mazendubai

Greetings,

I hope you could advise me or tell me about your experiences if any with an issue I face. I was born and brought up in Dubai and have lived my whole life here. My British passport is by descent and thus I can not pass my passport to my daughter born in May. My wife has a Yemeni passport and I have tried with the Yemeni consulate in Dubai and they too rejected my application as I am not a Yemeni citizen nor have I held that passport.

I tried applying for a passport from the British Home Office and was rejected and thus my daughter is still stateless.

Do you think by applying for a British citizenship through registration as a stateless person would help?

Thank you in advance for the support

BritInParis

The UAE and Yemen are not signatories of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, whereas the UK is, therefore there is a registration process available to your daughter in the circumstances you describe.

You say that your British citizenship is by descent - could you provide a little more information on your family background?

mazendubai

My father was born in Aden in Yemen while it was still a British colony and thus he had a British overseas passport. I got the overseas passport through him, then in 2004 we all applied for citizenship and we're granted it. But it remains that I was granted the passport by descent and can not pass it onto my offspring.

I am glad you replied and gave me hope

Thanking you

BritInParis

That's great, thanks. Did you spend any time living in the UK before your daughter was born?

mazendubai

Unfortunately none, I know it would be easier if I had spent at least 3 years there but I didn't.

BritInParis

This becomes more difficult then. As your father was not a British citizen at the time of your birth (both of you having become British citizens in 2004) and you have not spent three years in the UK then you do not meet the requirements to register your daughter under Section 3(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981.

That leaves registration as a minor under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 which is at the discretion of the Home Secretary. This is a very wide ranging power but it is generally only exercised within certain published guidelines. Schedule 2(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981 outlines the requirements for registration of someone who is stateless and was born outside the UK. Your daughter meets two of the three requirements (stateless, has a British citizen parent) but not the third, as she hasn't spent three years in the UK.

Schedule 2(6) does permit for discretion regarding absences from the UK but the published nationality guidance sets out that this discretion can only normally be used in certain circumstances and being left stateless in and of itself is not enough.

What is the situation with the UAE authorities regarding your daughter's immigration status?

mazendubai

Again thanking you for taking the time to reply to me.

Regarding the UAE immigration status, my daughter is now living illegally in the country as she doesn't have a passport within 3 months of her birth

I will take it up to the ministry or residents and foreign affairs to exempt me from paying a fine as they have done it for others with valid reasons

I had to remove some of the quoted text as it contained URL's and the forum doesnt allow me to post it unless I have 5 posts

BritInParis

I was just thinking that your daughter not being able to reside in the UAE without a passport could be a reason for the Home Office to waive the residence requirement for her to be registered as a British citizen. At this point you should think about contacting a solicitor or immigration adviser in the UK who specialises in nationality casework, particularly those who have had success with stateless persons.