Immigration Corner | Eligibility for UK citizenship when born after 2007

Dear Mr Bassie,

I would like to know whether I can apply for British citizenship if I was born after 2007 and one of my parents is British.

Any advice would assist.

YB

Dear YB.,

Persons are automatically British citizens if they were born outside the United Kingdom (UK) and all of the following apply:

• They were born on or after July 1, 2006

• Their mother or father was a British citizen when they were born

• Their British parent could pass on their citizenship to them

If their father was a British citizen when they were born and their mother was married to someone else at the time, they may not automatically be a British citizen. They might be eligible to apply for citizenship using form UKF.

A person’s British parent could pass on their citizenship to him/her if they were one of the following:

• Born or adopted in the UK

• Given citizenship after applying for it in their own right (not based on having a British parent)

• Working as a Crown servant when you were born (for example, in the diplomatic service, overseas civil service or armed forces)

Persons who qualify for citizenship in this way, their children will not automatically become British if they are born outside the UK. Those persons should check to see if they qualify another way.

Please note that persons who are automatically citizens can apply for:

• A child’s passport if they are under 16 years old

• An adult passport if they are over 16 years old

• A letter confirming their citizenship (that is their ‘immigration status’)

Persons who live in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or a British overseas territory, there is a different way to get a letter confirming your citizenship.

PERSONS WHO ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY A CITIZEN

Just for completeness, persons may still be eligible to apply for citizenship in one of these situations:

• They have lived in the UK with their parents

• Their British parent lived in the UK before they were born

• They were adopted outside the UK

• Their father was a British citizen when they were born and their mother was married to someone else at the time

• They were born in the UK and their father had indefinite leave to remain in the UK when they were born, and their mother was married to someone else at the time.

All the best.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the past global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com