disco_unicorn

What's the deal with 'designated service'?
It seems that there were occasional amendments to designate, say, the Welsh Assembly or Hong Kong Tourist Board.

https://tinyurl.com/5xpf39n9

Then there was a revocation of those specifics which were then included under a more generic amendment:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/.../contents/made

So, "The Secretary of State may only designate for this purpose service which he considers to be closely associated with the activities outside the United Kingdom..."

and "service under an international organisation of which the United Kingdom or Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom is a member is now designated for this purpose"

Digging around on Sable International led me to this:

"designated service" can now reasonably include:

• The Salvation Army
• The NAAFI
• The Red Cross
• The YMCA and YWCA
• The Church Army
• The Seaman’s Missions
• Roles within the Civil Service or local colonial government
• The Australia, New Zealand and Malaya Defence Organisation
• The BSAP in Rhodesia

https://www.sableinternational.com/b...sh-citizenship

How does something become 'designated'? Does this only happen though lawyers? In the case of military service, one merely applies for a passport with relevant supporting documents, so is it the same with 'designated service'?

BritInParis

Designated service refers to overseas employment that, while not Crown service, is treated as such for the purposes of British nationality law. The decision to designate a service is made by the Home Secretary, or rather, the Home Office acting on their behalf.

The burden of evidence for a passport application is much the same as Crown service. Typically a letter from the organisation confirming the dates of employment of the relevant parent would be sufficient.

disco_unicorn

Ok, so the process would be:
-British OTBD person gains overseas employment
-Child born British by descent to above gathers any and all relevant employment documents of parent
-Grandchild born abroad uses above documents to apply for passport
-Home Office decides whether the employment was designated or not
-Home Office assesses the documentation and issues or refuses passport

So no one can ever really know what positions in what organisations are going to be considered 'designated service'? It's just decided that day at the passport office when a case worker gets the application? It seems so subjective, whereas the rest of nationality law is so clearly laid out. I must be missing something...

BritInParis

It’s not subjective at all. Although the list can change over time a service is either designated or not. If it is it appears on the below annex:

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ality-act-1981

disco_unicorn

Ah, that is the most comprehensive list I've seen. Thank you!
May I ask how the list can change?
Also, under Service Designated #23, there is a secondary list on which "most such organisations are listed". I have googled Chapter 18 Annex F(i), but am only getting a member access only page. Is that online anywhere?

BritInParis

An archived version is here but it may not be up to date:

https://webarchive.nationalarchives....y-instructions

disco_unicorn

Brilliant, thank you!

jmin

The list is not at all subjective for appointments made in the post-colonial era. In the colonial era there is some subjectivity because roles within the colonial service or the local government can be considered designated service. For these positions, you need to show that the position was, in fact, colonial or local government service.

You would also need to show evidence that the person was recruited in the UK or, from 21 May 2002, a qualifying territory. There are some exceptions to this as certain positions can be deemed recruited from the UK, such as military officers. For more recent appointments this is relatively simple to provide but if you lack evidence such as a contract or recruitment correspondence, you will have to use alternative sources.

These alternative sources can include:

• Ship logs (generally for pre-1960s travel) that show the person's occupation.
• Colonial pension records. These generally only exist if the person was in the position long enough to become vested in the applicable pension fund. The Department for International Development holds some of these records.
• Newspaper advertisements that show the position in question was advertised in the UK. You would have to combine this with evidence that the person was resident in the UK. The application would be referred for a balance of probabilities assessment. If you do not have the advertisement, locating it will be difficult as recruitment was often through specialized publications that are not archived online. In the colonial era, these advertisements were made by the colonial service, the crown agents for the colonies, or directly by the local government.

It is also possible to use a local government's gazette to show that the person was in government service. Certain gazettes listed the arrivals and departures of overseas civil servants to and from the UK. You would then add evidence that their civil service position was recruited in the UK. Local gazette appointments can also be used if there is evidence that recruitment for the position occurred in the UK. A local gazette appointment alone would not be sufficient.

Is this a question about your husband's father's employment in Barbados in the 1970s? If it is, you cannot use the solution of "roles within the colonial service or local colonial government" because Barbados became an independent Commonwealth country on 30 November 1966. It does not matter that the teaching position was advertised in the UK and that his father's recruitment also took place in the UK. Even if Barbados had not been an independent Commonwealth country, it would still not count as designated service because at the time of his father's recruitment the school was a private boarding school. The lease on the premises expired in 1979 and the government took control in 1983. The school could no longer compete after Barbados implemented free secondary education in the 1970s, hence the expiration of the lease. Absent evidence to the contrary, I take this as meaning that his father was employed by a private institution and not the local government.

You can still register your children using Form MN1 as your husband spent 30 years in the UK.

disco_unicorn

I apologise for using the word 'subjective'.

I went through every thread on this subforum and searched gov.uk endlessly and could not find any lists on what was designated. Hopefully, my poor searching skills and subsequent asking will help someone who is also looking. For what it's worth, it was difficult for me to replicate the pathway to the first link provided by BritInParis, never mind the second. "Designated service" is not searchable on gov.uk, while "service designated" is.

Between Philip "there are numerous other scientific, defence, communication and international organisations that would qualify" Gamble, "service under an international organisation of which the United Kingdom or Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom is a member" and being absolutely unable to find a complete list of designated services, I was curious as to how it all worked.

I had wondered if the connection between the school and the United Society Partners in the Gospel could be relevant.

I was not looking at "roles within the colonial service or local colonial government" at all, since Barbados was already independent. However, my father in law told me they had to return to the UK when his contract ended, because a scheme of granting citizenship to government employees was apparently being done away with. I haven't researched much beyond Wikipedia, but was under the impression the government ran the school:
"In 1878 the governing body of the Lodge School was properly constituted and in the following year, the Government took over the running of the school, meeting all the expenses of the institution and paying a small stipend to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPC)." and "In 1979 the hundred-year lease the Government was given on the premises by the SPC expired and it took the opportunity to acquire full possession of the premises The Lodge School in October 1983".

Anyway, seems it's a moot point, now I've seen the lists. On the upside, my mother in law has discovered some school records, so at least the MN1 is moving along.

Thanks for the extra info, Jmin!