onejessie

Good afternoon,

I have read several threads here and looked at various UK Govt websites but am struggling to piece everything together and hope someone here can help.

I was born in Switzerland in 1970. My father was British and my mother was American. I have always held a US passport/citizenship and currently live in the US, although I lived in the UK for my first 25 years and hold a NI number. I want to return to he UK and believe fairly strongly from what I've read that I am eligible for a UK passport based on my father but could someone confirm this?

I have copies of my parents birth certificates, my Swiss birth certificate, my parents marriage certificate and my legitimization certificate (as they married after I was born). I also have my grandparents marriage certificate. (not sure if that's relevant).

2 follow up questions:

1) Can I hold a US and UK passport at the same time (assuming I'm eligible for the UK one)?
2) Can I apply for the UK passport without a current UK address and if not, can I use a relatives address in the UK?

Thanks for any help you can provide. I just came back from a short visit home and the urge to return is at its strongest!.

- Pete

JAJ

1. Yes.

2. You can apply for a British passport without a U.K. address (and you may find the instructions asking for your U.S. passport, you don't need to send the original, a copy will do).

Was your father born in the United Kingdom? If so, then based on the facts presented, you appear to be a British citizen by descent. The fact that your parents married after you were born may complicate the process a little, but should not be a problem.

If your father was not born in the U.K. then it's not clear if you are British or not.

You lived in the U.K. for 25 years - what visa/immigration status did you have at the time?

onejessie

JAJ,

Thanks for the swift response.

Yes, my father was born in England. I'm not sure what my immigration status was (slap happy though that sounds). I never had any problem working or doing any of the usual things so must have had some kind of status. Any idea how I could find out?

Would the easiest move be to go through the embassy here in the US? I picked up a copy of the paper passport application while I was in the UK but it says to list my current UK address. Is there a separate form for someone applying who currently resides in the US?

Thanks again.

- Pete

BritInParis

You were likely included on your father's passport at that age. As JAJ mentioned it sounds like you are already a British citizen by descent. You merely need to apply for your passport. If you want you could also choose to register your birth with the British Embassy in Berne. This would give you permanent evidence of your British citizenship and it's useful to have for any UK bureaucracy if you're planning to move back.

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office no longer deals with overseas passport applications. Both UK and overseas applications are processed by the Home Office. Any form you picked up whilst in the UK won't be suitable however. You'll need to go via the following website to make an application from outside the UK.

https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports

onejessie

Thanks for the link. I will call them on Monday.

Out of curiosity, why is it more complicated if my parents weren't married when I was born? How does that change anything?

According to the list of required documentation I have everything I need. If anyone has gone through this with similar circumstances, any insight into how painful it'll be?

Thanks again for all the help.

- Pete

roaringmouse

For children born before July 2006, a father could only pass on British citizenship outside the UK if he was married to the mother - however if the parents subsequently got married then the child normally became British by descent. Since the change in 2006 the parents do not need to be married.

onejessie

Thanks again to all for taking the time to answer what are probably rookie questions.

Based on the above, my paranoia twitched slightly at the phrase "normally". Based on a birth in 1970, a marriage two months later and a legitimization a year after that (where my surname was changed to my fathers) do you see any issue with that?

What would be the criteria for denial?

JAJ

The only criteria for denial would be if all of the following were fulfilled: 1. your father was domiciled in another country when you were born (unusual, because it's quite difficult to lose a United Kingdom domicile), AND, 2. in the "window" between you being born and your parents being married, the law in that country changed to legitimize you by operation of law. That's also very unusual. Most countries haven't even enacted such legislation. Many countries have eliminated the legal consequences of being illegitimate but not actually abolished the concept of illegitimacy.

I think the chances of both conditions being fulfilled are very low. However, you may find that the Passport Service will want to look into your father's domicile when you were born. If only to tick a box on a checklist.

It might be recommended instead to apply directly to the Home Office on form NS for a certificate of British nationality status, using form NS and paying the fee. If you get one of these documents, you can then apply directly for a British passport.

onejessie

I just read the instructions for form NS and as I believe I have the required documentation for a passport am tempted to go that route.

My father worked in Switzerland for a fairly short time (approx. a year) so hopefully that won't have affected his domicile status in the UK.

I do though intend to research getting my birth registered at the UK embassy in Switzerland. If that is successful would that then give the same status as if I had successfully applied on form NS?

BritInParis

Form NS will just give you a letter stating your status whereas consular birth registration will give you a consular birth certificate which is always replaceable from the General Register Office in the UK for a small fee. Given the choice I'd go for the latter. From what you've said it seems unlikely that you wouldn't qualify.

onejessie

Well that sounds encouraging.

Final question and then I'll crawl back into my hole

Is legitimization applied retroactively? I read that the "by descent" from father citizenship for prior to 1983 only applies to legitimate offspring, which I wasn't at birth but became relatively shortly thereafter.

JAJ

Legitimization applies for nationality purposes from the date of parent's marriage. So, if you are a British citizen, you would have become British from that date onwards. The relevant law at the time was Section 23 of the British Nationality Act 1948.

However, I'm not sure if you're eligible for a consular birth certificate, if you were not a British citizen at birth (Citizen of the U.K. & Colonies was the term in use at the time, but the same applies).

BritInParis

The official advice is a little ambiguous on this.

https://www.gov.uk/register-a-birth/.../no/1970-01-01

"You can’t register your child’s birth with the UK authorities abroad. This is because unmarried fathers can’t pass on British nationality to a child born before 1 July 2006."

but then

"You may also be able to register the birth if you’ve married the other parent since the child was born. Contact your local British embassy to find out."

onejessie

I have emailed the embassy in Switzerland. It'll be interesting to see what they say and I'll let you know once I hear back from them.

Am I over-engineering this, as I'm prone to do? Based on the application documentation required for a passport it appears I have everything they need and I don't believe I fall under either of the disqualifiers listed in an earlier response. It would be nice to have a UK recognized birth certificate but if I have the documents required for the passport do you see any reason I shouldn't just take the plunge and apply or would pursuing this be time well spent?

BritInParis

I would pursue it initially as it's a useful document to have for your passport application as you won't need to supply anything else. If however they are unable or unwilling to register you then just apply for your passport as normal.