Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Hi everyone,

I applied last year for UK citizenship, based on the new rule that says it can be passed through maternal line (with the help of an agent and after a Phillip Gamble assessment gave a "likely" result). Last week I received a letter of refusal, stating that because my mother was born outside of the UK and Colonies, she is British by descent only and therefore cannot pass that on to me. My details are as follows:
-Grandfather born in UK
-Mother born in Southern Rhodesia in 1956
-I was born in SA in 1981

Is there something about Southern Rhodesia? The agent says I'm the first client of his that's been refused. Several friends have had successful applications (but their mothers were born in SA). Surely SA is also outside of the UK and Colonies?
Any help would be appreciated :)

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Ask Gamble for the text of argument that he submitted to the Home Office with your application. Without this, it would be speculation as to why your application failed. It would also help us understand if there was an error and if you have another available route.

Other than what you provided, were there any further details in the rejection letter?

Also, provide details on both sides of your family, including birth year, place of birth, and citizenship. With what you have provided, it is not clear which argument he used in your application (there are several possibilities).

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Thanks for reply. Just for clarity, I never used Phillip Gamble to submit my application (it's tooo expensive), but I did do his free assessment. I then used an agent here in SA who said I could apply based on premise that I could get it through my maternal grandfather.

The rejection letter said:
Your application has been refused for the following reasons:
A person applying under section 4C of the British Nationality Act 1981 is expected to meet certain requirements prior to making the application-
1. must have been born before 1 Jan 1983
2. would have become a citizen of the UK and Colonies descent if, before 1 Jan 1983 women had been able to transmit British nationality in the same way as men
3.Had you been a citizen of the UK and Colonies, would have had the right of abode in the UK and have become a British citizen on 1 Jan 1983
4. be of good character
As your mother was born outside the UK and Colonies, she would have held British subject:CUKC status by descent at the time of your birth. She would therefore not have been able to pass that status on to you.

The agent I used said he completed form UKM and did not include any motivation/argument as he's not had any refusals so far.

Family details:
- Maternal grandfather born UK 1920. Was a British citizen.
-Maternal grandmother born Southern Rhodesia 1916
-Mother born Southern Rhodesia 1956. She has British citizenship.
-I was born in South Africa 1981. South African citizenship.
-Father born South Africa 1951. South African citizenship
-Paternal grandfather born South Africa (?year), Presume SA citizenship

If you have ideas as to how I could proceed, please let me know! Thanks

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Your grandparents were married when your mother was born? Rejection seems odd since South Africa was not a commonwealth country when you were born.

Hopefully, BritInParis can answer this since he knows more about UKM registrations.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Sounds like a classic Romein claim to me.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

So how would I go about appealing it? Does anyone have the text of the actual regulation that I could send them?
The price to appeal is jolly expensive...

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Were your grandparents married before your mother was born?

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Yes they were married when my mom was born.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

I submitted their marriage certificate etc. Did they look at the wrong regulation when they made their decision?

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

The caseworker's finding that "As your mother was born outside the UK and Colonies, she would have held British subject:CUKC status by descent at the time of your birth. She would therefore not have been able to pass that status on to you." This finding appears to be incorrect under Romein. The caseworker did not mention any other reason for refusal.

The Romein decision stated that "On a proper construction of section 4C(3) the petitioner is entitled to be registered as a British citizen if she can prove that she would have become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by virtue of section 5 of the 1948 Act if the assumption set out in section 4C(3A) had applied at the relevant time."

4C(3A): Assumption A is that—

(a)section 5 or 12(2) of, or paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to, the 1948 Act (as the case may be) provided for citizenship by descent from a mother in the same terms as it provided for citizenship by descent from a father, and

(b)references in that provision to a father were references to the applicant's mother.

Assumption A applies because you were born before 1983 and after the 1948 Act.

Here is what 4C(3) says:

(3)The second condition is that the applicant would at some time before 1st January 1983 have become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies—

(a)under section 5 of, or paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to, the 1948 Act if assumption A had applied,

(b)under section 12(3), (4) or (5) of that Act if assumption B had applied and as a result of its application the applicant would have been a British subject immediately before 1st January 1949, or

(c)under section 12(2) of that Act if one or both of the following had applied—

(i)assumption A had applied;

(ii)assumption B had applied and as a result of its application the applicant would have been a British subject immediately before 1st January 1949.

The relevant portion of section 5 BNA 1948 reads:

Citizenship by descent

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, a person born after the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if his father is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies at the time of the birth:

Provided that if the father of such a person is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent only, that person shall not be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by virtue of this section unless—

(a)that person is born or his father was born in a protectorate, protected state, mandated territory or trust territory or any place in a foreign country where by treaty, capitulation, grant, usage, sufferance, or other lawful means, His Majesty then has or had jurisdiction over British subjects ; or

(b)that person's birth having occurred in a place in a foreign country other than a place such as is mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph, the birth is registered at a United Kingdom consulate within one year of its occurrence, or, with the permission of the Secretary of State, later

Under Romein, references to the father of the child in this section are replaced by mother.

The other conditions for UKM registration are:

1. That you were born before January 1 1983. You meet this condition
2. That you would have the right of abode in the UK. You meet this condition because "one of your mother’s parents **was a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by birth, legal adoption, naturalisation or registration* in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man at the time of her birth". Your maternal grandfather was born in the UK (both maternal grandparents were).

In addition, the Home Office guidance on BNA 1948 5(1)(b) states that: "Where you are considering whether a person who was born outside the UK between 1 January 1949 – 31 December 1982 (inclusive) to a British mother you must disregard the requirement that their birth must have been registered with a UK consulate in the 12 month period after their birth."

The caseworker has already noted that your mother was a CUKC in the refusal so you have already shown that your mother was a CUKC.

Here is the Home Office guidance relevant to your application. Refer to the section on 4C registrations:
https://assets.publishing.service.go...ts-v6.0ext.pdf

If Assumption A had applied when you were born, your mother could have registered you under section 5. She could not at the time due to gender discrimination. You appear to be eligible for UKM registration and the refusal was contrary to Home Office guidance and the Romein decision.

When you apply for reconsideration, use the above arguments, the UKM guidance, and the relevant text of the Romein decision.

I know that form NR is for reconsideration, but I am not certain that this applies in your case since there is no discretion and the error is solely due to the Home Office not using the "correct requirements or criteria" when refusing your application. Form NR costs £372, which seems unfair given that refusal was due to incorrectly applying Home Office guidance, rather than an error or omission on your part. Perhaps there is a different method to request reconsideration at no cost.

BritInParis would have a better understanding of the reconsideration process and whether you can/should request reconsideration using a method different than form NR.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Thanks so much I'll go through all that tonight. If there's a way to appeal without having to do the expensive option I'd be happy to know. They don't seem to respond to emails so it's difficult to even know what they are doing.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Does the rejection letter mention anything about an option for an administrative review?

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

The letter says if I believe the decision was not soundly based on nationality law, policy or procedures and I wish it to be reconsidered, I must complete Form NR and pay a fee.
So that's not ideal.

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Paying the HO £372 to correct their mistake on a free application doesn’t seem to make much sense. Could you provide a scan of the letter with your personal information suitably redacted?

Re: Citizenship by Double Descent refused (mom born in Rhodesia)
 

Yeah I'll get to it asap. Can I upload it on here?