Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
#1
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 5
Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Hello:
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
#2
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Hello:
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!
Citizenship by descent means you cannot pass it onto your children. Although you can under some circumstances.
#3
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 5
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Sorry, to clarify, in the event of independence:
Would I lose my SCOTTISH (b/c it would be an independent country) citizenship, because I have descended from an Englishman?
Would I lose my SCOTTISH (b/c it would be an independent country) citizenship, because I have descended from an Englishman?
#4
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
I'm not with you...you are British and American.
#5
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
If they do gain independence, that would be when rules of citizenship would be defined.
#6
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Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
I've thought along the same lines. I wouldn't mind living in Scotland but I certainly wouldn't want that to effect my British citizenship.
#7
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Yer off yer heid, they'd hurl ya oot!
#8
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Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Also, there should not be too much to worry about in practice... no-one knows the details of the eventual break-up if it happens, but it is reasonable to suppose that both the UK (what remains of it) and the newly-independent Scotland will both be members of the EU. British or Scottish people will presumably be free to live, work, retire etc. in either country.
#9
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Actually, Scotland would have to re-apply for EU membership, and the outcome is by no means certain.
#10
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
If the English can't stay in an independent Scotland there would be a lot of people that would have to move out, based on the many I have met during my travels in Scotland. That would include my OH (maybe that is not a bad thing) LOL. As we plan to be living close to the border it wont take me long to deport him.
OP as you can proably tell from my post, I am not in the least bit worried about OH being English and we are moving to Scotland.
OP as you can proably tell from my post, I am not in the least bit worried about OH being English and we are moving to Scotland.
Last edited by lf1; May 23rd 2012 at 10:45 pm. Reason: adding some more info
#12
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 312
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
I can pretty much guarntee absolutely nothing. The chances of scotland becoming independent are in reality non-existent and even in the remotest realms of possibility that it did it would make not one bit of difference.
The republic of Ireland has been independednt for 90 years and Eire citizens have identikit rights to British citizens in the UK as vice versa. An Eire national can claim full benefits on arrival and vice versa etc which is not the case for other EU citizens. The same deal wold be struck with Scotland and i would imagine yuo would just get the choice of a Englishor Scottish passport, which in reality would be the same thing and prevent no barrier to where you wanted to live in the current UK or entire EU for that matter. Hpwever, as IO say its academic its is not going too happen
The republic of Ireland has been independednt for 90 years and Eire citizens have identikit rights to British citizens in the UK as vice versa. An Eire national can claim full benefits on arrival and vice versa etc which is not the case for other EU citizens. The same deal wold be struck with Scotland and i would imagine yuo would just get the choice of a Englishor Scottish passport, which in reality would be the same thing and prevent no barrier to where you wanted to live in the current UK or entire EU for that matter. Hpwever, as IO say its academic its is not going too happen
#13
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Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,543
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
If the English can't stay in an independent Scotland there would be a lot of people that would have to move out, based on the many I have met during my travels in Scotland. That would include my OH (maybe that is not a bad thing) LOL. As we plan to be living close to the border it wont take me long to deport him.
OP as you can proably tell from my post, I am not in the least bit worried about OH being English and we are moving to Scotland.
OP as you can proably tell from my post, I am not in the least bit worried about OH being English and we are moving to Scotland.
As far as I know my ancestry is English, my mother's side from Tyneside area and my father's from Teesside, Stockport, Redcar etc. However, my father served in a Scottish regiment from 1937 to 1947, and was wounded & decorated and so forth. So would that give me a special dispensation to become a Scottish citizen?
#14
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Exactly.. I assume the OP is jumping the gun a bit, since they are only just now talking about a referendum. There are a lot of details to work out if it ever comes to pass! One approach would be to research what happened in similar cases. The one that springs to mind is when the Czech Republic and Slovakia went their separate ways. What choices were Czechoslovak citizens offered? Could they get both citizenships? Did they have to make a choice and then live with it? Did they have to take the country that they happened to be living in at the time of separation? Was it based on ancestry?
#15
Re: Scottish Independence & UK Citizen by Descent (England)
Hello:
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
I am a British citizen by descent. My father was born in England, but I have lived my entire life in the US. I have dual-citizenship in the US and the UK and have my British passport. I have been seriously contemplating a move to Scotland in the coming years to work and live.
My question is: What will come of my citizenship, as my father was born in England, in the event of Scottish independence?
Could I possibly move to Scotland only to lose my citizenship because my citizenship by descent is English?
This was the approach used before whenever colonies became independent and left the United Kingdom & Colonies.