British Nationality
To most people, the acquisition of British Nationality is pictured as being something achieved by long stay in the U.K. through the standard Naturalisation processes when in fact there are numerous ways of making a claim for a British Passport through your ancestry and in some cases by connections with former British Territories.
The British Empire once covered over one third of the World and British Nationality was acquired by the inhabitants of these countries by birth, descent and annexation. Whether such persons retained their British Nationality and/or became Citizens of the new countries when they attained independence was determined by the Constitution Legislation of the Country concerned and the British Independence Legislation and so claims can be quite complex.
We are particularly interested to hear from persons with connections by birth or descent from the following countries;
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- Uganda
- Malawi
- Swaziland
- Botswana
- Zimbabwe & South Africa
Applicants should note that a charge is always made for research in these areas due to the complexities involved and although we can never guarantee success for the same reasons, we can say that chances are much improved where the following documents are known to be in your family records or where the following circumstances prevail;
- Old British Passports for the ancestors concerned;
- Certificates of Registration/Naturalisation as Citizens of the U.K. and Colonies for the ancestors concerned.
- Birth Certificates showing those ancestors concerned being registered at the local British Consulate ( particularly South Africa )
- Where grandparents are born in Territories with the Crown Dominions before 1/1/49 and the next generation are born in a place then described as a British Protectorate.
- Where previous applications for British Passport facilities have been refused, even where such refusals have taken place many years ago.
Alternatively, it should also be noted that even those applicants who are considering applying for Naturalisation in the conventional can sometimes apply somewhat earlier that may be thought. We are happy to give advice on such matters and any other area of British Nationality whatsoever.