creamern

Exactly! I just got my BC 1/3/12 in L.A. and have a British Mother so I had to put in my application with her birth cert, her old passport, my birth cert and passport and marriage cert, old divorce and marriage cert so yes you do have to apply and send them a lot of info but so worth the effort and I am now a British Citizen putting in for my passport!

paulpur

i dont think that you do need to apply for citizenship, you either are or you arent...they may ask you to prove it when you apply for a passport, but if you have all the relevant checkable documents enclosed with your passport application i believe they would send you the passport
perhaps there is some sort of 'registration' thing that you need to go through similar to how it is with Republic of Ireland citizens who are claiming 'by descent' via a grandparent

creamern

If you Father is a BC then you can apply for a passport from what I understand but you are not granted automatic citizenship if your Mother is a BC. You have to apply like I just did. I sent my app in 8/11 and was given approval in Dec. I was sworn in 1/3/12.

paulpur

i think that is true but is dependant on when the child was born, if the child was born after 1 January 1983 then it doesnt matter whether its through the mother or the father the child is automatically a BC as long as either parent was a BC 'otherwise than by descent', it gets more complicated if its through the father and the parents werent married at the time

Mallory

If your mother or father is a British citizen, and you were born abroad, you can apply for citizenship by descent through either of them. You cannot get a passport until you have applied for citizenship. This takes a lot of paperwork, and a ceremony. See Creamer's post above.

If your father is a British citizen (and you are applying through him, he would have to have been married to your mother at time of your birth).

The laws have changed. Mothers didn't used to be able to pass citizenship to their children born abroad, but fathers could (if they were married to the mother of said child). They have changed the law now.

paulpur

that must be only in certain circumstances that you have to apply Mallory, i know this because my daughter was born in the U.S and we dont need to apply for her, we just need to apply for her British passport, we can register her birth abroad if we want to(this is an optional thing that i will be doing but we are not required to do)

Mallory

Yes, that's true, but the laws have changed. We were talking about adults that were born in or around the 1980s. They still have to get citizenship.

I posted the link above.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br...p/eligibility/

carlaferrari01

It would appear from reading this below http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/br.../bornoverseas/

that because I was born after 1983 when the laws changed, I automatically am a British Citizen and would not have to apply for citizenship as such - I would think from reading this I just have to apply for my British Passport and send them all the relevant documentation to prove I am eligible...

Correct?

Thanks again for all your help guys - much less confusing!

paulpur

it is a good possibility...were your mother and father married when you were born or sometime after you were born? , was either your mother or father british citizens other than by descent?

carlaferrari01

Yes as per my initial post - i was born in australia in 1985, mom is a british citizen - born 1960 in england and was married to my father (born 1959 in australia) at the time of my birth.

So I think I might be able to just apply for my passport and that should be all I need to do?

And apply for the spousal citizenship or whatever it is called for my partner. At the time of application, we would be engaged, but getting married end of year (2012) and moving to UK mid 2013...bit tricky to figure out which form to use for him!

paulpur

Yes you should be able to apply for your british passport
The form you will need for your husbands spouse visa is form VAF4A
Ive put the link to the webpage where you can download the form and the instructions, the links for them are on the right hand side of the page, however you may be able to apply online, you can follow a link on that page to see whether you can apply online or need to send the application in.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/vi...ly-outside-uk/

roaringmouse

Yes I believe you can do this, as since 1983 mothers who were British "otherwise by descent" can pass on citizenship to their children born outside the UK. It also says this in the notes for the C2 Form (application for a passport for adults).

I think Mallory is confusing things at the moment.

roaringmouse

I can confirm that in Australia the application is done online, which you need to print off. During the online process you select a Consulate office and date/time to attend for the biometrics (fingerprints & photo), taking the form with you.

Once all this is done, and evidence gathered (and form signed) you send it to a GPO Box in Sydney, which is then forwarded to Manila for processing. The application for my wife in Oct/Nov last year took about 2-3 weeks to process.

roaringmouse

As the mother is passing on citizenship, which was possible after 1983, there is no need for the parents to be married. It was only necessary if the father was passing on citizenship by descent at that time.

paulpur

thanks roaringmouse for clarifying that, i had asked the questions just to be sure i had the proper info before giving my opinion