banjo

yeah exactly.....my mum had an opportunity to get my sister and I British citizenship years ago and didn't and I'm certainly not thanking her for that! It's a really hard decision, and one we have to address soon as we will be eligable to apply for Aussie in January. As Jeremy mentioned we will do this sooner rather than later to avoid falling foul of the new immigration laws. I guess for me.....I still love SA and if things were different there I wouldn't rule out returning, but having read this week on the news that the government is now seeking to seize the first white owned farm......

JAJ

What opportunity did your mother miss out to get you British citizenship, out of interest? Was she born (or naturalised) in the UK?



Jeremy

banjo

she was naturalised, but was seperated from my biological father and didn't want to get in touch with him again to obtain British citizenship for my sister and I. She needed his signature or something.....I can't put all the blame on her though, as I also should have made it a priority before leaving there.

G'Day

Banjo,

My husband isn't really fussed about it, but we have property there & if we want to sell it will have benefits to be a citizen still. He might apply for resumption, but so far he hasn't really done anything about it so I don't even know whether JAJ is correct or not re his previous question. The children don't mind. They are old enough to understand the situation & have no problem with losing their SA citizenship. We are sure that we will never return to live in RSA. If Aus doesn't work for us in the long run we will find somewhere else, but it won't be Africa. They have British citizenship anyway, so why would they want anything else

JAJ

When a parent naturalises, children aged under 18 are usually registered as British citizens under discretionary provisions in section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act, in force from 1983.

Typically the Home Office look for consent from both parents (if both have parental rights under the law) for a child to be registered as a British citizen under this section. This is required under policy, not the law, and can be waived if:

- the other parent refuses consent but does not provide any reason; or
- in the case of older children (eg those aged 16 or over) the child expresses a wish to become British.

Consent from a parent is not required if the child has a legal entitlement to be registered as a citizen, eg if it has been born in the UK and lived in the UK until age 10.

Do you know if your mother included you on her naturalisation application form or not?


Jeremy

banjo

Thanks Jeremy.....I will try and find out whether she did include us in her application, but I'm not hopeful.

If she did though......I'm pretty sure she wouldn't still have a copy of her original app - how would I go about checking / proving whether she did or didn't? Also, wouldn't they have checked for that when I applied for indefinite leave to remain?

JAJ

The Home Office might have a copy in archives somewhere.

If she *did* include you on the application form, and the Home Office never issued a refusal letter, then your application may have remained open. It doesn't mean you would have acquired British citizenship, it just means your application would still be open and there would be discretion on whether to grant or refuse it. Whether they would grant it now (although they could) or refuse it is another question.

If your mother thinks she did write your details on the form, then I'd suggest you speak to an experienced UK immigration lawyer to see if there's any hope of following this up. You'd need to choose well (and be prepared to pay with no guarantee of success) as most lawyers will have little experience of an issue like this and you'd need one who was familiar with Home Office processing culture to be able to advise on what steps to take. The fact you have moved outside the UK may not help matters.

If your details were not put on the form, then there's no chance at all of re-opening matters.

So I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

Probably not. They should check to see if someone is a British citizen, but they wouldn't check to see if there was an undetermined application for citizenship in the system.

Take a look at the Home Office Nationality Instructions:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tions/nis.html

Chapter 6 gives general information on consideration of applications, for example.


It's likely preferable to finalise your application for Australian citizenship and get sworn in before you even *think* about any options regarding the UK.

But if you only have settled status and (and especially don't have a British spouse or dependent child) then your status in the UK may be subject to expiry.

Jeremy

banjo

Jeremy thanks again for all your very helpful advice. Certainly wish I'd got you on the other end of the Home Office helpline thingy a few years back. Everything would be all sorted. Yes, we are going to sort out our Australian citizenship before making a firm decision on what to do about the British for me. My husband and children will all be dual British / Aussie's then. So for now we'll sit tight and see when these new citizenship regs come in over here

JAJ

Unfortunately "helplines" are usually little or no help for anything other than the simplest queries. Often the information is misinterpreted, incomplete, or just plain wrong.



1. Should you remain outside the UK for too long to keep your settled status, having a British spouse and kids could mean it's easier to get returning resident entry clearance. Or your husband could sponsor for a new spouse visa, although a loophole might prevent you from getting a permanent visa immediately. Returning resident would probably be better. http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

2. One of the requirements for Australian citizenship is:
"Do you intend to live in, or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia?"

People do change their minds after getting citizenship and spend long or short periods away from Australia. In fact one of the benefits of citizenship is that you can do just that, however you shouldn't have made definite plans beforehand. And you are usually expected to be living in Australia (this clause catches out some who apply from overseas, even if they meet the residence requirements).

3. Watch carefully the timing of the new legislation and whether it exempts existing permanent residents or not. The legislation may be amended as it goes through Parliament.


Jeremy

Shellfish

my husband and I recently sent in our "Retention of citizenship" forms
http://home-affairs.pwv.gov.za/documents/bi-1664.pdf

Most info you may need will be on this site,
http://www.rsa.emb.gov.au/citizenship.htm


Cheers