Born in London in 1983 to Diplomat parents

[bhai86]

Hi,
My gf was born in London in April 1983 and her parents were diplomats at that time. They are both non Europeans and they don't live in UK anymore.
Now I want to know if there is any way to register my gf as a British citizen? I know the law was easier before 1st Jan 1983, but I heard from somewhere that if you were born to diplomat parents even after 1st Jan 1983, there is a way to register as British citizen.
If there is any lawyer out there who has handled such case, I am happy to hire a good lawyer for this!

Regards,

[LilyLalilu]

If her parents werent settled in the UK when she was born, she has no automatic claim to BC. Where does she live now/how long did she live in the UK? She may have a lifelong entitlement to registration if she lived here for the first 10 years of her life..

[alterhase58]

Maybe this document gives some pointers:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... lomats.pdf

[bhai86]

If her parents werent settled in the UK when shes was born she has no automatic claim to BC. Where does she live now/how long did she live in the UK? She may have a lifelong entitlement to registration if she lived here for the first 10 years of her life..

She is in the UK at the moment on a student visa, she lived about 2.5 years after birth and then left UK since then until coming back to UK again on student visa this year.

What is the exact definition of settled? as far as I know Diplomats do not need visa to stay in UK.

[bhai86]

Maybe this document gives some pointers:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... lomats.pdf

Thank you for the link, this leads to few more questions

1)her dad was not the head of diplomatic mission. They entered UK in 1982 and she was born in 1983.
2)her dad was an administrative member of the embassy.

3)What is a Foreign and Commonwealth mission? is it only Ex British colonies or Embassy of any country in UK?

[secret.simon]

People who have diplomatic immunity while in the UK are not considered settled in the UK while they have such immunity and children born to such parents are excluded from acquiring citizenship at birth (Section 50(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981). The law was the same even before 1981(see Section 4(a) of the British Nationality Act 1948).

Even if the parents were considered settled in the UK at that time, they would have lost settled status after an absence of two years.

Even if they retained it, your girlfriend could only have been registered as a British citizen if she was under 18 years of age at the time of application for registration, which she no longer is.

So, there is no chance for your girlfriend to acquire British citizenship through her birth in the UK. She will have to go through the relevant PBS or spousal route and naturalise, like most non-EEA migrants on these forums.

As an aside, the same is the situation in most countries of the world. Diplomatic staff (and your rank does not matter) are not subject to the law of the country that they are in and hence can not derive benefits from there either. Even the US, which famously has birthright citizenship, excludes the children of diplomats born in the US from acquiring US citizenship automatically.

3)What is a Foreign and Commonwealth mission?

A foreign mission is an embassy of a non-Commonwealth country. A Commonwealth mission is a High Commission of a Commonwealth country.

[bhai86]

People who have diplomatic immunity while in the UK are not considered settled in the UK while they have such immunity and children born to such parents are excluded from acquiring citizenship at birth (Section 50(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981). The law was the same even before 1981(see Section 4(a) of the British Nationality Act 1948).

Even if the parents were considered settled in the UK at that time, they would have lost settled status after an absence of two years.

Even if they retained it, your girlfriend could only have been registered as a British citizen if she was under 18 years of age at the time of application for registration, which she no longer is.

So, there is no chance for your girlfriend to acquire British citizenship through her birth in the UK. She will have to go through the relevant PBS or spousal route and naturalise, like most non-EEA migrants on these forums.

As an aside, the same is the situation in most countries of the world. Diplomatic staff (and your rank does not matter) are not subject to the law of the country that they are in and hence can not derive benefits from there either. Even the US, which famously has birthright citizenship, excludes the children of diplomats born in the US from acquiring US citizenship automatically.

3)What is a Foreign and Commonwealth mission?

A foreign mission is an embassy of a non-Commonwealth country. A Commonwealth mission is a High Commission of a Commonwealth country.

Thank you for the detail response, answers many questions.
It may sound bizarre but we actually went to talk to a lawyer recently who said there is a way if "her parents were Diplomats but it's very complicated". But he doesn't want to deal with this case due to his busy schedule.
Maybe there is a way or maybe he doesn't know what he was talking about? The lawyer was quite well established, based in central London.

[secret.simon]

I am not a lawyer, so I will bow to the legal expert and suggest that you follow this up with the lawyer. Take a printout of this thread and ask him if he disagrees with the advice here and if the route he has in mind is the Form T/10 years residence here as a child suggested above by LilyLalilu.

His being established in central London does not suggest anything other than that he is quite expensive.

[vinny]

She is in the UK at the moment on a student visa, she lived about 2.5 years after birth and then left UK since then until coming back to UK again on student visa this year.

Unfortunately, she would also fail the 10 years residence entitlement.

[secret.simon]

She is in the UK at the moment on a student visa, she lived about 2.5 years after birth and then left UK since then until coming back to UK again on student visa this year.

Unfortunately, she would also fail the 10 years residence entitlement.

I agree, Vinny. I was just trying to figure out what other grounds were there for the lawyer's advice.

As I see it, the girlfriend does not even meet the requirements for FLR(FP), never mind citizenship.

[vinny]

I also agree that 50(4) would also prevent her from being automatically being British via her birth in the UK.

[vinny]

As an aside, the same is the situation in most countries of the world. Diplomatic staff (and your rank does not matter) are not subject to the law of the country that they are in and hence can not derive benefits from there either. Even the US, which famously has birthright citizenship, excludes the children of diplomats born in the US from acquiring US citizenship automatically.

Even if born in the US with a diplomat as a parent, most would agree that she would not be a US citizen. However, there is some confusion.

[secret.simon]

As an aside, the same is the situation in most countries of the world. Diplomatic staff (and your rank does not matter) are not subject to the law of the country that they are in and hence can not derive benefits from there either. Even the US, which famously has birthright citizenship, excludes the children of diplomats born in the US from acquiring US citizenship automatically.

Even if born in the US with a diplomat as a parent, most would agree that she would not be a US citizen. However, there is some confusion.

I did come across that article while researching on the OP's question and my understanding of the article is that while children of diplomats born in the US are not entitled to US citizenship, they accidentally get US citizenship due to the lack of co-ordination between state agencies (that register births, etc) and federal agencies (that administer citizenship and passports). But legally, such children are not US citizens, though given that the US passport is conclusive proof (not prima facie proof as the UK passport) of US citizenship, I wonder if it could be argued that merely issuing a US passport to them retrospectively naturalises them.

Reverting to the OP's question, can you think of any grounds for the girlfriend to be eligible for citizenship or even a lower form of visa based on her birth?

[vinny]

Can't think of any grounds at the moment.

[noajthan]

Sections 1(x) and 3(x) of BNA do not fly.

[secret.simon]

I personally think the OP is being sold an expensive pup by the central London lawyer, but be it far from me to dissuade him from getting legal advice.

[bhai86]

Reverting to the OP's question, can you think of any grounds for the girlfriend to be eligible for citizenship or even a lower form of visa based on her birth?

Thank you guys for the responses. I would like to add that her Grand-dad was born in 1929 in the Mandatory Palestine Territory. If that can lead to any possibility of able to get citizenship or UK ancestry-visa?

many thanks again.

[secret.simon]

Nope. See similar thread.

Even hypothetically, assuming that the grandfather had a CUKC citizenship (extremely unlikely), given the lack of connection of the family with the UK, in 1983, it would have turned into a British Overseas citizenship, which does not carry the right to reside in the UK. BOCs are subject to the same immigration restrictions as other non-EEA citizens.

Ancestry visa requires that the grandparent be born in the United Kingdom (including the whole of Ireland before 1922), not that the grandparent is a British citizen. The colonies were legally separate entities, as was pre-partition India (which was not legally a colony).