PinkiAus

Hi,

I was born in australia with my father & grandfather both born in England, so I am entitiled to a dual passport, but I can not seem to clarify if the rules have changed for my daughter. I was always told by my family that my daughter would also be entitled to a british passport but on reading the notes attached to the passport application for a person under 16 I am not sure if this is still possible.

I would appreciate any information on this matter.

roaringmouse

...if your father was a British citizen at birth.
Where was your daughter born?
What is the nationality of the other parent?

PinkiAus

Daughter born in australia, father is australian with his decendants being father australian and grandfather polish.

My husband's father was born 3 days after his parents arrived at a migration camp when released from concentration camps during WW2 with 2 brothers born in concentration camps.

PinkiAus

Sorry meant to add my father is a british citizen and my grandfather also a british citizen now deceased.

roaringmouse

British citizenship generally passes onto 1 generation born outside the UK, which means although you're British by descent through your father, your daughter isn't through you.

In some cases it's possible to register the child as a British citizen (by descent), however you (the British by descent parent) would have had to have lived in the UK for at least 3 years at some point.

At the moment it may be the case in the future that your daughter's best option is an ancestry visa if she wanted to live in the UK. British nationality is horribly complicated, so someone else might be able to help further.

JAJ

You haven't told us if your parents were married. If not, then you may not be British to begin with.

Your child might be able to get Polish citizenship through the other side of the family. No real problem to have all three, British, Australian and Polish. Although for Polish citizenship, you should check any tax, military service etc (the latter less of a consideration for daughters) obligations it may bring.

Wendy99

They don't need to have been married as long as the father with the UK citizenship is listed on the birth certificate. My husband obtained UK citizenship by birth and his parents weren't married, although he did have to write a letter explaining the situation.

JAJ

Absolutely untrue. At least for those born before 1 July 2006.

The general rule is that anyone born before that date whose only UK link is an unmarried British father did not acquire British citizenship at birth. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but not many. Read the relevant Home Office document:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/si...cy?view=Binary


If all he did is apply for a British passport on this basis, it may have been given to him by mistake. In that case, he is still not a British citizen, his passport is invalid and can be revoked anytime. Or a renewal refused.

If you mean he applied to the Home Office for a Certificate of Registration as a British citizen (children of unmarried British fathers can do this, although only until age 18) then that is not a problem.

Wendy99

I'm certainly not an expert, simply trying help by giving our personal experience. Section 5 of your link seems to support my previous comment as my husband met the necessary criteria. Citizenship by birth where the parents are unmarried appears to depend on which country one is born in and how the laws of that country recognise legitimacy.

Either way, this probably isn't helping the OP, who has clarified their situation to be different. PinkiAus - I hope you get the info you need.

JAJ

It's more complex than that. First, the country has to have abolished the concept of illegitimacy rather than merely its consequences (not many countries) and secondly, the father has to have acquired a domicile in that country before the child was born (since father is of UK origin, often that will not have happened).

It is very unusual for someone with an unmarried father (prior to July 2006) to have automatically acquired British citizenship. Perhaps if you tell us more about the circumstances, more can be said.

If all he did was get a passport (without falling into one of the few exceptions) then your attention needs to be drawn to the following from the Home Office Nationality Instructions.

"6.3.8 Cases sometimes come to light where, due to official error, people have been consularly registered while ineligible for such registration or wrongly issued with British passports or certificates of entitlement to the right of abode. As a result they might have lost age- or time-limited entitlements to citizenship. So that they are not disadvantaged by the official error we should be ready in such cases to construe the application as an undetermined application for citizenship and process it accordingly."