Hello klock
He was born to polish parents who were en route to Britain during the second world war. He was born in italy a just a few days before they took the boat to England, where they where interned and then settled.
Upon arrival, his parent were not to his knowledge naturalised (they are now deceased), and neither to his knowledge was he.
Apart from the first few days of his life, he has been in England ever since. He was educated there, worked there, paid taxes, and has retired there. He has never left England for a holiday of course.
He has a full birth certificate which names the location of the port where he was born in italy, and details of his parents. He does not own any other documents pertaining the the time.
As an adult, his two brothers both had themselves naturalised.
QUESTIONS.
1) In these circumstances, would he still require to be naturalised in the standard way, in order to apply for a passport?
2) If he remains un naturalised, is he somehow breaking the law?
3) Is there a way to find out if he has been naturalised by his parents without his knowledge.
4) If he requires it and chooses to become naturalised, is this likely to be an easy or risky process in his case?
5) Just what nationality is he? Surely not Italian?
I think the clue to your father's situation is that his brothers seem to have applied to become naturalised British citizens.
I am sure that if he is here legally there is no problem with him not being naturalised.
People don't become automatic British citizens simply through long residence in the UK.
Look at it this way, some countries only allow people to have one citizenship, so if this happened people could find they have their citizenship of birth or choice taken away from them against their will. Many people live forever in the UK without choosing to become British and without wanting to become British, I don't see anything wrong with that.
It seems logical to me that your grandparents came here legally if they came as refugees during the war, because the government would have been very strict about who was coming into the UK in wartime. I could be wrong however.
I would hope that it would be easy for your father to become naturalised if that is what he wishes to do.
Even if he is here without having been given permission as a baby, this should be easy to sort out with an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain based on at least 14 years residence.
The only spanner in the works that I could see to either application is if he has a terrible, recent, criminal record (not speeding tickets!).
Perhaps his local MP could help him. If there is a problem I am sure this is just the sort of story his local paper would love to run! Even the Daily Mail loves these kind of stories!
LOCAL PENSIONER LIVING HERE HIS WHOLE LIFE IS REFUSED CITIZENSHIP
The Data Protection Act may mean that the very old paperwork has been weeded and destroyed, unless it has gone to the National Archives. The government is not supposed to keep records longer than necessary and over 60 years is a very long time to keep a closed file.
I am a bit more optimistic that JAJ.
I think the Home Office stands a cat in hell's chance of removing him. I think a Judge would laugh the HO out of court if they tried.
Even if he has a terrible past, you may remember Chindamo:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr ... 62522.html
Please note that if he applies for citizenship and is under 65 he will probably have to do the "Knowledge of Life in the UK" test.
If you think that this is a mickey take and disrespectful to your father, I know people who have lived here for over 40 years and don't even speak basic English (or Welsh, Gaelic or BSL) but became citizens before the test. This is one of the supposed reasons for the tests being brought in.
See here for more info about applying for citizenship:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/
Regards
