Haider Naqvi Chartered Accountants

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British Nationality by Design
You can plan where you give birth so as to pass British Nationality down to children.

There is a rare exception in British Nationality law that allows a parent who is British by Descent to pass nationality to their child born outside of the UK.

It occurs at the time of the birth. If the new born baby does NOT acquire the nationality of the country in which it is born, nor does it gain the nationality of either parent – i.e. it is born “Stateless” – then the child acquire, by formal application, the British Nationality status of the parent.

An example will explain this: A South African couple (one of them holds dual nationality and a British Passport because a parent was born in the UK in the past) are expecting a child. They travel to Windhoek (in Namibia) in the months before the due date. Birth in Namibia does not automatically confer Namibian nationality unless the parents are ordinarily resident there(they’re not in this case) or are Namibian Citizens. The child is not automatically granted South African citizenship because it is born outside SA, and only becomes South African when the parents subsequently register the birth back in SA. So technically the child is born stateless, and can acquire British Nationality.

With this particular example, when the parents return back to South Africa after the birth, and then have the ability to register the child’s birth and also acquire South African Citizenship.

If you are a young couple thinking of having children (or you are already expecting) and one of you is British by Descent, it may be worth speaking to one of our British Nationality specialists first. The place of birth can have a major bearing on the child’s nationality prospects.

If you’d like to ask our British Nationality team a question on the subject, please email [email protected]. Also see our "Am I British" assessment that is designed to help you find the answer. http://www.facebook.com/PhilipGamblePartners/app_190322544333196