Hello All,

This is a great forum! The reason I'm here is that I'm trying to determine if I am a citizen of the UK. I was born in the USA in 1978 to British Parents (Born in the UK), but was never registered by them. I had looked into obtaining a Certificate of Entitlement to the Right of Abode earlier this year, and had become convinced that I was a British citizen according to what was on the official UK websites, because my father was born in the UK.

I looked again today at the same websites, and it looks like the information had changed, or I had previously misread it, and am not sure if I am a UK citizen anymore. Must I have been born in a Commonwealth country to qualify for citizenship under my father's birthplace?

Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks in advance!

Tim

 

For those who may run upon this post and wonder what the results of my inquiries were, I'd like to share my experience with you. I successfully obtained my Certificate of Entitlement to Right of Abode in early 2011.

I hired an immigration solicitor in London to sort out my British citizenship questions, and they did confirm that I am in fact a British citizen with right of abode in the UK. They also stated that I am entitled to apply for a British Passport, as well. The firm that represented me was Mulberry Finch, and I was highly pleased with their responsiveness, friendliness and competency. An excerpt from the letter:

Note: This is not legal advise.

On the online application for the Certificate of Entitlement, I was advised to tick the box for "AS SOMEONE REGISTERED OR NATURALISED AS A BRITISH SUBJECT: CITIZEN OF THE UK AND COLONIES IN THE UK BEFORE 01/01/83". This was not the obvious choice but whomever wrote that accursed form made a pig's breakfast of it. The form for those applying for the same certificate from within the UK was much more clear.

On that note, the people manning the phones at Visa4UK, who were in the US of all places, were absolutely clueless about my status. They insisted every which way I was not a British citizen merely based on the fact that my birth certificate is from the US, and nothing I said would penetrate their thickness. All I was trying to do was find which box to tick on the application. After arguing with the frontline representative and her supervisor for well over an hour, I simply posited the question "for the sake of argument, suppose these circumstances did apply to me, which box would I tick?" The answer - "we can't give advise on that". I had to pay money for this! I have never dealt with a more ignorant bunch of clods in all my life, and that is saying something. People of Britain - bring your frontline immigration service back home and don't leave them to the McDonald's washouts that are currently running the show in the US!

Once I had gathered my passport photos, passport, parents' birth certificates and whatnot, I sent my paperwork with the requisite fee to the British consulate in Los Angeles. I also included the letter from my solicitor. Much to my shock, two business days after posting the envelope to the consulate, I received my Certificate of Entitlement in the mail, along with all the documentation I had sent them. After having the misfortune of dealing with American federal and state governments all my life, I must say a job well done to the blokes at the LA consulate!

I hope all this may serve to save some time and money for others out there who have the same questions I did, if you're from a similar background as mine.