poptarvish

thank you!!!

Rickmcd

Hi Pop, was just wondering if you havean update to your application ?
Rick

Mat_Walsh

Hi BritInParis / British Expats

As I said previously I successfully received my British Passport in 2015 and have traveled successfully to the UK and Europe a number of times since then.

I just have a few questions reading my British Citizenship and i am hoping you can help.

Would i be British by Descent or British Otherwise by Descent? Is there a way to check this or to check the status that the UK has given me?

I have since gotten married, what options does my Wife have to get her British Citizenship? Do we have to move to the UK for a number of years?

Lastly my children one day. Would they be able to apply to be a British Citizen or to get there British Passport through me or my Mother or Grandfather?

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards
Mat_Walsh

BritInParis

Hi Mat,

Glad to hear you’ve been able to take advantage of your British heritage!

You would be British by descent. Assuming she has no recent European heritage of her own, you would need to sponsor your wife for a spouse visa and move to the UK for five years before she could naturalise as a British citizen. Your children would need to be born in the UK in order for them to be British citizens.

Mat_Walsh

Hi BritInParis
Thank you for the Info.
No my wife does not have any recent European History. Everything from her side is Great Grandparents....
Would my children qualify for an Ancestral Visa?
Is there any way to check what the UK has for me on record? British by Descent, or British Otherwise than by Descent?

Regards
Matthew Walsh

BritInParis

You need a grandparent born in the UK to qualify for a UK Ancestry visa. Which country were your wife’s great-grandparents born in? You’ll be a British citizen by descent under S.2(1)(a) BNA 1981. You can make a Subject Access Request to HMPO to confirm this if you like.

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

anthonys

Thanks for this very helpful thread! I would like to share a fact pattern and some questions. This is for my wife, who wishes to apply for UK citizenship by double descent.

Relevant data:

• My wife was born in South Africa in 1970.
• My wife's mother was born in South Africa in 1942.
• My wife's maternal grandfather was born in Scotland.
  • There is uncertainty regarding his date of birth:
    • His birth certificate says 1901.
    • His marriage certificate and his daughters birth certificate list ages that do not add up to the age that is on his birth certificate. The difference is ~ 9 years (1892), which is confusing. There is no clear reason for this, except that he may not have known exactly when he was born.
    • All of the documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, daughter's birth certificate state he was born in Scotland.
  • He appears to have started using the middle name "Hector" during his life, without having actually changed his name. It is listed on some documents and not on others. The first and last name are the same throughout all documents, but the middle name is on some documents and not on others.
  • My wife's mother received a UK passport in 1985. I believe she would have been considered an automatic citizen from birth, based on the useful comments I have read on this board.

My questions:

1. Is my understanding that my wife is eligible for UK citizenship by double descent correct?
2. She will be applying, along with her brother. We do not want to send original documents, as South African mail is unreliable, and the documents may be lost on return. Can we send notarized copies to the Home Office?
3. If we do not have all the documents in within 20 days will our application be rejected, or will they give us time to resolve any issues?
4. Will the date of birth discrepancies for the maternal grandfather be an issue? Should we go through a law firm to get in front of this? If not, what should we do? Call it out in a letter in the application, or just let it go in? The Home Office has already granted the mother a British Passport, so presumably they accepted the materials previously.

Thank you so much!

Anthony

BritInParis

1. Yes
2. No
3. That would be at the discretion of your case officer.
4. The date on the birth certificate is the only one that matters and the only one that should be used.

anthonys

Thank you. I will work on obtaining the original documents.
I have the following documents:
1. My wife's birth certificate (original).
2. My wife's mother's birth certificate (original).
3. My wife's maternal grandfather's birth registry extract (original).
4. My wife's mother's British passport (copy, not original). This is with her mother and may be hard to obtain as an original as the mother is quite elderly and I am not sure she will be willing or able to send her original British Passport away. We have copies and (I assume) the home office can check the validity of the copies themselves?

Do I have sufficient documentation?

Thanks!

Anthony

BritInParis

I would also include your marriage certificate, your parents-in-law’s marriage certificate and your wife’s maternal grandparents’ marriage certificate as well as a copy of your wife’s South African passport.

anthonys

BritInParis

Good quality colour photocopies will suffice with a note saying the originals have been retained for travel but are available on request.

Yes, make it obvious that the supporting documents are for all three applications.

anthonys

Thank you - this is very helpful. As I go through the online web forms, additional items come up: the document list suggests that I should submit two referee declarations, but it is unclear on the web whether this is necessary for double descent applications.

My question: do I need to submit two referee declarations to the UK Home Office?

Thanks!

Anthony

BritInParis

Yes, you’ll need two referees.

Gildies

Hi Brit in Paris,

It seems that you have a skill for tracing military personal.

My grandfather was born in Droxford, Bishops Waltham, UK in 1897

He served as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in the First World War.
Service number 137677

Is there any way you can trace further information on his military service?

Any assistance would be appreciated