capricornian

My father was born in Penang in 1943. I was born in 1977 in Penang and I have a UK ILR now. My father did not officially apply for his BOC and have always been living in Malaysia.

I don't want to get a British passport but do I qualify to get the ROA on my Malaysian Passport?

I have asked UKBA twice but was not clear. They re-directed me to a website which I couldn't find info pertaining to my background and I was given a form to fill in. None describes the background of children from CUKC before 1982.

Is this still possible for ROA in 2013 (today)? or do I need to go and ask for a BOC first before asking for an ROA? I'm confused!

JAJ

Assuming your parents were married, you appear to have been a Citizen of the U.K. & Colonies (by descent) before 1983, and a British Overseas citizen since.

There is nothing in the facts already given to suggest that you acquired Right of Abode before 1983. And if you had - you'd generally have become a British citizen on 1.1.1983, not a British Overseas citizen.

In general, you can't acquire Right of Abode if you didn't already have it on 1.1.1983. Assuming you got ILR recently, that doesn't give you Right of Abode.

You could naturalise or register as a British citizen once eligible, but you'd probably lose your Malaysian citizenship (Check with a Malaysian lawyer, but that is my understanding of Malaysian law/policy). Is that a problem?

Or perhaps there are other U.K. ties in your history that you've not yet told us about, that could cause a claim for ROA/British citizenship to be possible.