizenship for grandchildren (that were born outside of the UK) of British citizens.
I was told the law only came into effect in 1983 so i just made it. My older brother with exactly the same situation as me was born in 1979 in South Africa and was granted his British passport at the embassy in Botswana along with my father. My fathers brothers also then applied for their British passports at the embassy in Zambia around the same time and they were granted

From what you are saying above, is this correct or were we issued British passports incorrectly? Is it possible when the passports are renewed that they can be taken away from us?

JAJ

It appears you are all ok. Northern Rhodesia was a protectorate (its status for British nationality purposes was quite different from Southern Rhodesia). Normally British nationality didn't pass more than one generation for those born outside the UK & Colonies but there was an exception for those born in protectorates.

All this ended on 1.1.83

If you've got children of your own, you probably need to bring them to live in the UK if you want them to become British citizens.

pimpmycode

Excellent info, thanks for the reply JAJ