UK Citizenship Question
 

Hi

My 19 yr old sister is going travelling shortly doing a three month stint working in an orphanage in Peru then heading onto Europe for a bit. Because she was born after 1983 to a British born mother she is either entitled to or already a UK citizen, I'm not quite sure. When I check the UK HC website they have a wait time on naturalisations of 3-6 months. I was born in 1981 which means I got RoA but would have to register to become a UK citizen, my RoA was done in 2 days.

So my question is will my sister have to go through the long 3-6 month wait for naturalisation or is she already considered a citizen and so the process should be as quick as my RoA? If the length of time is that long is it possible to have a RoA stamp put in her passport? The only reason is that, like most 19yr old girls, she changes her mind often and thought she might like to work in London until the end of the year when the family is coming over to spend Christmas with our Italian cousins.

Sorry for poking around for free legal advice, but the crew here are usually better informed than the HC.:)

Edit to add: I remember finding all this out myself when I was applying for my RoA but the website has since been "enhanced".

Wouldn't it be easiest to just contact the UK embassy or consulate for the right info?

It looks like she is already a citizen from birth and just needs to submit her birth certificate and her mother's birth certificate to the British High Commission to get a British passport. As I understand, a passport is cheaper than a RoA stamp and has its own independent ten-year validity (a RoA stamp expires when its enclosing passport does) -- and since 2002, dual citizenship for an Australian is no big deal.

Ideally she should do this before she leaves Australia, but it can be done in the UK too -- in that case, she simply needs to do it in person rather than by mail. So if she decides to extend her stay or work in Britain while she's there, she should be able to do it. On the other hand, issuing a first British passport will take about six weeks and there doesn't seem to be a way to sidestep that time lag.

Yes. But they're not easy to get info out of unless you actually send your application in, or go there yourself to find out in this case to Canberra.

That's ok. Thanks for the info.:)

As it is her first passport she will need to appear in person.

Australia Post and How to apply

But that wasn't the question I was asking.;)

I wanted to know whether she was actually a citizen by birth or like myself needed to go through some sort of registration process, which would take much longer.

Doesn't matter marlborobell gave me the clarification I needed.:)

What conclusion did you come to after reading the Form C-1 instructions?

Even though marlborobell did indeed give you the clarification you needed, you may still want to make the effort to read the instructions (which would have answered your question in the first place). However, if you do make the effort to read the links I apparently wasted my time posting for you, you will see that your sister shouldn't follow the advice to send the form etc. to the High Commission (at least in Australia), as they will just send it back to her.

I see what you were getting at, sorry I thought you were answering my original question not the follow up I made.

FWIW the page I was looking for was this

Yes - and if she applies from within the UK, I've been told this can take up to six weeks.

Where's Christopher when you need him?

Is it just me, or is it a bit frosty in here?

Do you mean me? :)

Anyway, as others have said, bensyd, your sister is a British citizen from birth so she doesn't need to naturalise, she can just apply for a British passport.

Although in theory (and ultimately in practice) she can do this from anywhere, it will be very much easier for her to do it in Australia, because she needs to supply the name of a referee known to her and because any security checks will be much more easily achieved there.

I don't think that all first-time applicants have to attend an interview, but some do, whether selected at random (which is what we're told) or for some other reason. So she should factor that in to her timing.

It is also open to her, as a British citizen, to apply for a right of abode certificate in her Australian passport. (She can no longer get a right of abode certificate if she has a British passport, but if she doesn't she still can.) This would enable her to stay in the UK and work in the UK, as you know. It carries no benefits in other European countries, but if she just wants to travel in Europe that may not be an issue for her. (Australian citizens don't need a visa to visit any EU or other western European country.)

How long is it until she leaves?

(Incidentally, have you thought of applying for registration as a British citizen on the basis of your British-born mother?)

Welcome back. :)

Interesting - when I was applying for my first British passport, I was told that every new applicant after 1 June 2007 would have to be interviewed and would be subject to rather rigourous background checks. The consultant whom I employed might have been misinformed, but she was spot-on with everything else.

Anyway, I'm sure a quick call to the Home Office helpline would sort everything out if necessary.

That might have been the intention, but I'm not sure that it's working out quite like that in practice. But every first-time applicant ought to work on the assumption that an interview will be necessary.

What is happening for first-time applicants in Australia I really can't say at all, but again if bensyd's sister applies for a British passport she should assume that an interview will be needed. I have heard, though, that it is difficult to contact the High Commission in Canberra in such a way as to get a sensible (as opposed to a generic) answer to questions relating to this sort of thing, so probably she'll just have to apply and see. It would be interesting to know what does happen if she applies.

Thanks for the welcome back too. :)

The actual application is done through Australia Post now, no need to visit Canberra. She's leaving in 4 weeks, but she will have two or three months in Peru before she gets to the UK. You're completely correct about the High Commission. If you ask them something that requires them to do something than read from a prepared answer they give you the, "You will need to speak to seek legal advice".

This is something I hadn't thought of but does the UK allow someone else to collect a passport if the applicant has previously authorised it? Worst case scenario she ends up leaving for Peru before her passport is delivered can my mum collect it to courier it to her? Otherwise it maybe easier to just get an RoA. Do you know is the cost for one of those the same to UK citizens as non-citizens? I remember the turnaround time being incredibly fast, like 2 days.


The registration fee is over $1000 and as I was only working in London and traveling in Europe I just didn't see the need, especially as I had just paid $350 for my right of abode. I'll probably do it at some point it's handy to have.

You have to book an appointment through Australia Post, the UKHC in Canberra has been taken out of the picture completely. The processing is done in Wellington.