Fast-track Citizenship

[tt]

I was wondering on what specific basis Zola Budd, the South African runner, gained her British citizenship, and whether that avenue is still theoretically open.

If you read the recently released papers on this matter http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front/Tex ... 62&to=true , which, I admit, I haven't gone right through, the application starts on the basis that her father was a British citizen, though born in South Africa, through her father's father, who was a British-born British citizen.

A quote from the sources "The British Home Office repeated yesterday that as long as Budd was able to prove that her paternal grandfather was British-born she "most certainly" could apply for a British passport."

I know of other EU countries that allow for sportsathletes and those who are leaders in their field to be fasttracked to citizenship, and am wondering if that is still possible in the UK.

[tt]

You need to scroll down to about the 18th topic on my cross-reference to get to the Zola Budd files.

[ppron747]

Z Budd was registered as a British citizen under section 3(1) of the BNA 1981, which gives the Home Secretary authority to register any minor as a British citizen. "Minor" is crucial here - if she'd been a few months older, it would have been impossible, as she then would have needed to apply for naturalisation, which is much more closely controlled.

Although the Home Secretary has a lot of flexibility to register minors, there are clear guidelines on these cases in the Nationality Instructions, and it seems to me that several very wide coaches, with a whole herd of horses, were driven straight through them in this particular case...

[tt]

ppron747. Many thanks for a quick and succinct reply. I was just getting to the point in the documentation in which B4 Division of Lunar House referred to this "minor" angle!

I note that Lunar House referred to the Secretary of State's discretion on "minors" as (Quote) "normally reserved for children who have lived in the UK for some years and are likely to stay here, not for those who have recently arrived or who may not wish to remain".

What is the usual basis for the granting of this discretion? Do the rules specify how many years a child ought to be in the UK before it should be used?

I imagine the grandfather route was "out" in any case, since (I'm guessing) South Africa was not in Schedule 3 BNA as a Commonwealth member at that stage, and that the law was as today where the grandchild needs to be a Cth citizen.

[tvt]

I can assure you that if Ronaldinho wanted to play for England in the World Cup he'd be naturalised in two seconds.

[tekaweni]

tvt: Agreed!

And when Zola Budd retired from athletics she went home, married a local farmer and relinquished her British citizenship.

[tt]

Yes Where does the discretion for the Home Sec lie embodied for fast-track citizenship to leaders in their field (sports etc?).

I suppose I am effectively asking how Zola would have been fast-tracked had she already been 18, and no longer a "minor".

Will anyone try this route if they want to compete for the UK in the next Olympics in 2008, who now can't, because their citizenship has been delayed a year by the new 5 year wait rule?

By the way, tvt, I think playing in the World Cup doesn't rely on citizenship, but rather, residency. So Ronaldinho already has established his residency in the EU, and presumably could easily change it to the UK, on the premise of a local team contract, should anyone pay GBP 85million for the transfer, which is the conditional term in Barcelona's contract, I believe. (Chelsea "only" went as high as GBP 60 million!). Of course, the story changes if you want him to compete for the UK in the Olympics!

Look at him in action! http://www.break.com/articles/ronaldinho.html (right click on the video and go to Zoom-->Full Screen for best results). Do you believe it?

[tt]

No, actually, I think I will correct myself. You do need to be a citizen of the country you're playing for in the World Cup. These might be the rules here http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Ap ... Plyrs.html and then here http://www.englandfootballonline.com/Te ... biliy.html ?

[mhunjn]

I am sure the Home Sec has a few 'dicretionary' powers where he can grant naturalisation to specific individuals... sports in this case. But also in case of special 'diplomatic' issues... which never get out in the media at all.

[tt]

...the royal prerogative again? Or is the Home Sec's discretion spelt out or limited in legislation, and presumably it would be effete of me to ask whether the HS has been given any guidelines on the matter.

By the way, I love the line in the British Embassy/Consulate (in South Africa) material relating to Zola Budd's claim to British citizenship that I posted as a cross-reference in my original post above, which goes...something like this (it's too slow to download at present)...

considering Miss Budd's father is a British citizen by descent (and would be moving to the UK too), Miss Budd will be able to register as a minor as a British citizen. To argue otherwise would be cavil.

I had to look the word up, but it was a rather sweet phrase, given the circumstances!

[ppron747]

Schedule 1 of the BNA 1981 specifies the requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen, and the amount of discretion that the Home Secretary has over waiving requirements. It would take somewhat more than 2 seconds to naturalise someone who didn't meet most of the requirements, becaause it would take an Act of Parliament. The last time this was done was in the 1970s, but I cannot recall the name of the individual. There was a South African connection there as well, IIRC.

As to whether it could be done on the quiet, I'll answer that with some questions. If you were going to do something unlawful and you didn't want it to get about, would you rely on the discretion of the average celebrity to keep it under his hat? And would you swear FIFA to secrecy about it, too? And how would you manage the press enquiries that would surely arise over someone playing for England who was known to be a national of another country? Would you perhaps swear the press to secrecy as well?

I can't get on the the IND website at the moment, but the quidelines for minor registrations are there. The substance of them hasn't changed very much over the years, so you can still see just how inappropriate La Budd's registration was.

[mhunjn]

Paul, i am sure you appreciate the fact that if and when the govt or civil service want, they can get an individual to naturalise in UK and also issue new identity papers to individuals if the situation demands. I am not saying it's common, but it is possible. Ofcourse there has to be a special circumstance to warrant the issue of these papers... security, confidentiality etc etc...
I am not talking about the average celebrity kind of thing... but more of witness protection etc etc...

[ppron747]

Paul, i am sure you appreciate the fact that if and when the govt or civil service want, they can get an individual to naturalise in UK and also issue new identity papers to individuals if the situation demands. I am not saying it's common, but it is possible. Ofcourse there has to be a special circumstance to warrant the issue of these papers... security, confidentiality etc etc...
I am not talking about the average celebrity kind of thing... but more of witness protection etc etc...

I don't know whether it happens or not, mhunjn, but the rest of this thread is about "fast-tracking" high profile sports people, isn't it? You seem to be disagreeing with something I didn't say

[mhunjn]

Just a comment...not disagreeing...though at a tangent...

[tt]

So does the Act of Parliament route (to get fast-track citizenship) only apply to the sports type situation?

How did Precious Mckenzie (coloured South African weightlifter), Alvin Kallicharan (Guyana cricketer), David and Moira Cargill (Canadian skiers) and David Lowe (Zimbabwean swimmer) get their fast-track citizenship? All I know at the moment is that they got it fast-track, but not whether it was by Act of Parliament or not.

I'm assuming that mhunjn is referring to situations where citizenship can be fast-tracked through the royal prerogative or something (ie, by the Home Sec's discretion alone, in this case, NOT governed nor restricted by any legislation)?

[ppron747]

So does the Act of Parliament route (to get fast-track citizenship) only apply to the sports type situation?

How did Precious Mckenzie (coloured South African weightlifter), Alvin Kallicharan (Guyana cricketer), David and Moira Cargill (Canadian skiers) and David Lowe (Zimbabwean swimmer) get their fast-track citizenship? All I know at the moment is that they got it fast-track, but not whether it was by Act of Parliament or not.

I'm assuming that mhunjn is referring to situations where citizenship can be fast-tracked through the royal prerogative or something (ie, by the Home Sec's discretion alone, in this case, NOT governed nor restricted by any legislation)?

I am aware of one solitary case in the last few decades where an individual gained British nationality by an Act of Parliament that was specific to him. IIRC, he was a South African businessman, and it happened in, I think, the 1970s. No idea why.

I've barely heard of the other people you mention - I don't do sport - but I suspect I would have heard if any of them had had a special Act passed for him/her. It is worth noting that until 1973, the British Nationality Act 1948 gave Commonwealth citizens the right to be registered as citizens of the United Kingdom & Colonies after only 12 months residence in UK. This wasn't "fast-tracking" - it was the norm...

I'm prepared to be proved wrong, but I don't believe that the Royal Prerogative would be used to do anything for which there is already statutory provision.

[JAJ]

I've barely heard of the other people you mention - I don't do sport - but I suspect I would have heard if any of them had had a special Act passed for him/her. It is worth noting that until 1973, the British Nationality Act 1948 gave Commonwealth citizens the right to be registered as citizens of the United Kingdom & Colonies after only 12 months residence in UK. This wasn't "fast-tracking" - it was the norm...

I thought the residence period (for Commonwealth and Irish citizens) was raised from 12 months to 5 years in 1962.

[ppron747]

I thought the residence period (for Commonwealth and Irish citizens) was raised from 12 months to 5 years in 1962.

You might well be right - I haven't got any reference material with me, so can't check... What Act?

(Answering own question) Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. You're right...

[tt]

Precious McKenzie (see here http://zar.co.za/precious.htm ), for example, was a great weight lifter whose win at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch NZ (for England) has been rated one of the 10 greatest Commonwealth Games moments by some authorities, where...

"legend has it that the Queen was late for an official engagement because she was so determined to see Precious McKenzie win his third Commonwealth weightlifting gold medal [which he did]. The 4ft 11in tall McKenzie was nicknamed the 'Pocket Rocket' and was hugely popular. Born in South Africa, his home country had refused to pick him for the 1958 Empire Games because of its apartheid policy so he moved to England and won the bantamweight title for his new country in 1966 and 1970. He dropped to flyweight in 1974 and four years later returned to bantamweight to win another gold medal."

He also competed in various Olympics for the UK(/Great Britain). South Africa recently called him over from NZ (where he is now based, apparently) because they are considering doing a film about his life.

He didn't have to do his 5 years hard labour. As with the other lesser known sports people, I imagine there was some discretionary measure not based on an Act of Parliament, but then again, it might have slipped through some "Fundamental Law of England" or other

Is there more than just Schedule 1 of the BNA 1981 to refer to re the Home Sec's discretion?

[JAJ]

Born in South Africa, his home country had refused to pick him for the 1958 Empire Games because of its apartheid policy so he moved to England and won the bantamweight title for his new country in 1966 and 1970. He dropped to flyweight in 1974 and four years later returned to bantamweight to win another gold medal."

He also competed in various Olympics for the UK(/Great Britain). South Africa recently called him over from NZ (where he is now based, apparently) because they are considering doing a film about his life.

He didn't have to do his 5 years hard labour. As with the other lesser known sports people, I imagine there was some discretionary measure not based on an Act of Parliament, but then again, it might have slipped through some "Fundamental Law of England" or other

You say this person came to England around 1958 - at that time, citizens of Commonwealth nations and the Republic of Ireland only had a 12 month residence period. This has already been pointed out in the thread.

South Africa was a Commonwealth nation until 1962.

[tt]

Thanks for trying to get to the bottom of the query. But infact (and my cross-reference is the best summary of McKenzie's story I can find on the internet at the moment), you can see it was not until 1963 that he finally refused to compete internationally for South Africa (after they had finally agreed to accept him), and was after that he went to the UK.

Your references would only apply for entry to the UK before 1962, I would imagine.

Actually, the Home Office itself mentioned those sports figures I have mentioned as having been given fast-track citizenship in any case (for example, in the FOA Zola Budd papers I mentioned earlier), but I can't find anything about the "how it was done" aspect as of yet.

Thanks anyway for the input.

[JAJ]

Thanks for trying to get to the bottom of the query. But infact (and my cross-reference is the best summary of McKenzie's story I can find on the internet at the moment), you can see it was not until 1963 that he finally refused to compete internationally for South Africa (after they had finally agreed to accept him), and was after that he went to the UK.

Your references would only apply for entry to the UK before 1962, I would imagine.

There was more flexibility on the residence requirements under the legislation as in force prior to 1983, compared to the situation under the 1981 Act.

Actually, the Home Office itself mentioned those sports figures I have mentioned as having been given fast-track citizenship in any case (for example, in the FOA Zola Budd papers I mentioned earlier), but I can't find anything about the "how it was done" aspect as of yet.

"Fast-track citizenship" can also refer to simply giving priority processing to an application for naturalisation or registration that meets the statutory requirements.

You should be confident that the Home Office has not got a policy of breaking statutory requirements for British citizenship, as distinct from being flexible where the situation demands, if there is discretion in the law.

[tt]

What.. being flexible, using several very wide coaches, with a whole herd of horses? Good topic!

[JAJ]

What.. being flexible, using several very wide coaches, with a whole herd of horses? Good topic!

In the case of Zola Budd, the "flexibility" was on policy not legal grounds - section 3(1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 gives the Home Secretary an absolute discretion to register any "minor" as a British citizen.

Zola was 17 when she applied for British citizenship, hence section 3(1) applied.

There are no documented cases of statutory requirements being disapplied other than in cases where the law allows a waiver, if you are aware of any specific cases like this then by all means the forum would be interested to know the details.

[tt]

Many thanks for your clarity!

Without looking into it further at the moment, I am therefore assuming that in the case of the various sportspeople and others who have been able to get citizenship in under the required 5 years (when it was required) have done this without any statutory requirements being disapplied - that the law allowed a waiver on the period of residency - and you have said this was particularly so with the earlier pre-BNA1981 legislation. And so no real discretion was needed by the Home Sec, except as to the use of the waiver.

Is there such a waiver possible under the present BNA1981 with respect to residency periods?

Is so, then, on this basis, without looking further (I still don't know the precise case of Precious McKenzie or the others), then I would have to say I am not aware of cases you have mentioned.

Again, thanks.