whizkid

Please help me out here, I'm not quite sure if I'm eligible to apply for British Passport given my circumstances. I'm currently in the UK on a spouse visa and hold a Pakistani Passport.

I've lived in Hong Kong all my life; I was born and raised there.

My father held a British National (Overseas) passport at the time of my birth, holding no other nationality. My birthday is on 01/Sept/1997.

My father got his "Certificate of Registration" Under British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 on the 24th March 1998. He was naturalised (as "British Citizen Otherwise Than by Descent").

So my question is; as my father held a BN(O) passport at the time of my birth, was he a British Citizen? Can I apply for the British passport? If yes, what form do I use?

SanDiegogirl

Weren't your questions answered in your post of August 2016?

Having looked at loads of info BIP came to conclusion that you were not eligible for British citizenship, hence why you had to go through the spouse visa to enter the UK.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/citiz...holder-882194/

whizkid

Those questions were answered.

However I never knew that my father had a BN(O) status before & at the time of my birth hence I applied for the visa. I only learned today. I originally thought my father had no form of British status at the time of my birth.

I created this thread on the basis of my father holding a BN(O).

Does holding a BN(O) make him a British citizen and make me eligible for a passport?

SanDiegogirl

According to the info in the earlier posts you were born in 1997 and your father acquired British registration in 1998.

whizkid

That is correct, but my question is what significance does a BN(O) have? Wasn't he still a British Overseas Citizen? Can't it be passed down?

SanDiegogirl

Over to BIP and HKG3 for the definitive answer to that .......

SanDiegogirl

As per your earlier postings, he did not hold BNO status when you were born. He obtained it in 1998 and you were born in 1997.

He did not have BNO status at the time of your birth.

BritInParis

Your father was able to register as a British citizen under the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997 because he did not become a Chinese citizen after the Handover nor did he hold other any citizenship which effectively rendered him stateless.

As you are a Pakistani citizen through your mother you are unable to use the same provisions to register as a British citizen. Even if you were stateless the same provisions wouldn't apply to you as you were born after the Handover and therefore Hong Kong was no longer British territory.

HKG3

British National (Overseas) status and British Overseas Citizen are two different form of British nationality.

BN(O) status is for those British Dependent Territory Citizen (BDTC) with connections to Hong Kong only. This is to enable them to use a British passport after the handover to the Chinese in July 1997 (as BDTC - Hong Kong came to an end in July 1997). BN(O) status cannot pass down the generation and are only limited to those BDTC - HK who register with the British authorities for BN(O) status. As you were born in September 1997, you are not a BDTC and therefore not a BN(O).

British Overseas Citizenship is a British nationality for those Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who did not become a British Citizen or a British Dependent Territory Citizen after the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force (see section 26 of the BNA 1981).