Claims to British citizenship are organised into groups below. Sometimes a claim under more than one provision is possible, and one alternative may be simpler or more cost-effective. Corresponding claims to other types of British nationality are supported, though not listed.
If the Aora Nationality Determiner discovers an automatic claim, an application pack for a British passport or Status Letter is produced.
If the Aora Nationality Determiner discovers eligibility for a grant an application pack for registration or naturalisation is produced.
All packs include detailed instructions and a letter of representation to the Home Office with legal argument.
Naturalisation of Adults Resident in the United Kingdom or in Crown Service
- A person who has been present in the UK for at least 5 years and has been free of time restrictions for 12 months may be granted naturalisation if certain conditions are satisfied. A spouse of a British citizen who has been present in the UK for at least 3 years and has been free of time restrictions may be granted naturalisation if certain conditions are satisfied.
- The policy guidance has a set of discretionary waivers from normal requirements. These are quite complex, and many practitioners are unaware of all the possibilities. Aora ND fully reflects the policy guidance. The Home Office fee for naturalisation is currently £1330.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 6(1) and 6(2) of the BNA 1981.
Registration of Persons Born After 1982 in the United Kingdom or a British Overseas Territory
- Children who do not become a British citizen at birth may be registered later if certain conditions are satisfied. Some frequently overlooked ways in which a parent can be settled are supported in the system.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 1(3), 1(3A), 1(4), Schedule 2 para 3 of the BNA 1981.
Discretionary Registration of Minor Children
- This is the most common form of grant of British citizenship after naturalisation. The policy guidance now has many alternatives with a mix of fixed, subjective and discretionary requirements. Many practitioners are unaware of all the possibilities. Aora ND fully reflects the latest policy guidance, including support for overseas adoptions.
Provisions Supported:
Section 3(1) of the BNA 1981.
Registration of Child of British Citizen
- A child of a British citizen by descent born abroad may if the parent lived in the UK for 3 years register a child if the grandparent was (or would have become) a British citizen other than by descent. If the grandparent was born outside the UK the opportunity is complex to assess.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 3(2), 3(5), Schedule 2 para 4 of the BNA 1981.
Registration for Those Born Before 1983 Who Did Not Inherit Citizenship from Mother
- A child of a British citizen by descent born abroad may if the parent lived in the UK for 3 years register a child if the grandparent was (or would have become) a British citizen other than by descent. If the grandparent was born outside the UK the opportunity is complex to assess.
Provisions Supported:
Section 4C of the BNA 1981.
Registration for Those Born Illegitimate Before July 2006
- These provisions were intended to facilitate acquisition of British citizenship via an unmarried parent. Section 4F also tries to facilitate registration under certain other provisions for a child of unmarried parents who missed out through not being legitimate, through a counterfactual model, which can be hard to visualise and explain.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 4F, 4G, 4H or 4I of the BNA 1981.
Registration of Other Types of British national
- Other British nationals are British Overseas Territories citizens, British Overseas citizens, British subjects, British Nationals (Overseas) and British Protected persons. Such a national who has been present in the UK for at least 5 years and has been free of time restrictions for 12 months may be granted registration if certain conditions are satisfied. Many practitioners overlook this route which is cheaper and easier than naturalisation.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 4(2), 4(5), 4A, 4B and 5 of the BNA 1981.
Registration of Stateless Persons
- Many practitioners overlook these provisions which are available to persons up to the age of 22 years. There are also obscure provisions in the British Nationality (No. 2) Act 1964 for stateless persons which still apply to those born before 1983.
Provisions Supported:
Schedule 2 para 5 of the BNA 1981 (other in other groups above).
Registration Under Other Provisions
- There are provisions for a child of a person serving in the British armed forces, for resumption following renunciation and a person who had been resident in Hong Kong at handover in 1997.
Provisions Supported:
4D, 10 and 13 of the BNA 1981, section 2 of the British Nationality (Hong Kong) Act 1997.
Automatic Claims of Those Born Overseas
- Claims of any complexity supported including those relying on British ancestry or colonial links, for persons born at any time. There are many anomalous counterintuitive possibilities which Aora ND will automatically make use of which only the most experienced practitioners will be aware of. For births after 1982 the incredibly abstruse definition of “by descent” is modelled precisely as are all forms of designated service.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 1(5)(b), 2(1), 11(1), 11(2), 11(3), 14 of the BNA 1981, and many provisions in laws in force before 1983 and 1949, British Nationality (Falklands Islands) Act 1983 section 1(1).
Automatic Claims of Persons Born or Adopted After 1982 in the United Kingdom or a British Overseas Territory
- Birth in the UK after 1982 does not confer British citizenship unless one of the parents is settled for a British citizen. Some frequently overlooked ways in which a parent can be settled are supported in the system.
Provisions Supported:
Sections 1(1), 1(1A), 1(5)(a), Schedule 2 para 1 and para 2 of the BNA 1981.
