British nationality law
The six classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the UK's historical status as a colonial empire.Individuals born in those territories since that date only receive citizenship at birth if at least one of their parents is a British citizen or holds settled status.Foreign nationals may naturalise as British citizens after meeting a minimum residence requirement (usually five years) and acquiring settled status.Despite the UK's withdrawal from the union in 2020, British citizens continue to hold permanent permission to work and reside in the Republic of Ireland as part of the Common Travel Area.This Act defined six types of nationality with varying degrees of civil and political rights, dependent on a person's connections with the United Kingdom, overseas territories, or former colonies.[10] Before the concept of nationality was codified in legislation, inhabitants of English communities owed allegiance to their feudal lords, who were themselves vassals of the monarch.Protestants fleeing religious persecution in mainland Europe were allowed to naturalise as subjects in 1708, but this was quickly repealed in 1711 in response to the number of migrants exercising that ability.[19] By this method, a foreigner became a denizen – although they were no longer considered an alien, they could not pass subject status to their children by descent and were barred from Crown service and public office.Individual colonies had each developed their own procedures and requirements for naturalisation, granting subject status at the discretion of the local governments.[26] By the end of the First World War, the Dominions had exercised increasing levels of autonomy in managing their own affairs and each by then had developed a distinct national identity.[27] Women's rights groups throughout the Empire pressured the imperial government during this time to amend nationality regulations that tied a married woman's status to that of her husband.[35] Despite these disagreements, the two governments agreed not to establish border controls between their jurisdictions and all Irish citizens and British subjects continued to have the ability to move freely within the Common Travel Area.Combined with the approaching independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, comprehensive reform to nationality law was necessary at this point to address ideas that were incompatible with the previous system.[40] This alternative term was necessary to retain a number of newly independent countries in the Commonwealth that wished to become republics rather than preserve the monarch as head of state.Irish citizens who fulfilled certain requirements could file formal claims with the Home Secretary to remain British subjects under this definition.The Ireland Act 1949 specifically addresses this by deeming any person in such circumstances who had never registered for Irish citizenship and had not permanently resided in the Republic between 10 April 1935 and 1 January 1949 as a CUKC and having never ceased to be a British subject.Non-white immigration into the UK was systemically discouraged, but strong economic conditions in Britain following the Second World War attracted an unprecedented wave of colonial migration.[52] This entitlement was part of a wider initiative to preserve close relationships with certain Dominions and colonies (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Southern Rhodesia) and to moderate nationalist attitudes within the Commonwealth.This restriction was somewhat relaxed by the Immigration Act 1971 for patrials, subjects whose parents or grandparents were born in the United Kingdom,[54] which gave effective preferential treatment to white Commonwealth citizens.The Irish regulation created a legal anomaly where persons born in Britain without British citizenship nevertheless held an unrestricted right to settle in Ireland; this inconsistency was removed in 1999.Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa had immigration restrictions in place for British subjects from outside their jurisdictions targeted at non-white migrants since the late 19th century.[67] British citizens were able to work in other EC/EU countries under the freedom of movement for workers established by the 1957 Treaty of Rome[68] and participated in their first European Parliament elections in 1979.[69] With the creation of European Union citizenship by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, free movement rights were extended to all nationals of EU member states regardless of their employment status.[70] The scope of these rights was further expanded with the establishment of the European Economic Area in 1994 to include any national of an EFTA member state except for Switzerland,[71] which concluded a separate free movement agreement with the EU that came into force in 2002.The residency requirement is reduced to three years if an applicant is married to a British citizen and they immediately become eligible for naturalisation after receiving ILR or equivalent.[8] Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in the English, Welsh, or Scottish Gaelic languages and pass the Life in the United Kingdom test.All applicants for naturalisation and registration are normally considered by the governor of the relevant territory, but the Home Secretary retains discretionary authority to grant BOTC status.[90] Since 2004, BOTC applicants aged 18 or older are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Sovereign and loyalty pledge to the relevant territory during their citizenship ceremonies.[106] It appears that the government usually waits until the person has left Britain, then sends a warning notice to their British home and signs a deprivation order a day or two later.[98] Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in 2018 that until then deprivation of nationality had been restricted to "terrorists who are a threat to the country", but that he intended to extend it to "those who are convicted of the most grave criminal offences".
HistoryBritish subjectsBritish Overseas Territories citizensBritish Nationals (Overseas)British Overseas citizensBritish protected personsCommonwealth citizensBritish passportsRight of abodeIndefinite leave to remainBelonger statusBritish Overseas TerritoriesHong KongIrelandThirteen ColoniesBritish Nationality Act 1948Ireland Act 1949Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962Immigration Act 1971British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983British Overseas Territories Act 2002nationalityUnited KingdomBritish Nationality Act 1981came into forceBritish IslandsEnglandScotlandNorthern IrelandCrown dependenciesJerseyGuernseyIsle of Mancivil and political rightscolonial empireBritish nationalsAkrotiri and Dhekeliaright of abode in the United KingdomBritish Overseas citizenBritish subjectBritish National (Overseas)British protected personsettled statuspreviously a member state of the European UnionEU citizenshipautomatic and permanent permission to live and workEuropean Free Trade Associationelections to the European ParliamentUK's withdrawal from the union in 2020Republic of IrelandCommon Travel Areacitizenshipsovereign stateAnglosphereBritish Overseas Territories citizenformer British coloniesHong Kong residentstransfer to China in 1997British Indiaprotectoratesmandated territoriesprincely statesHistory of British nationality lawallegiancefeudal lordsvassalsmonarchthe CrownCalvin's Casejus soliActs of Union 1707Kingdom of IrelandKingdom of Great BritainUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandnaturalisedActs of ParliamentProtestantsHome Officeroyal prerogativedenizenBritish EmpireParliamentCanadaNew ZealandBritish Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 19144 & 5 Geo. 5DominionscoverturedenaturaliseFirst World War1926 Imperial ConferenceBalfour DeclarationBritish Commonwealth of NationsStatute of Westminster 1931Irish nationality lawBritish nationality law and the Republic of Irelanddesire for local self-governanceIrish War of Independencepartitioned into two partsAnglo-Irish TreatySouthern IrelandIrish Free StateConstitution of the Irish Free StateIrish passportsCommonwealth citizencreation of a substantive Canadian citizenship in 1946PakistanHome Secretarydeclared itself a republicBritish monarch'sParliament of the United KingdomLong titleCitationRoyal assentlegislation.gov.ukSouthern RhodesiaBritish Dependent Territories citizensEuropean Union citizenshipEuropean CommunitiesEuropean Unionfreedom of movement for workersTreaty of RomeEuropean Parliament elections in 1979Maastricht TreatyEU member statesEuropean Economic Area