Ben170292

Hi, sorry if this is in the wrong section.

I'm not a British expat but my dad is, I heard that if your parent was born in England you can be a British citizen by descent, but I'm not sure if this is the case for me so I'm hoping someone can help.

I was born in Australia in 1992, my dad was born in England in 1960 and moved to Australia in 1964 and is still a citizen of England not Australia.
My mum was born in Australia and is not married to my dad.

I heard that if your father is born in England and not married to your mum that you can't become a citizen but if your mum was born in england and not married either you can become a citizen, is this true?

Out of all my cousins it is only me and my 2 siblings who have not got British passports because all of my cousins mums are English.

If anyone can help me with this it would be really appreciated,

Thanks, Ben.

Lion in Winter

Helpful Wiki here.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Britis...hip_by_Descent

Call me AL

Hi Ben and welcome to BE.

You will receive a lot more help and info if you posted this in, Immigration, Visas & Citizenship. I'll move it over there for you.

eddie007

Being a citizen I could offer to marry you..... But sadly, your mother probably wouldnt approve, nor would my husband....

But welcome anyway

Pollyana

Moved you to the UK forum where there are several similar threads and someone should be able to help

nolan8

i can only say from what i know (cld be wrong) I dont believe you will obtain british citizen ship as your parents were not married at the time of your birth. My mum and dad are british and i was born in australia so i have dual nationality (they married before i was born) my older brother is british had a child with an australian lady and the baby was born in australia, my niece does not qualify for a british passport as parents not married

Mummy in the foothills

Didn't they get rid of the parents must be married thing? Not sure when though. So you may or may not be a UKC Sorry. I'm sure JAJ will clear it up when he wanders by.

SanDiegogirl

Read this:-

British Citizenship by descent
'British Citizenship by descent' is the category for the children born outside the UK to a British citizen. Rules for acquiring British citizenship by descent depend on when the person was born.

[edit]From 1983

A child born outside the UK on or after 1 January 1983 automatically acquires British citizenship by descent if either parent is a British citizen other than by descent at the time of the birth.
Only one parent—father or mother—must be British otherwise than by descent.
As a general rule, an unmarried father cannot pass on British citizenship automatically in the case of children born before 1 July 2006. However, if the parents marry subsequent to the birth, the child normally becomes a British citizen at that point if legitimated by the marriage and the father was eligible to pass on British citizenship. Further, if the unmarried British father was domiciled in a country that treated (at the date of birth of the child born before 1 July 2006) a child born to unmarried parents in the same way as a child born to married parents, then the father passed on British citizenship automatically to his child, even though the child was born before 1 July 2006 to unmarried parents.[4] Such countries are listed in UK Immigration and Passport Services publication "Legitimation and Domicile".[5] Failing that, the child can be registered as British if it would have been British if parents were married and application is made before the child is 18.


From reading this I would say that you do not qualify for British citizenship since your parents were not married at the time of your birth and have not married subsequently.

Ben170292

Thanks for all the replies, it is confirming what I have thought.

So this is saying if they were to get married tomorrow that I am automatically a British citizen?

SanDiegogirl

Don't believe so as you are now over 18 ?

Ben170292

Yes I am 20, if it's to try and prove my father is my biological father can you use a DNA test instead of marriage certificate?

JAJ

No, DNA won't work. You could have been registered as British before you were 18 but as you say you're 20, it's too late now.

In general, you cannot claim British citizenship through an unmarried British father if born before 1 July 2006. The main exception is:

- if you are born somewhere that has abolished the concept of illegitimacy. There is a distinction between abolishing the consequences of illegitimacy and the status of illigetimacy. Many countries have only done the former, which does not count. How to find out if Australia has - go to see an experienced family law practitioner and get properly researched advice in writing. You will have to pay for that.

- If Australia has abolished the concept of illegitimacy then as long as you can show that your father was domiciled in Australia when you were born, you might still be in with a chance. You probably need to work with an experienced UK immigration solicitor to have a chance of working through these issues, and also to see if there is any other option that has been missed. Again - you will need to pay for the right written advice. A phone call will not do.

Be prepared for disappointment, however - as far as I understand, in general Australia has only abolished the consequences of illegitimacy, not the status in itself.

Could it help you if your parents married? Possibly. As far as I am aware there is not a specific age limit on legitimation by marriage of parents, although again it depends on Australian law. And if you have already been legitimated by Australian law, your parents marriage will probably not help you.

HOWEVER - perhaps they should get married anyway, if they're still together?

If by some chance your father, or one of his parents, was born in Ireland or Northern Ireland, then you could be eligible to register as an Irish citizen an get into the U.K. that way.


If all this is too hard, then you should still be eligible for the ancestry visa right now which lets you migrate to Britain as a worker and become a naturalised British citizen in due course. Start at http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk

As far as I am aware, for ancestry visa purposes it does not matter if your parents were not married. But again, you should not assume anything. Verify it yourself, as it is a complex area.

MarylandNed

DNA testing won't help under the current laws. I've often wondered about this myself though. Just because someone is named as the father on a birth cert, does not mean that he is the child's biological father. I wonder how many people are UK citizens by descent simply because they have someone who is NOT their biological father listed as their father on their birth cert?

formula

I recall reading an article a few years ago in which geneticists thought that at least 10% of children sent their Fathers Day card to the wrong father.

I assume DNA will have to be used at some point for passports.

JAJ

For British citizenship purposes, for those born from 1 July 2006, if a woman is married then for nationality purposes her husband is deemed the "father" for nationality purposes. Hence, if the child gets British citizenship from her husband, it doesn't matter if there is a biological link or not. If it can be shown that the natural father is someone else, then registration is possible before age 18. From the Nationality Instructions, chapter 9:

----

Children born on or after 1 July 2006

9.9.5 One of the effects of the changes introduced by s.9 of the 2002 Act is that where a child's mother is married at the time of the birth, her husband (and no other man) is regarded as the father of any child born to her on or after 1 July 2006. However, cases may arise where there is compelling evidence that someone other than the husband is the child's natural father. In such cases, where we are satisfied that the child would have had a claim to citizenship or entitlement to registration if the mother had been married to the natural father, it will normally be appropriate to register the child under s.3(1) if the criteria in 9.9.4 are met.