Snowy45

Hi

I am following the same scenario as you, I just want to confirm the docs you submitted, which I have:
- grandfathers birth certificate,
- maternal vault copy birth certificate
- my vault copy birth certificate
- parents unabridged marriage certificate.

I should submit in the next week or so. It seems it was decided relatively quickly.

Thanks for the updates.

GarryUK

Hi I posted my list of docs in this thread.
I applied within UK, maybe that's why it's been fast. My ceremony is the 20th March. Cheers 🍻

aartsuk

GarryUK Hi again,

Can I just check with you if you sent original documentation or if you sent certified copies with your application? I noted that you had said copy of BRP front and back and passport every page, don't really want to send all original docs if not necessary.

Thanks again.

GarryUK

Yes all certified copies. Certified by royal mail. Anyone applying from South Africa or abroad, I suggest you use a Notary Public

xoomyto

Hi Garry,

would you please post your time line here just to kinda know what to expect ?

christmasoompa

Top tip: if you click on someone's username you can see their previous posts, you can also search by user.

British Citizenship by Discretion (CBR post 1982)

HTH.

xoomyto

i did see that earlier. But wanted to know more what happened after submitting fingerprints? How long more to wait? Was there anything extra they asked for? Etc.

WarrenZA

Hi from Cape Town,
Thanks to everyone for the hugely valuable contributions to this thread—especially jmin and BritInParis, and for setting out the arguments and details from the acts so clearly!

Encouraged to hear your application has been successful, garyuk. My application went in at the end of October and I did my biometrics visit in CT at the end of November—wondering about timescales, should I be concerned or is it just a waiting game? I'll keep you posted as my own application plays out.

Also wondering if there's a way to find out how many applications in the various categories using the new provisions have been made, were successful etc. I haven't seen any stats yet on the gov.uk home office pages.

jmin

As far as I know, the Home Office's publicly available application statistics are not segmented to that level of detail.

As far as the types of applications being rejected under the new legislation they appear to be those based on the registration entitlement under BNA 1981 8(1-3):
-Some (not all) that are based on the 5 year registration period under BNA 1981 8(1-3). These applications concern husbands that were married to a British citizen (or someone who could have been a British citizen) prior to BNA 1981 coming into force. BNA 1981 entitled the wives of British citizens to be registered for a 5 year period but did not allow the husbands of British citizens to do so, which is gender discrimination. It will be interesting to see if the Home Office eventually accepts this argument because it appears to be a straightforward case of gender discrimination.
-Wife claiming that she has an entitlement to register under BNA 1981 8(1-3) because her husband was not a British citizen but could become one now under a gender discrimination argument.
-A husband with ROA (through grandparent, marriage, or place of residence) who is married to someone who was a CUKC prior to the independence of the country that she derived the CUKC from.
-Some other cases involving marriage, husbands who are not British, and in-laws who were born in the UK.

WarrenZA

Thanks for the reply, jmin !
I should have mentioned that my application was based on BNA 1981 (Section 9)—my mother British by descent, maternal grandfather born in the UK, and my birth in SA in 1984. My sisters and cousins were all successful in their UKM / Romein applications (all born before 1983).

Also keen to see what happens with the cases based on marriage. Have put together a portfolio of docs for my father just in case somthing changes down the line.

jmin

I believe the Home Office will eventually concede the point re: BNA 1981 8(1-3) and allow husbands to register. Their position appears to be incompatible with the new legislation and the fact that they are approving transitional registrations for children of British mothers. It also should not matter whether the registration is an entitlement or discretionary, as they are also approving non-marriage discretionary registrations.

Fransman's British Nationality Law has this to say about BNA 1981 8(1-3):
Registration by entitlement (BNA 1981 8(1)):
"A marriage that took place before 1 January 1983 and which contracted between a woman a CUKC automatically vested the former with an entitlement to register as a CUKC herself. Any woman who was thus entitled by the time the 1981 Act came into force obtained the advantage of five-year transitional period in which to exercise that right. The husband, however, must have become a British citizen on commencement, and the marriage must have remained intact up to the date of application." The spouse would become a British citizen by descent if the spouse was a British citizen by descent, or otherwise than by descent if the spouse was otherwise by descent.

Fransman's then addresses registration by discretion which would occur where the husband had died, renounced CUKC, or the parties were divorced (BNA 1981 (2-3)). The book notes that both registration by entitlement and discretion were subject to gender discrimination in that only wives could benefit from transitional registration period, not husbands.

Since the new legislation is designed to correct these historical injustices, it seems appropriate that 8(1-3) registrations should be approved.

xoomyto

• Application mailed from the UK late December 2022
• My 80 GBP was deducted from my current account in the UK 03/20 ( I was a student there and still maintain my account 😂)
• The next day they sent me an email telling me to book an appointment for fingerprints.
• Fingerprints done successfully in the US today

Does anyone knows what would typically happened next ? Will they ask for more documents ? Do I need to go for an interview? Ceremony ? Or just instruct me to go pick up my certificate ? I appreciate any answers

BritInParis

Approval letter followed by a ceremony invitation. You’ll be given your certificate at the ceremony.

jmin

I believe that they are approving some types of BNA 1981 8(1) claims so it's possible your father could apply now. However, the current guidance by the Home Office does exclude most of these types of claims.

When were your parents married (year)? Were they still married in 1983? Did your mother automatically become a British citizen by descent when BNA 1981 came into force, or was it later through some other type of claim? Where and when was your mother born, father, and their parents.

WarrenZA

Hi jmin , thanks for your generosity in taking time to help us all navigate this!

As far as I can tell, my mother became a British citizen by descent automatically when BNA 1981 came into force (she was a CUKC with right of abode).

My mother was born in SA in 1945. Her father was born in England in 1914 and her mother in SA in 1918 (they married in 1944).
My father was born in SA in 1949. His father was born in Kenya in 1914 (but I don't have any of his civic docs from up there) and his mother in SA in 1926 (married in 1942).
My parents married in 1970 (and they're still married).