Section 4L children
 

Both of my parents have received British citizenship through this new gender discrimination law. Now they are allowing children of these qualifying people to gain citizenship. I am over 18 now and I find this quite unfair that I can't apply or get even an ancestry visa. My parents would have had citizenship before I was born had it not been for the discriminatory law. Any one else in a similar boat and has anyone tried to apply and been successful?

Re: Section 4L children
 

Under which section did your parents register?

Re: Section 4L children
 

Both of them were recently successful using sable under section 4L stating the gender discrimination. Both had grandparents on the maternal side bon in the UK. I have read that if I were still a minor I would be allowed to apply through my parents. Unfortunately this opportunity is lost and I don't see any other possible obvious routes for me. I was born in South Africa in 1993 so I just miss out on the case where had my parents had citizenship(but for gender discrimination) they could have register me as a citizen, however this seems to have ceased around 1987. Not sure I have anything else to go on but I reckon there are quite a few people in a similar situation to me. I am keen to hear from anyone if they are applying or any success stories maybe using other arguments like- the family might have chosen to emigrate sooner while I was a child if they had citizenship. P.S my whole family is in the UK now but me and my sister are having to do the hard route of a sponsorship work visa, it's just a shame as we feel we have some sort of links here.
Also thanks BritInParis, I am new here and can see you have been of great help to so many!!

Re: Section 4L children
 

Did you see the new UK Home Office (v.4) guidance #24 that was published Dec 2024? Not sure if it applies to you but wanted to make sure you were aware.

"Example 24 – Parent has registered under section 4L Claude’s father Dwight (see example 12) has been registered under section 4L. Claude is aged 28. He has pointed out that if his father had any future children, they would be British citizens automatically as Dwight is now a British citizen otherwise than by descent. You must consider whether Claude could have become a British citizen, had women been able to pass on citizenship in the same way as men. In this case, Claude is the third generation born outside the UK. Had women been able to pass on citizenship, the only way he would have been able to become a British citizen would have been if he would have qualified under section 3(2) or 3(5) of the British Nationality Act 1981, had his father become a British citizen by descent. You must therefore check if Dwight had lived in the UK for a continuous period of 3 years at any point before Claude’s birth, or if the family lived in the UK for a 3 year period before Claude’s eighteenth birthday. If so, and Claude would have qualified under section 3(2) or 3(5), it may be appropriate to register."

Re: Section 4L children
 

kelseyk has provided you with the correct answer. The link to the guidance and Example 24 is below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...e#case-studies

Re: Section 4L children
 

Can you kindly provide more context for example #24? The fictional Claude was born around 1996, does it matter if he was born at any time prior to that namely before BNA 1983 that would eliminate the 3 year requirement referenced?

GGF b UK 1895 => GM (in wedlock) b US 1922 (married US citizen 1942) => M born US 1943 (married US citizen 1965) => Me born US 1970

My mother qualifies under 4C/4L (grandfather born and lived in UK but need 4L due to Alzheimers - I am POA - which may already be a stretch). Online opinions prior to #24 have implied I would not be eligible because I do not have ROA. Does #24 example possibly change this? Thanks.

Re: Section 4L children
 

Hi, thank you for the information(I think I have a better understanding of it now). Correct and they unfortunately didn't spend enough time in the UK, I will just have to keep up to date with section 3(2) or 3(5) as this is where I would qualify.
Unfortunately I just miss out on it with the current rules. I think if I was born pre 1987 I would be ok.
Cheers

Re: Section 4L children
 

Your mother would qualify under Section 4L, but not Section 4C, so you would need to apply for her using Form ARD. Example 17 would be the relevant fit for her circumstances.

Example #24 provides for circumstances where there was a route for the third generation born overseas to become a British citizen had the relevant parent been British at the time of the applicant's birth but was not thanks to historical legislative unfairness. In your case, had your grandmother been permitted to register your mother at a British consulate within 12 months of her birth, your mother would've been initially a British subject under S.1(2)(a) BNA 1943 and later a CUKC by descent under S.17 BNA 1948. With the Right of Abode in the UK under S.2(1)(b)(ii) of the Immigration Act 1971 (UK-born grandparent), your mother would therefore would have automatically become a British citizen by descent on 1 January 1983 under S.11 BNA 1981. You were born in 1970 when the BNA 1948 was still in force but you would have been under 18 still when BNA 1981 came into force so registration under S.3(2) and S.3(5) would have still been possible. I'm guessing your mother didn't spent three or more consecutive years in the UK before you were born though?

Re: Section 4L children
 

Thanks for all you do for so many BritInParis! You are correct in your assumption that my mom never lived in the UK.

If I understand correctly, it seems that although I was born in 1970 under 1948 as CUKC by descent, when 1971 ROA came in and then 1983, I technically was no longer qualified under the new requirements (as I had no ‘close contact’ to the UK/ROA as demonstrated through a parent/grandparent who lived there at some point) under section 11 nor as a minor of the under section 3 (2 or 5). Is that right?

While I do not currently have a path to British citizenship under 4L it does seem that I may still be a “British Overseas Citizen” for those who didn't qualify completely in 1983, but I don’t see any reason to obtain that in my personal circumstances (US citizen, spouse of EU citizen).

I totally understand why the UK instituted the ROA policy and had to draw the line somewhere (small island!). It is just a bummer when one innately feels so connected as so many of my ancestors are from England, Isle of Man, Scotland and Ireland (some via Canada). But they all left and didn’t return to the UK, so now I will just continue to visit as often as I can and forge a different path if I ever want to stay. :)

Re: Section 4L children
 

You wouldn't have been born a CUKC as women could not pass on their citizenship at that time. When the 1981 Act came into force in 1983 a path would have opened up for you via Section 3(2) or 3(5) but only if you or your mother had spent the requisite amount of time in the UK. If that's not the case there is no route for you via Section 4L as it stands.

Re: Section 4L children
 

Did you ever find out any more information on this? I’m in the same position.

Re: Section 4L children
 

For what it is worth my daughter is in the same place. My mother was a British born woman and I recently registered as a British citizen but because my daughter was born after 1987 and became 18 before the 4L path came into being around the middle of 2022 there is no path for her since neither she nor I spent three nearly continuous years in the UK (the S.3(2) and S.3(5) paths). I have spent a lot of time looking and I have found no reports of adult children of successful 4L parents getting British citizenship (outside of the known paths mentioned in this thread) nor for that matter have I found any failures so if somebody has tried and failed they haven't reported it that I can find. I am pretty sure if there was a path solicitors would be shouting it from the roof tops and I haven seen that.

The only path I could come up with which I consider mostly theoretical would be to do citizenship by descent in one of the Commonwealth countries that offer it (my daughter is a US citizen). Then as a Commonwealth citizen with a British born grandparent she should be able to apply for an Ancestry Visa. The issue is of course is this would be a costly and time consuming effort with a number of risks of failure along the way. I have not plans to try it for her but it did at least seem theoretically possible.

Re: Section 4L children
 

If your daughter has any Canadian-born ancestors then look into having her Canadian citizenship recognised as there is effectively no generational limit for those born before 15 December 2025 under the recent amendments to the Canadian Citizenship Act.

Re: Section 4L children
 

Yes! I am currently travelling right now but when I get back to the US I am going to look at the family tree. The US side of my family is all pretty much all from New England so there might be a Canadian in there someplace in the last 350 years, I did a lot of genealogy research a couple of decades ago so I have a pretty good start for searching just not accessible to me now.

Re: Section 4L children
 

i have a quick question about this.

My husband has a Canadian ancestor and we recently sent in his application for citizenship. We’d go through Canada to get an Ancestry visa for our adult children, if they wanted to, but my question is about our 5yo.

Would it make more sense (financially etc) to do the ancestry visa eventually for her? Or just register her via MN1?

We’ll be applying for her Canadian citizenship regardless, but I’m not sure about the UK.

We do want to move to the UK (or Canada lol) within the next 5 years.