BNO Registration vs. Naturalisation

[walterz]

Hello All - hope you are well

British National Overseas passport holder - and a HKSAR passport
My 5 year Tier2 visa was linked to my BNO passport
ILR held over 1 year
been living in UK over 5 years

Should I go for registration or naturalisation?

Am I right in saying
- both are citizenship otherwise than by descent
- the registration process is quicker than naturalisation
- B(OTA) should be used for registration?

Thank you

[secret.simon]

Should I go for registration or naturalisation?

I'd suggest that you go in for registration under Section 4 of the BNA 1981 on Form B(OTA) rather than naturalisation under Section 6(1) for the reasons below.

a) Registration on Form B(OTA) is an entitlement, unlike naturalisation, which is always at discretion
b) Registration does not carry a "future intentions" requirement, unlike naturalisation under Section 6(1) which does.
c) Registration allows you to maintain both nationalities, British citizen and BN(O), though to the best of my knowledge, you will only be issued with one British citizen passport, with a note stating that you also hold BN(O) status.

- both are citizenship otherwise than by descent

Yes.

- the registration process is quicker than naturalisation

Not necessarily. Both processes have the same requirements and therefore likely the same checks are carried out. Therefore it is unlikely that either will be faster than the other.

- B(OTA) should be used for registration?

Yes.

[russn]

I am going through the registration process myself and I just want to add that registration applications do seem to join the same queue with the rest. They even contacted me for additional evidence. So the process is certainly not quicker.

[walterz]

Thank you very much!