Citizenship Question?

[dan1974]

Hi,

I have a curly question that I would like to throw out to the forum. I was born in Australia in 1974. My father held British citizenship and held a British passport when I was born.

He was however born in India in 1923. My grandfather was a British Army Sargent in active military service at the time of my fathers birth at British army hospital in India.

My question is am I eligible for UK citizenship/UK passport. I have read a number of websites on the topic and I am unfortunately non the wiser.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

Warm Regards

Dan

[acarlton]

Was your grandfather recruited in the UK and born in the UK? if so when he was in Crown service in India he will have passed on British Citizenship in a form as 'otherwise than by descent' as opposed to 'by descent' to your father, which means you can also inherit it even though born abroad. There are military records in Kew ( findmypast site) scanned where you could find the enlistement documents. Also in 1923 British nationality law was different and your father may well have inherited the 'otherwise than by descent' even without the crown service of his father. It is a complex area- specialists are philipgamble.co.uk. you may find some info on their website and they have a free online query you can fill in and get reply ranging from definite likely unlikely etc etc. It seems likely you will qualify but you will not be able to pass BC down to your children unless you live 3 years in the UK or there are other various options.

[acarlton]

Hi,

I have a curly question that I would like to throw out to the forum. I was born in Australia in 1974. My father held British citizenship and held a British passport when I was born.

He was however born in India in 1923. My grandfather was a British Army Sargent in active military service at the time of my fathers birth at British army hospital in India.

My question is am I eligible for UK citizenship/UK passport. I have read a number of websites on the topic and I am unfortunately non the wiser.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.


Warm Regards

Dan

re my quick reply - I just found this link on crown service https://www.philipgamble.co.uk/british- ... rent#crown
it states that for birth before 1983 it's the parent who has to be in crown service, but due to the historical laws/India etc ..its best to check with PG about your own particular circumstances.

[Dave]

Sorry, dan1974, but despite what acarlton says I think you may already be too late. I'm not a nationality lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that the decision has to be made either by your parents within a year of your birth, or by you within a year of your 18th birthday.

For what it's worth, acarlton is right about the "otherwise than by descent" point.

In its broadest terms, a country's nationality law is based on either or both of two factors: place of birth or descent. It used to be the case that the normal route for obtaining British nationality was by the simple fact of being born in Britain - so most people born in the UK before 1 January 1983 were automatically "British subject: Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies", as the status was described in passports. The British Nationality Act 1981 changed that, so that children born of parents who were not themselves British citizens under the Act no longer automatically gained British citizenship.

But the Act also excludes people born overseas who inherited British citizenship from their parents from handing that status down to their own children. It does however make an exception for children who were born overseas simply because their parent was a Crown servant who happened to be serving overseas at the time. The phrase "otherwise than by descent" covers those cases.

As I say, I'm not a lawyer, and it may be worth checking out expert legal advice.

[acarlton]

yes agree Dave, re the before 18 may be an issue in some cases. there various factors which may or may not lead to BC and need expert advice. I think that ( in the past) if a child was registered with the British Consulate within a year of their birth that my help. I suggest dan1974 runs the PG online checker first to see if BC is possible.