heavnn

I'm confused about the type of citizenship granted by being registered under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981, mainly if it's by descent or otherwise than by descent. I'll provide specific details of my circumstances below and hopefully some of you know the answers to my questions.

I was adopted in 1989 in Texas by a British Citizen mother who was born in the UK and an American father. In 2007 I was registered as a British citizen under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act, which is what it says on my registration certificate. Now, on a page on gov.uk, Intercountry Adoption and British Citizenship (can't post links but should be the first result on Google), under the "Other Adoptions" heading it says that "Registration under Section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act confers ‘British citizenship other than by descent’ upon the child." Reading that, I began getting ready to make an application for a British Passport for my daughter, born in the US in 2012.

However, I can't find any other reference to section 3(1) conferring citizenship otherwise by descent except for that one page on adoption, and in fact when reading the British Nationality Act section which defines citizenship by descent, it says that a British citizen by descent is someone who "is a British citizen by virtue of registration under section 3(1) and his father or mother was a British citizen at the time of the birth." So I'm hesitating to send in my daughter's passport application until I know that she has the necessary rights to citizenship. Can anyone explain why the page on gov.uk says section 3(1) gives citizenship otherwise than by descent, and whether my daughter actually has a right to British citizenship?

Thanks

BritInParis

Assuming your birth parents only held US citizenship then you are not a British citizen by descent as your parents were not British citizens at the time of your birth.

old.sparkles

OP says mother was british citizen, born in UK, and was registered under 3(1) in 2007.

BritInParis

OP’s adoptive mother is British. No mention of the birth parents.

heavnn

Yes, my adoptive mother was British. Neither of my birth parents were British.

I assume I'll have to get the court in Texas to send me a copy of my adoption certificate to prove this to the passport office, which will be a pain. My mom did provide my adoption order and adoption certificate with my application for registration back in 2007, though, so I wonder if the home office would still have that or any notes on that.

Anyway, I've contacted the passport office to ask basically the same thing and I'll update here if they are able to tell me anything useful. If anyone else has any insight I'd be happy to hear it as well.

old.sparkles

Apologies BiP, you are correct and I think I mis-read / mis-understood.

Would this mean OP is British otherwise than by descent and the daughter British by descent?

BritInParis

No worries.

Yes, all things being equal.

heavnn

Just wanted to provide an update on this: applied and sent in my daughter's American birth certificate, my Certificate of Registration and the court order for my own adoption, which I'm not sure if they actually needed. Anyway, documents were received on 9 Feb and I got the email today that the application was approved and the passport is being printed. Thanks for the help

BritInParis