mjtyler

My father was born in Jersey in 1962 and moved to America in the late 1970s. He and my mother had me in 1996 and they weren't married, my mother is an American citizen. They ended up getting married in 1998. I want to get a British passport so it is easier to travel while in the UK when I go to visit family frequently. The websites can get so confusing and if anyone has a straight answer for me that would be great! We live in America obviously. So I guess my official question would be, Am I automatically a British citizen by descent?

Thank you!

Jerseygirl

Hi...welcome to BE.

I suggest you take a read through this...

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Britis...hip_by_Descent

SATX John

Were you a British Subject at time of birth?

Was a parent a USC? or UK cit?

Were you born in the US? or a former UK territory?

Did you register for US selective service (draft)? Did you register for UK draft?

Hmmmm I have heard these questions before???? I think from Donald Trump regarding .......

any relations in Kenya???? Just foolin.

Jerseygirl

I have moved your thread over to our UK Citizenship forum.

JAJ

As far as English law is concerned you were born "illegitimate" and then legitimated by the subsequent marriage of your parents. If your father was domiciled in England when you were born (in 1996), then section 47 of the British Nationality Act 1981 operated to confer British nationality on you from that point.

However, where someone is "domiciled" as far as English law is concerned is not all that clear (same goes for Scottish and Northern Irish law) and if your father had become domiciled in a U.S. state with laws not similar to England, then it gets more difficult to evidence. To get an idea of how complex the laws are, take a look at the Home Office Nationality Instructions documents on Legitimacy and Domicile at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si.../nisec2gensec/

In addition, your father was born in Jersey where the laws are different from those of England - which can make things a lot more complex, if his parents are also from Jersey.


Since you were born in 1996 and are aged less than 18, there is a simpler option than trying to make a complex section 47 claim. Apply to the Home Office on form MN1 for registration as a British citizen.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...britishfather/

The Home Office will have to consider the application. If they think you are already British, they will write to you saying so and refund the fee. They may well keep the fee and issue you a Certificate of Registration as a British citizen.

Either way - problem solved, you will have a Home Office document proving you're a British citizen and then you can use this to apply for a British passport.

BritInParis

Sounds like you should be British by descent. Apply to the Embassy in Washington DC with all the necessary documentation and they will send your father a Domicile Questionnaire to complete. Depending on the answers your father gives, the Passport Examiner will decide whether you are British by descent automatically. It's fairly unlikely you will be refused but if you are then you can go down the MN1 registration route.

JAJ

I would always recommend going straight to the Home Office with a complex nationality claim rather than involving the Passport Service as "middleman".

There is the option of a form NS application (to the Home Office) which doesn't cost as much as MN1 so it depends on finances. MN1 is preferable however.