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Hello
I am a British citizen living in Brazil. I been Married to my wife for nearly 8 years. I would like to seek advice in how to get a British passport for my wife. We don,t want to return to the UK. But if any unlikely event ever happen to me. she would be entited for something from me. I will wait for some imformation.
Ian

elhombresinnombre

Unfortunately, they don't give out British Passports like sweets anymore - if they ever did. Given that you don't live in the UK and don't want to live there, I suspect (and I would love to be proved wrong) that even a good immigration lawyer would be unable to make a case for your wife's UK citizenship. Under the current, harsher UK immigration policies, IF you lived in the UK and IF you earned in excess of GPB18,600 then you could apply for your wife to obtain a visa to join you. British citizenship could follow.

elhombresinnombre

Just a quick thought: I'm presuming that your wife has Brazilian nationality - is that correct? Many South American nationals have European parents or grandparents and some European countries - notably Italy, but you could research further - will grant citizenship to South Americans with appropriate lineage. An EU passport would grant freedom to reside in the UK. Amongst my Argentine friends I know dual passport holders from Italy, Germany and Croatia. If it is relevant to your wife, it's worth looking into.

Gordon Barlow

Good thinking, hombre. All EU passports rank the same these days, don't they? I mean, they entitle the holder to work in any EU nation at all. And in Norway, by the way; my son lives there, on the strength of his UK passport.

SanDiegogirl

Firstly I would suggest you change your site name, if indeed that is your proper e-mail address, unless you want every scammer in the business to be communicating with you.

Secondly, your marriage to a non British citizen gives them no rights at all to a British passport, unless:

- they live in the UK with the relevant visa and qualify for naturalisation after the required period
- they can qualify for an Ancestry visa and after the necessary time spent in the UK can apply for naturalisation.

MartynK

Yeah. My father was British, and my South African mother gained citizenship automatically when they married shortly after WW2. That was a long time ago and the rules have been progressively tightened since then. There are probably quite a few reasons for this, but it's a can of worms.

Some EU countries do offer easier routes to citizenship, as others have said, and EU citizenship confers the right to live and work in any member country. The Surinder Singh case might have a bearing too. I'm not a lawyer, but the basic facts are set out here: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/eu-rights-c...nding-the-law/

BritInParis

There has been no automatic entitlement to British citizenship for wives of British citizens since 1949. You and your wife would need to reside in the UK for a minimum of five years before she could apply for naturalisation as a British citizen.

As elhombresinnombre mentioned it might be worth looking at your wife's recent ancestry to see whether she is eligible for another EU/EEA passport which would allow her to live without restriction in the UK.

JAJ

Although it was possible for wives of British citizens to register as British, up until the end of 1987.

And more interestingly, most women from Commonwealth countries (excluding Pakistan and South Africa) who married British men before 1983 hold Right of Abode in the U.K. This doesn't work for many in Central & South America, except for Belize, Guyana and a few of the Caribbean nations.