Traditionally, the UK have not permitted nationality to be passed onto a child if they were born outside the UK by their mother. It was the case that only the father could pass down their right to British Citizenship, provided the relationship with the mother was “legitimate”, i.e. they were married.
In January 1983, this rule changed and women were also able to pass down their citizenship to children born outside the UK, suggesting a social change in attitude which was reflected by the Home Office’s decision. The rules changed to the following requirements:
1) Named on the Birth Certificate and the certificate was issued within one year of the child’s birth; and
2) The father could satisfy the Home Office Secretary that he is the father of the child (by way of DNA testing or by submission of other relevant evidence).
From these new requirements, it is clear that that parents who were not married and born before January 1983 were at an unfair disadvantage, as such, the new Immigration Act 2014 was passed to remedy this position. After a number of years of campaigning, this unfairness has finally reached
Now, all those born before 1983 abroad to unmarried parents, where one parent was British, would be eligible to apply for registration to become British. The amendment to the Rule was accepted by the UK Government and received Royal Assent in May 2014.
In practice, there are potentially many applicants who would now be eligible to register as a British citizenship, had they not been able to before May 2014 as a result of their parents not being married.
For further information on how you may be able to claim your British citizenship, please do not hesitate to contact one of our immigration specialists on 0207 118 8005 or via e-mail at info@westkin.com for a detailed assessment of your eligibility. We would be more than happy to help.
