[MissTea]

Hello,

I'm hoping someone here may be able to give advice. I was born to a British father and Australian mother in Australia. Parents weren't married when I was born but subsequently married. My father lives here now and is a dual citizen. The UK border agency website is very ambiguous about my eligibility for citizenship by descent. I'm over 18. It seems like they probably assess these things on a case-by-case basis, but does anyone know whether or not a typical person in my scenario would be able to apply for a passport successfully?

Thank you,
MissTea

[Dorothy]

Originally Posted by MissTea Hello, I'm hoping someone here may be able to give advice. I was born to a British father and Australian mother in Australia. Parents weren't married when I was born but subsequently married. My father lives here now and is a dual citizen. The UK border agency website is very ambiguous about my eligibility for citizenship by descent. I'm over 18. It seems like they probably assess these things on a case-by-case basis, but does anyone know whether or not a typical person in my scenario would be able to apply for a passport successfully? Thank you, MissTea

What passport do you want to apply for? You don't say

[MissTea]

Oops - a UK passport!!

[englishguygoinghome]

Were youborn before or after 1983?

[MissTea]

After 1983.

[JAJ]

As far as I understand, Australian and U.K. laws on legitimacy and legitimation by marriage are similar. So it doesn't matter whether your father was domiciled (not easy to prove change of domicile) in the United Kingdom or Australia when your parents married - either way, you were legitimated when they got married.

Read the Home Office document LEGITIMACY:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si.../nisec2gensec/

And, as a result, under section 47 of the British Nationality Act you normally are treated from the date of marriage as if your parents were married. So if your father is U.K. born you became British at that date.

Don't assume anything until you have applied for a British passport disclosing relevant facts and it has been issued, but there is reason for hope.

[MissTea]

JAJ, your advice has been helpful. I am hoping to send my application in next week. I am still a little puzzled about the "domicile questionnaire" (given that it has questions about polygamy) but I will call their passport helpline and check about what documents I need. Thank you.

[MissTea]

Well I applied about a week ago so we'll see how that all goes. Trying to speak to a person at UKBA is frightfully difficult and when you do they will probably not be able to help you and just refer you to a webpage, as they did to me. I was then told to send an email to a particular place with my query, only to receive a response saying "you will not receive a response, go to this webpage instead". Beauracracy at its finest!

[JAJ]

Father's domicile should be irrelevant in this case. Also, you're the applicant and someone else cannot be forced to complete a questionnaire of this nature.

Ultimately, the decision on who is and is not a British citizen is a matter for the courts, not the passport service or the UKBA. But hopefully it should not come to that.

[MissTea]

JAJ and others, thank you for your help. My new passport arrived just two weeks after my application and it appears all went smoothly. My next thing to do is to work out if my husband will be able to live and work with me in the UK/Europe if we decide to move there. He's not eligible for UK citizenship and is an Australian citizen. He's also over 30 so he won't be able to work there without having some sort of a marriage/spousal visa.
I also wonder if a UK marriage visa would prevent him having to obtain a new visa for every EU country visited.

[JAJ]

Originally Posted by MissTea JAJ and others, thank you for your help. My new passport arrived just two weeks after my application and it appears all went smoothly.

Congratulations. Keep a copy of your passport in a safe place and when you renew it in future, keep the old one. Also keep spare (official) copies of your birth certificate, parent's birth certificates and their marriage certificate, just in case you ever need to re-evidence your British citizenship.

My next thing to do is to work out if my husband will be able to live and work with me in the UK/Europe if we decide to move there. He's not eligible for UK citizenship and is an Australian citizen.

In the U.K. - he needs a spouse visa unless he is eligible for something on ancestry grounds.

In another European state, he needs a visa or permit issued by that country. Under current laws, you would normally be able to sponsor for that permit. However, he won't qualify for British citizenship and depending on the law of the country concerned, getting local citizenship may be difficult or impossible.

Also you should understand that you're British "by descent" and as a result, if you have children born in another EU/EEA state they won't automatically be British citizens. And in most EU/EEA states, if you have children they won't get local citizenship either (the main exception is Ireland -children of British citizens born in Ireland are automatically Irish citizens).

I also wonder if a UK marriage visa would prevent him having to obtain a new visa for every EU country visited.

He will always need a visa to live in any other EU/EEA state unless he first becomes a British citizen - assuming there is still free movement of persons by then.

[MissTea]

Thanks JAJ.