At OTB Legal we are contacted by clients with a wide variety of different circumstances asking if they qualify for British citizenship or are already British based on their ancestry. One question we are often asked is whether it is possible to obtain British citizenship based on triple descent through a great-grandparent, so going back three generations. Most of the time the answer is no, but occasionally this is possible, albeit in very specific circumstances. We were delighted to assist one such client recently with a successful application for a British passport, the details of which are set out below.
Background of British Citizenship by triple descent case
Our client’s great-grandfather was born in the UK in 1877. This means that he was born a British subject. He had a son (our client’s grandfather) in South Africa. He was born in South Africa in 1905. At this time South Africa was also a UK colony, so he was also born a British subject. He married our client’s grandmother in South Africa in 1932. The grandmother was a British subject by birth in the UK – this is important and the reasons why will become clear later.
Our client’s father was born in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, in 1936. At the time of his birth, Northern Rhodesia was a British Protectorate. This meant that he was born a British subject.
One of the confusing things about British nationality law is the various terms to describe what is now known as British citizenship. ‘British subject’ was the term used before 1949. Between 1949 and 1982, the term was ‘Citizen of the UK & Colonies’ (‘CUKC’), before the term ‘British citizen’ was introduced when the British Nationality Act 1981 came into force on 1 January 1983. So our client’s father was a British subject at birth and then became a CUKC on 1 January 1949.
Importantly, when Northern Rhodesia became independent on 24 October 1964, our client’s father retained his status as a CUKC due to his grandfather (our client’s great-grandfather) being born in the UK.
By the time our client was born in 1968, his father had relocated to the United States and married (and our client was born there). As our client’s father was born in a British protectorate and continued to hold CUKC status when our client was born, our client was born a CUKC by descent.
Right of Abode and British citizenship
I mentioned earlier that the concept of British citizenship has gone through various reconfigurations over the years. The last major change to British nationality law was the introduction of the British Nationality Act 1981 on 1 January 1983. For a CUKC to become a British citizen on 1 January 1983, they had to hold CUKC status and the right of abode immediately before the introduction of the act.
The right of abode was a separate status introduced in the 1970s which broadly split CUKCs into two groups – those who held CUKC status by a connection with the UK or those who only held that status by their connection with a UK colony. To hold the right of abode through UK ancestry you generally needed to have a parent or grandparent born in the UK – in other words, within two generations. This is where our client’s grandmother is important as her birth in the UK allowed our client to also hold the right of abode.
There is an important distinction here – before 1983 citizenship (so British subject status and then CUKC status) could only be passed on in the male line, an example of historical legislative unfairness which is still being corrected today. This is why our client’s grandmother was not mentioned when outlining the transmission of British subject and CUKC status. However, females could pass on the right of abode, something that our client’s male ancestors were unable to do (as the closest male ancestor born in the UK was three generations back).
All of this means that our client was born a CUKC and was then automatically reclassified as a British citizen on 1 January 1983. This meant that he did not even have to make an application to register as a British citizen based on his grandmother being unable to pass on her nationality status but could apply directly for a British passport.
This is a very particular set of circumstances which relies on a number of different factors. Had our client’s great-grandfather or his grandmother not been born in the UK, his father not been born in a protectorate, or if our client had been born after 1983, this claim would not have been successful. Nonetheless it is a reminder that there are some very unusual scenarios which may still give rise to a successful application.
How OTB Legal can help with your complex British Citizenship or British Citizenship by triple descent enquiry:
If you have a complex citizenship enquiry and would like our opinion, we would love to hear from you. Having assisted on the application outlined above and many other nationality applications we have the expertise to give you an assessment and, if you can make an application, guide you through the process.
