Question about Right of Abode.

[raikal]

Hi Everybody.

Suppose a person gets British Nationality through Naturalization then later settles in India ( after getting OCI ) Then he decides to get Indian Nationality back, the only way is to renounce BN. He does that.

Circumstances change,

When the circumstatnces change, he again decides to come back to UK , what status he will have in UK ? Can he claim back BN by renouncing Indian Nationality ? Or Does he have to switch to Right of Abode after renoucning BN in the first place


Regards

[mhunjn]

I guess you'll have to apply for the BN again... after qualifying for the same... (5 yrs residence including min. 1yr ILR).

But WHY?... The whole point of OCI is you have equal rights, other than the govt job.

Citizenship is not a 'loan' that you can withdraw and pay back whenever you wish... although a hypothetical query (i assume)... you make it sound like a trivial issue.

[ppron747]

....Suppose a person gets British Nationality through Naturalization then later settles in India ( after getting OCI ) Then he decides to get Indian Nationality back, the only way is to renounce BN. He does that.

Circumstances change,

When the circumstatnces change, he again decides to come back to UK , what status he will have in UK ? Can he claim back BN by renouncing Indian Nationality ? Or Does he have to switch to Right of Abode after renoucning BN in the first place

When you renounce British citizenship, you also lose the right of abode in the UK.

However, if you renounce British citizenship in order to acquire or retain the citizenship of another country (as would be the case in the circumstances you describe above) you are entitled to be registered as a British citizen. The entitlement only applies once, and if you were to repeat the exercise, you can still apply to be "re-registered", but the question as to whether the application would succeed would be at the discretion of the Home Office.

The forms are RN1 (renunciation) and RS1 (resumption) - scroll down the page at http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en ... orms.html?

If you wanted to return to the UK before resuming British citizenship, I believe you would need to apply for entry clearance in the same way as any other citizen of India, but I'm open to correction on this score.

[raikal]

Hi Thanks for your inputs
Extract from RS2 notes:
"
You have a right (once only) to be registered as a British citizen if you renounced British citizenship in order to keep or acquire another citizenship.

You have a separate right (once only) to be registered as a British citizen if you renounced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies:

in order to keep or acquire the citizenship of a Commonwealth country, or
because you had reasonable cause to believe that you would be deprived of your citizenship of a Commonwealth country if you did not renounce.
"

That means I can claim my BN back ( which was renounced ) only once and after that it is under Home Secretaray's descretion. I am sure no one needs more than once.

any more comments please

[ppron747]

It is actually RS1, not RS2, which relates to resumption of British Overseas Territories citizenship, rather than British citizenship...

You've also missed out a chunk of it which relates to the registration as British citizens of people who renounced citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) before 1983. Not everyone who renounced CUKC in favour of another citizenship is entitled to be registered as a British citizen - they need also to have a specified connection with the UK. It is in the leaflet, so I won't repeat the whole thing here.

That aside, you've got the answer to your question, and mhunjn's view on the ethics of the issue (which I happen to share). What other comments do you have in mind?