disco_unicorn

I would appreciate any insight into our situation.
Ancestry Breakdown:
Kids: Canadian, born in the 2010s

Kids' Mother: Canadian, born in the 70s.

Kids' Father: (here's where it gets interesting) British Citizen, born in Barbados (70s) while his father was teaching there. Registered at the British High Commission two years after birth, when his married parents were heading home to the UK. He lived in the UK for about 30 years before moving to Canada. Does not have any Barbados citizenship/ties AFAIK. Not officially naturalised. Passport code GBR.

Kids' Uncle: Born in the UK. His American kids have British Citizenship; cut and dried.

Kids' Paternal Grandparents: Both born in the UK. He's now an Anglican Priest? I'm grasping at straws here.

Kids' Paternal Great Grandparents: 3/4 born in the UK. Great Grandfather was born in Germany, and his wife became German at marriage, but she was UK born. They were both naturalised after the war.

Kids' Maternal Grandfather: (also interesting) Born in Jamaica in the 30s, left in the 50s before Independence. Windrush Generation. Not naturalised in the UK. Holds a 'cancelled', very expired, British passport. Stamped inside is "British Subject: Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies. This is crossed out and 'Commonwealth Citizen' is written over it. Now a Canadian Citizen. Sidebar: Would any of this confer British Citizenship to his children born abroad?

The obvious answer is, their father was born outside of the UK, therefore British Citizenship ended with him. But having read practically the entire gov dot uk website and many, many, immigration service websites, it feels like there are grey areas. I have my hopes pinned on the High Commission registration and the double descent. We have strong ties to Britain. The kids practically have British accents and I can't tell you how much we spend on tea! If it weren't for their dad being born during a working holiday, there would be no debate. What are the odds I could claim passports for my kids? Should I gather every document I can and just give it a shot? I know there's the ancestry visa, but I'm kinda heartbroken they don't have the same rights as their first cousins
Thanks for reading this far!

SanDiegogirl

Complicated family history - as you say your kids could live in the UK (when of age) under the Ancestry visa.

No harm in gathering every document and trying for British passports ....if the application gets turned down then you'll have a definitive answer, rather than opinions (although expert in some quarters) from the forum.

BritInParis

Who was your father’s employer at the time of your birth? Is there any information regarding your status on your consular birth certificate?

disco_unicorn

Hi BIP!
I'll email for the employer info, but that may take a few days.

I don't see anything about his status in particular on the consular birth certificate. It looks to be the same as one issued in the UK, yellowish with red print.

At the top: "Birth within the district of the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom at Bridgetown Barbados" It has the name, occupation, and place of birth (UK) for father's parents. This one is not signed by his father or mother, but the local Barbados one is.
At the bottom: "....certify that this is a true copy of the entry of the birth of [father] in the register of births maintained in this Office of the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom" Signed and sealed by the registration officer.

BritInParis

Thanks for sharing. Employer information might prove useful if you’re able to find that out.

disco_unicorn

Sorry for the delay!
Here's the email from the kids' grandparents:

[Dad] applied for a post - advertised in the 'Times Educational Supplement '- to teach English at The Lodge School in Barbados*, on a three-year (1970-73) contract. Having been offered the job by the then headmaster (Mr Critchlow) after an interview in London, we spent the next three years on the Island, where you were born. [Mom] registered you with the British High Commission as being of British parentage, and (I trust!) you have the official documentation. We thought of settling there permanently, but the rules when we arrived - that Barbadian citizenship would be automatically conferred upon anyone in government employment (plus their immediate families) after three years residency - were changed**: so, as a foreigner, [dad] would have had no security of tenure. As a consequence we decided to return to the UK.
*All the details are on Wikipedia, if you want to look it up. By the way, when Critchlow retired he was succeeded by an excellent new head, Aurelius Smith [...]
**Actually, as [dad's] colleagues predicted, they weren't - but by that time we'd made all the arrangements for leaving, and it was too late to change our minds.

BritInParis

On the face of it there doesn’t appear to be a claim. Are you planning to move to the UK or is it more about securing their citizenship?

disco_unicorn

Aw that's a shame. Mostly about securing their citizenship as we have family, elderly parents, friends etc. over there.
If we were to register them from abroad, how exactly do I prove their father's 30+ years past residency? We've got a few old passports, his college degree, some pictures, maybe an old NHS number. I found a school records site, but it does not go back very far. If doing a subject access request, would "an electronic summary of your immigration history" go back to the 70s? Form MN1 has space for addresses and absences from the UK. What else would they want to see?

BritInParis

If it’s just securing citizenship then S.3(2) registration via Form MN1 would be the way to go. You only need to prove a single consecutive three year period at any point before the first child was born. Three years of university education would be a good place to start, letters from former employees and/or National Insurance contribution records would be another.

disco_unicorn

Thank you, BritInParis, for all your excellent advice.