Alpha Zeus

My grandfather (on my father's side) was born in Yorkshire, England
around 1902 (my father really doesn't know when he was born and we
don't have a birth/death/marriage certificate). I called the British
consulate and they said that I could not become a British citizen. My
grandfather moved to Canada at around 15 years old and later joined the
Canadian army to fight in the last days of WWI. He then emigrated to
the United States and became a naturalized citizen. Could he have
renounced his British citizenship when he became an American? Why did
the British consulate say I could not become a British citizen?

Lucy

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] ups.com...
    > My grandfather (on my father's side) was born in Yorkshire, England
    > around 1902 (my father really doesn't know when he was born and we
    > don't have a birth/death/marriage certificate). I called the British
    > consulate and they said that I could not become a British citizen.

I'm no expert in this and only know what I found out when deciding whether
or not my daughter is a British Citizen. I'm sure someone else will will
verify.

It sounds like your father is a British Citizen by descent, but not by
birth. As a citizen by descent, I don't think he can pass on his citizenship
to you.

Lucy

Bob

If your father wasn't born in the UK, he would have got it by decent from his father, your grandfather, which means he can't pass it on to you.

Autumnal

You can't get British citizenship through "grandfathering". Only the direct descendant of a UK-born citizen can qualify for British citizenship. So your father can seek it -- and a UK passport -- but you cannot if your father was born outside the UK, such as in Canada. I'm in the same boat, I looked at it last year.

However, you can qualify for a "UK ancestry" type of work permit which makes it possible to work in the UK without too much trouble.

JAJ

Only if one is a citizen of a Commonwealth country. Canadians with UK grandparents qualify for the Ancestry visa, Americans do not.

Also - if the grandfather naturalised as a US citizen before 1949 he would have lost any claim to British or Canadian citizenship. After 1949 (and before 1977) he would still have lose Canadian citizenship but not British.

Jeremy

scrubbedexpat099

I thought you had to specifically renounce UK citizenship?

My granfarther had a similar story, went to Canada got sent to France but was then invalided out and went back to the UK.

Presumably he was a Canadian citizen at one time, never thought of looking into the other way around.

BTW depending on his name and how common it is you might well be able to trace his certs and get copies.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

snowbunny

True, which makes me curse my ancestors for moving from Canada to the US!

OP: if you PM me your grandfather's name (full name if you have it -- mother and father's name) I'll have a look at genealogical records and see what I can determine.

CPW

The law changed when the 1948 Nationality Act came into force in 1949 - since then, yes, British citizenship (or citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies, as it was called up to 1983) can be lost only by renouncing it, basically. Before 1949, a citizen (to use the current terminology - the term then was British subject) who naturalised to become a citizen of a foreign country (such as the US) automatically lost his or her British subject status. Canadian citizenship as such did not exist before 1949, so that is not an issue, whether or not one considers Canada to be a foreign country. (Technically it is not foreign.)

JAJ

Canadian citizenship was created on 1 January 1947 however Canada was not a 'foreign country' (as far as Britain was concerned) and hence a person from the UK who naturalised in Canada in 1947-48 would not have lost British nationality.

Jeremy

JAJ

When Canadian citizenship was created on 1.1.1947 there were arrangements made for some migrants from Commonwealth countries to automatically acquire Canadian citizenship without application.

As far as I know, it was based on being resident in Canada through the five years preceding 1 January 1947. More detail is on this page:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/manuals-guides/...h/cp/cp14e.pdf

Jeremy

CPW

Sorry, wrong date! Canada got in quite early then in creating its own citizenship as a distinct entity!

JAJ

Questions to the OP:

- where and when were *you* born?
- where and when was your father born?
- when did your grandfather naturalise as a US citizen?

Some similar themes are explored on this thread:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...fa8398c590ce17

Jeremy