Hi everyone,

I’ve been following threads on British citizenship through exceptional circumstances and recently submitted my own application. I was born in Africa in 1998 to a British citizen by descent. Unfortunately, my mother was unable to register me as a citizen when I was younger because my father was extremely violent. He hid all the essential documents she could have used to escape with me.

My older siblings were born and raised in the UK, and we endured years of terror at the hands of my now late father. Now, with that chapter behind us and finally free from daily abuse, my mother tried to apply directly for a British passport for me. Unfortunately, it was refused because I hadn’t been registered before the age of 18.

We are now attempting another route through Section 4L. I have all the necessary evidence to support the application, but I’m feeling uncertain about the process ahead and the steps I should take.

If anyone has experience or expertise with this specific type of application, I would be incredibly grateful for your guidance or advice.

Thank you so much for your time and assistance!

Hi BritInParis

I’ve come across many of your insightful posts on British nationality matters and greatly appreciate your expertise. I would be grateful if you could share your thoughts on a particular issue I’m looking into.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

What exactly is your mother’s entitlement to British citizenship? Had your mother lived in the UK for at least three consecutive years before you were born?

Thank you for your reply. She is a British citizen by descent who has lived in the UK for 22 years before I was born

Were both her parents born in the UK? Which country were you and your father born in?

My mother’s grandparents migrated from India to East Africa. Owing to their stateless status at the time, they were granted British nationality together with their children. Myself and my father were born in Benin Republic.

Does your mother have naturalisation or registration papers for either her parents and/or herself indicating exactly how they become British citizens?

Her parents who were CUKC (Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies) British citizens don’t seem to possess naturalisation or registration papers. However, one of her older British passports explicitly states, “The holder is a British citizen under the provisions of the British Nationality Act, 1981.” The passport office also confirmed that she is a British citizen by descent. She entered the UK in the 1970s, holding a British passport, and lived there for 22 years, but the precise routes leading to her citizenship remain somewhat unclear to me.

I think it may be wise to establish exactly how your mother became a British citizen before applying to register yourself. Ask your mother to submit a Subject Access Request to HM Passport Office, requesting the information they hold on her entitlement to British citizenship.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...s-request-form

Can I ask which passport you currently hold and which country do you live in?

Thank you for the link. I will follow this up. I hold a Benin Republic passport and I live in the UAE.

Hi BiP, I followed your advice on the SAR and made a narration below for your views please, I even retrieved a copy of my grandfather’s certificate. My mother was born abroad in the early 1960s. Her father was registered as a Citizen of the UK and Colonies (CUKC) in 1955, under Section 6(1) of the BNA 1948, which (as I understand) would have made him a CUKC otherwise than by descent.

Based on that, my mother became a CUKC by descent under Section 5(1) of the 1948 Act. She moved to the UK in 1974 as a teenager, lived there long before 1983, attended school, worked, and was issued a National Insurance number. In other words, she was settled and had a life rooted in the UK before the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force.

However, in 1988, she was issued a British Overseas Citizen (BOC) passport from abroad — clearly an error. When she moved back to the UK in 1990, the Passport Office corrected this and amended her passport to reflect Right of Abode under Section 2(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1971 and her status as a British citizen. Later passports continued to show her as a British citizen, with internal Home Office notes confirming this was under Section 11(1) of the 1981 Act.

Here’s the key issue: Section 14(1)(b) of the BNA 1981 says that people who become British citizens under Section 11(1) are “by descent” if their prior CUKC status was by descent. That would apply to her on paper. But I wonder whether there’s room to argue that she should be considered a British citizen otherwise than by descent based on:

• Her long-term UK residence and ROA held in her own right prior to 1983, not just inherited through her father,
• The nature of her father’s registration as a CUKC otherwise than by descent,
• The serious administrative error that misclassified her as a BOC in 1988 — which potentially blocked her from exercising full rights or passing on citizenship to her children.

If she had been treated correctly from the start, she might have had a different route to register her children or pass on citizenship automatically.