Haydar Tuncay

I've been living in the States for three years now. I've been to the UK once since then. I wonder if I have to go back to England certain times in a year or so in order not to lose my British Citizenship or is there not such a thing at all?

Thanks for your answers.

Manc

no such thing.

fatbrit

You can lose it by formally renouncing it in front of a British consul. You'll need to pay a fee (surprise, surprise!) and the consul will probably refuse if you don't have another citizenship to fall back on. That's about the only way.

British Consul

Manc

has anyone actually asked you to do that for them Dean?

Tarkak9

..what, pay the fee??

Bob

I was chatting to a Brit who lives at the end of my street who worked with another Brit at his previous company who did that through Boston, to get a higher security clearance.

He didn't get it because his mother was still alive, in her 80's and in a nursing home, no other family etc.

lapin_windstar

UK citizenship is hard to lose which has protected us in the past from capricious governments - unlike in other countries where citizenship was stripped of "political undesirables" quite often.

dreamercon

Recent amendments make it very easy for the British government to strip you of citizenship, if in HM Government opinion it would be in the public interest to do so and you have a second citizenship.

That's exactly what happened to David Hicks, the British-Australian kept for years in Guantanamo bay, since the British government didn't want to have to deal with him.

joto

It's a shame that some criminals that come to Britain and commit more crimes when they are citizens, don't get stripped of their citizenships and get sent packing back to whence they came.

dreamercon

Once a citizen, you should be in equal standing with every other citizen. Since native born citizens dont get sent to other countries after they commit crimes, naturalized citizens should not either.

JAJ

It is worth pointing out that Mr Hicks was not a British citizen at birth, and only sought to pursue registration as a British citizen during his detention.

JAJ

Note that before 1949, as a rule (there are exceptions), acquisition of United States citizenship (or any other non-Commonwealth citizenship) caused loss of British nationality.

dreamercon

Nevertheless, the same law can be used to strip British citizenship from any British citizen holding another nationality - rather disturbing IMHO.

Mr Hicks citizenship was rescinded after it had been granted.

lapin_windstar

Ahh, well pointed out, and I stand corrected!

s56 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 amends s40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981 to read: "The Secretary of State may by order deprive a person of a citizenship status if the Secretary of State is satisfied that deprivation is conducive to the public good."

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2006...en_4#pb5-l1g56

I object to this - I believe that once citizenship is rightfully acquired (by birth or otherwise), it should not be revoked.