British Nationality Application

British Nationality Application | British Citizenship Lawyers London, UK

• If you would like to naturalise to be a British Citizen, we at WorldWide Law, are able to assist you navigating the complexities of British Nationality Law. Find below some of the facts you may which to know:

 

British Citizenship Application

You will be authorised to make an application for British Nationality by Naturalisation if:

• • You are 18 years old or more.
  • You are credible and you do not have a serious criminal record or have been involved in any form of unlawful immigration act in the last ten years.
  • You intend to take up continuous residence in the United Kingdom.
  • You fulfil the requirements for Life in The UK and English Language.
  • You fulfil the requirement for residence in the United Kingdom

 

You are required to:

• Have spent a minimum of five years in the United Kingdom prior to the application date, during which you should spend no more than 450 days outside the country
• Have not spent more than 90 days outside the United Kingdom in the last twelve months prior to your application
• Have been issued ILR in the last twelve months (if you are a national of a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA))
• Be a citizen of an EEA country or you are a permanent resident for the last twelve months. You will be required to make a permanent residence document available
• Have not breached any of the UK Immigration laws

If your husband/wife/civil partner is a British National, you will need to meet different requirements.

It is important to note that any time spent in the UK away from the control of the UKVI as a diplomat or Armed Forces officer will not be counted among the five-year period.

Registration of a Child as British Citizen – MN1 Application

Application for registration as British nationals (MN1 Application) by children (under the age of 18) to the UKBA is possible. If the child is 18 years old, they will be required to make the application for naturalisation by making use of the AN form.

The sections of the British Citizenship Act of 1981 concerning child registration as a British National are as follows:

1. Section 1 (3): A child who is born in the United Kingdom to parents who have taken up residence in the United Kingdom or who have become British Nationals.
2. Section 1 (3A): A child born in the United Kingdom; whose parents are members of the armed forces.
3. Section 3 (1): A child whose parents are British Nationality applicants.
4. Section 3 (2): A child who is born in a foreign country to parents who are British citizens by ancestry and have resided in a British Overseas Territory or the UK.
5. Section 3 (5): A child who is born in a foreign country to parents who are British citizens by ancestry and are presently residing in a British Overseas Territory or the UK.
6. Section 3 (1): A child who is adopted in a foreign country to parents who are nationals of the UK.
7. Section 3 (1): A child whose parents have relinquished and later resumed British Nationality.
8. Section 3 (1): In any other case not listed that has been contemplated to be for the benefit of the child that they be granted British Nationality.
9. Section 4D: A child born in a foreign country to parents who are serving in the military.

Registration as a British Citizen – Age 10

Application for Registration as A British Citizen If You Were Born In The UK On Or After 1 January 1983 And Lived Here Up To The Age Of 10

For an individual to be registered as a British National they must:

• have been born in the United Kingdom.
• have been born on or after 1 January 1983;
• be 10 years of age or over;
• have spent no more than 90 days outside the UK in each of the first 10 years of their life

However, if the applicant has spent more than 90 days outside the UK, the UKBA can make an exception if the reason for this situation is exceptional. This reason should be explained on the application form.

 

Registration as a British Citizen by a Person Born Before 1983 to a British Mother

An individual is entitled to register as a British citizen if:

1. They were born before the 1st of January 1983;
2. At the time of birth would have become a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if women had been able to pass this citizenship on to their children in the same way as men.
3. They would have been entitled to reside in the United Kingdom on the 1st of January 1983 and become a British citizen if they had become a national of the United Kingdom and Colonies.
4. They are of good character

It is necessary that the applicant fulfils all the requirements for their application. However, you cannot make the application using the form UKM. More so, the reason why many applications fail when using the form UKM is because the applicant fulfils the second requirement, but not the third.

If you would have become a British Citizen or a British dependent territories citizen on the 1st of January 1983, you will not be entitled for registration if women had the ability to pass citizenship on or before that date.

Application by a British Subject for Registration as a British Citizen

You may be eligible for applying for British citizenship if you meet the following requirements:

• You have resided continuously in the UK for at least 5 years (the qualifying period)
• You must have been a resident in the UK for a consecutive 5-year period, starting from the date of your application
• The total number of days you must have spent outside the UK must not be in excess of forty-five days during the qualifying period
• Just prior to your application, you must not have resided outside the UK for a period in excess of ninety days

It is important to note that periods spent away from immigration control will be discounted as part of the qualifying period.

 

Application by British Protected Person for Registration as a British Citizen

People who are British Protected Persons might be qualified for registration as a British National under one of the supplementary criteria below:

Enrolment based on 5 Years Residence

To be allowed to enrol under the 5 years living arrangement, you must meet these requirements:

• You have surpassed the qualifying time frame, which is living in the UK for at least five years
• You resided in the UK for five years before the date of your application
• You have resided outside the UK for over 450 days within the 5-year period
• You have not spent over ninety days outside the UK within the twelve months of your 5-year period
• You have not breached the UK Immigration rules amid this five-year time frame
• You have not breached any of the time limits of your immigration conditions with regards to the most recent 12 months of your private qualifying period (5 years) in the UK. Your private qualifying period will be registered on the day you present your application to guarantee you have effectively finished this qualifying period.

 

Application by a Stateless Person for Registration as a British Citizen

Statelessness refers to a situation where an individual is not considered a national of any state. It is very common that most people who are stateless have never crossed a country border. Some of the common causes of statelessness include:

1. Conflict of law
2. Gender
3. Discrimination
4. State succession
5. Non-state territories

 

Conflict of Law

There are two common ways of acquiring nationality.

1. Jus Soli – right of the soil: Nationality based on birth
2. Jus Sanguinis – right of blood: Nationality through descent

Let’s imagine a scenario – an individual is born in a country that does not recognise nationality based on being born in that country. That child then grows up in another country that recognises nationality only by birth. Since the second country only recognises nationality by birth, both the parent and the child cannot be citizens of the third country – and since the first country does not accept nationality by birth, the child cannot lay claim to the first country either. The child in this situation may therefore be deemed stateless.

Gender

There are several countries in the world that do not allow female citizens to confer nationality to their children. Up to 27 countries in the world fall under this category. If the father in this situation is stateless, there is a strong likelihood that the child(ren) will also be stateless, since nationality cannot be conferred by the mother.

Non-State Territories

This is where persons are citizens of non-state territories. By definition, a stateless person is someone who has no state. Examples of which include people born and living in places such as the Western Sahara or Northern Cyprus,

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