Jessie James

Hi,

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right place but I'm not really sure where it fits....Basically I wondered if anybody knows the rules surrounding gaining a British passport if you are born and live in Australia but have one British parent?

Are you entitled to dual nationality/citizenship? The reason I ask is that after a recent visit from my family my Australian cousins here (British father/Australian mother) are keen to visit England and wondered if they were entitled to a passport. One of them is over 18, the other under.

Anybody know?

jayr

JAJ may be along in a minute - he is the source of all knowledge on this subject

Ceri

I would say your cousin is entitled to a British passport having a British father... he/she is half British.

I can't answer you in full - as I'm British and have never had to apply for a British citizen by decent. But usually if you have a parent who is British - you are entitled to this, or a passport .
http://bhc.britaus.net/default.asp ( British high commission in Canberra - give them a phone call)

As jayr has said JAJ will be able to answer this - if he doesn't see it - send him a private message.

cheers

fimart

Yes I think as long as that one parent is the father and is married to the mother. At least that was what the rules were when I got my British passport in 1997. I am not sure if it has changed. I was born in Aus to a kiwi mum and a British dad (a ten pound pom, but that is not really relevant!). Therefore I was deemed to be British by birthright so was able to get a British passport. I am not sure of the rules but I think you can get a longer residency in Britain if you don't have British parents but you have Grandparents who are (probably need to be paternal though if it is the same as getting the passport) and that is an ancestry visa. There are more people on this forum who know more bu that was my experience. I hope it helps
Fi

ABCDiamond

Have a look at

http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind...tizenship.html

bundy

Where's JAJ?!

Ok, Mr B is an aussie born and bred. He has a Certificate to the Right of Abode for the UK based on that fact that his mother was born here. He has lots of rellies on both sides that were born in the UK, but his application for right of abode is based on his mother's place of birth (his dad is an aussie of British descent).

Right of Abode is basically an open pass into the UK. Mr B gets to go throught the UK/EU channel at the airport, has no work restrictions and can stay here for as long as he likes (simply has to renew the right of abode certificate whenever he renews his passport).

However, this doesn't make Mr B a British citizen....as far as I remember, that can only be handed down through the father (may be wrong). But he can apply for citizenship once he's been here for 5 years, apparently.

Hope that helps

ABCDiamond

I have two nephews, both born in Australia, one is 27, the other 22. Mother is British, Father is Australian

One of them has dual citizenship, the other couldn't get it.
Now I can't remember which is which But some rule changed between their births to mean they were treated differently.

Everyone is now waiting for JAJ

bondipom

The wifes nephew had to claim his passport (I guess that means he claimed citizenship as well) before he was 18. This was last year and got his passport with a couple of weeks to spare. His mother was British by birth, father Australian, grandfather and grandmother British by grant. The mother was born late fifties.

My wife is British due to her father being British by grant. Annoyingly the papers have gone missing however we both renew our passports from my parents address in the UK at the UK passport office. If applying in Australia she would have to provide those papers plus it costs more here.

There are so many combinations that can provide/deny citizenship due to law changes over the years that the OP needs to provide more information.

aud123

I have an ancestry visa for the UK, my mother is British and grandparents and so on. The ancestry gives you right of abode for four years , thereafter you have to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK ( proving you have been in full time employment for the four years and self sufficient)
You have no recourse to public funds in the four years.A year after obtaining indef. leave to remain you can apply for a British Passport. If I had applied before I was eighteen I would have a British Passport.

To obtain the ancestry visa you have to have full certificate of parents and grandparents birth certfifcates.
Proof of employment or showing you are looking for a job ( letter inviting you for a interview,CV etc)
Proof of accomodation in the UK
Proof of funds ( Bank Statements)

Hope this helps

bundy

Wonder how/why that's different to a Certificate to the Right of Abode?

All Mr B needed when it came to applying was his own birth certificate listing his mother's place of birth. I know, cos I did the application for him!

Both sets of grandparents contained one British citizen in each set but he only applied using his mother's place of birth.

He has no restrictions as you describe....

OzTennis

I'm dual national but not really the same circumstances as having a British parent. I am Aussie born and bred but married a Scot in Australia. When we wanted to move to the UK I had to get a Settlement Accompanying Certificate to enter the country. After 3 years residency here I was eligible to apply for British citizenship which I did. (I subsequently lost my Australian citizenship because the law changed in Oz to prevent dual citizenship but I eventually got it back and the law changed back recently to allow dual citizenship but that's another story).

OzTennis

aud123

have no idea. I have the right of abode with ' entry clearance' visa.Was this recently? Maybe it has changed.....

bundy

He got it in August 2000, arrived in the UK Oct 2000. Do you have a little sticker in your passport?

aud123

We arrived here in July 2002. Sticker in passport says united Kingdom Entry Clearance UK Ancestry Employment no recourse to public funds valid for four years...

bundy

Yep, Mr B's is different. Don't have it here to look at, but it says nothing about public funds and doesn't mention ancestry. It's a greeny red sticker with a big old crest and it just says Certificate to the Right of Abode and something about being entitled to live and work freely in the UK until the expiry of the passport. Then there's a little pink leaflet with it that says he can use the UK/EU channel at the airport, has no work restrictions etc etc