British Nationality
At common law, any individual within the realm owed the duty of allegiance to the Crown. In return, the Crown owed a duty to protect the individual. In later times, this was referred to as a social contract.
Magna Carta 1215 recognized the rights of merchants, other than those from enemy countries, to enter, leave, stay, and travel in England. It also recognized the rights of other individuals who owed allegiance to the King to enter, leave, and re-enter the realm. In times of emergency, the King could prevent persons from leaving the realm.
Persons could be denied entry, and persons present could be held to leave where the public good so required. In the 16th century, legislation was passed prohibiting gypsies from entering the country and requiring all gypsies to leave the country within a month.
In the 19th century, there were no controls on immigration. Large numbers of East European Jews, during persecution, entered the United Kingdom. Following a political campaign, restrictions were introduced by the Aliens Act 1905.
The Act sought to introduce controls at certain ports and for those traveling on lower-class travel. Certain groups of persons had the power to prevent the entry of certain groups. An Aliens Inspector was established in the Home Office.
The Aliens Restriction Act 1914 and the Defence of the Realm Act significantly controlled and tightened immigration control during the First World War.
The status of British subjects applied to all citizens within the British Empire. As States were granted independence, they established their own nationality and immigration law.
In 1948, The British Nationality Act introduced the concept of a citizen of the United Kingdom and the colony. Citizens of other common law nations became British subjects or Commonwealth citizens, and their right to enter and reside in the United Kingdom was protected.
The Commonwealth Immigrants Acts 1962 and 1968 imposed restrictions on entry. The laws were discriminatory, with controls distinguishing between the right of entry of citizens who had familial and ancestral links with the United Kingdom and those who did not. The 1968 Act limited rights of entry for those with no parental or grandparental connections to the United Kingdom.
The Immigration Act of 1971 distinguished between subjects who were free to enter the United Kingdom and those who needed permission to enter. Each set out the basis of entitlement to residence. It reduced the distinction between aliens and Commonwealth citizens.
The principal classifications were between those with rights of residence in the United Kingdom and others who may be aliens or Commonwealth immigrants who were subject to immigration control and needed permission to enter and remain. On 1 January 1973, the United Kingdom acceded to the European Communities and became a member of the European Communities. This introduced immediate rights for other European Union citizens. See generally the separate sections on European Union law.
A person may become a British citizen by birth, adoption, registration, descent, or naturalisation.A legitimate child born in the United Kingdom, one of whose parents is a British citizen or is settled in the United Kingdom at the time of the birth, becomes a British citizen.
The child born outside marriage takes the citizenship through his mother. He may be subsequently legitimated, in which case his status is the same as a legitimate child.
Prior to the 1981 Act, nearly all persons born in the United Kingdom, with relatively few exceptions, became British citizens.
The Nationality, Immigration, and Asylum Act 2002 removed the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. The father is either the husband of the birth mother or certain other categories of persons who give proof of paternity or are deemed to be a father under human fertilisation legislation.
A child who is adopted becomes a British citizen from the date of the adoption order, if one of his adopted parents is a British citizen.
A person born outside the United Kingdom, if one or both of his parents are British citizens. This is provided the parent has not also acquired the citizenship through descent. In this latter case, he will only become a citizen if the parents are Crown employees or employees of other designated services.
A person may acquire citizenship through registration. They may be persons born in the United Kingdom who are not automatically citizens but are entitled to be registered as citizens at the age of 10, provided they have not been absent for more than 90 days in each of the first 10 years. A child may be registered if one of his parents acquires citizenship or becomes settled in the United Kingdom while he is under 18.
Citizens of British dependent territories, British overseas citizens, and British protected persons (a relatively narrow class), who are resident for five years, are entitled to registration.
More generally, the Home Secretary has discretion to register any child as a citizen. Applicants for nationality must show that they are of good character.
A person who has been resident for five years may apply for naturalisation. This is subject to the discretion of the Home Secretary. He must be satisfied that the applicant is of good character, has command of the English or alternatively the Welsh and Gaelic language, and intends to have his principal place of residence in the United Kingdom. He may be employed in a designated employment.
Naturalisation may be granted to a spouse of a British citizen.
A certificate of naturalisation requires that the applicant makes the prescribed oath of allegiance and pledges his loyalty to the United Kingdom and agrees to uphold its democratic values and obey its laws. There is provision for citizenship ceremonies and formal pledges of allegiance. The applicant must also, under the 2002 legislation, have sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom.
The British Overseas Territories Act deals with the entitlement to overseas territories citizenship. The overseas territories are Falkland Islands, Cayman Islands, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Antarctic Territory, Bermuda, Anguilla, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, Henderson, St. Christopher and St. Nevis, St. Helena and Dependencies, the Sovereign Bases in Cyprus, and Virgin Islands.
In 1983 legislation, British citizenship was conferred on all persons born in the Falkland Islands to parents who are settled there. The Hong Kong Act 1985 granted the same citizenship to British nationals for Hong Kong citizens after the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997.
Under 1990 legislation, the Home Secretary could confer citizenship on up to 50,000 residents and families as nominated by the Governor General if they wished to leave Hong Kong on the transfer of power.
Persons who are British citizens, British overseas territories citizens, or British subjects or subjects of countries listed below have the status of a Commonwealth citizen. The relevant Commonwealth countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, the Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
There are provisions for depriving a person of citizenship. This may apply to British citizens, British overseas territories citizens, and British overseas citizens, British nationals overseas, British subjects, and British protected persons.
A person may be deprived of citizenship if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the deprivation is conducive to the public good. He may also be deprived of citizenship if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the registration and naturalisation were obtained by means of fraud, false representation, or concealment of material facts. He may not be deprived of citizenship if this would make him stateless.”
The acts must take place after the person became a citizen as the basis of the order. There is a right of appeal to an adjudicator and a further right of appeal on a point of law to the Court of Appeal or Court of Session in Scotland. The right of appeal does not apply where the Secretary certifies that this position was based on information which should not be disclosed on the basis of national security, relations with other countries, or otherwise in the public interest.
The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2007 regulates the removal of rights of abode, deprivation of rights of abode, where the right arises with possession of citizenship of another Commonwealth country. It may be undertaken if it is conducive to the public good to remove or exclude the person from the United Kingdom.
The European Union Treaties confer Union citizenship on all citizens of all Member States. The Justice and Home Affairs pillar of the Treaty in the European Union grants powers to regulate certain asylum and immigration policies. The United Kingdom was not a party to all of these provisions.
States are under a duty to cooperate in matters of immigration and asylum, matters relating to asylum, visas, and immigration. Competence is increased by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997.
Under the Schengen Agreement, certain States agreed to remove all border controls within their country. However, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland opted out, and by 2001 were the only States outside the Schengen Agreement.
Rights of entry and residence are granted by citizenship. United Nations principles provide that no person shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country. A person holding a valid British passport or a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies with a right to live in the United Kingdom or a travel document of a European Union Member State has an entitlement to enter.
Passports surrendered under the royal prerogative through the holding of a passport are not conclusive if it is shown to be a result of fraud, theft, etc.