I am pleased and delighted to have received more requests from families seeking to move to the UK and in acquiring UK passports than I have for many years.
From my own myopic view, why would anyone want to come to live in the UK, there are gaps on the supermarket shelves because we cannot get the workers to pick the crops from the fields post Brexit, and if crops are picked, they cannot be delivered due to a shortage of lorry drivers?
Add to this the grim weather we have had in August I can think of nothing better than to get away, but not everyone is the same.
Take Alice she lives in Argentina, is divorced with three children aged 9, 11 and 13…
She wants to come to the UK for the education of her children and would like to get a British passport for herself and her children
Whether Alice can get a British passport depends on her circumstances when she was born.
If Alice was born before 1983, she may automatically be a British citizen. Given that she was born in Argentina she will need to show that her father was British, he was a citizen of the UK and colonies, married to her mother and was able to pass his citizenship onto Alice. This means he must either have been born in the UK, given UK citizenship in his own right, or had been working as a Crown servant when she was born
If, however Alice was born between 1983 and June 2006, the rules changed slightly. She can be a British citizen if her mother or father was a British citizen when she was born).
In this situation as before Alice’s British parent must be able to pass on their citizenship to Alice.
In Alice’s case her father was British born and bred, and went to live in Argentina to marry Maria, a beautiful Argentinian woman, Alice’s mother. Her father and Maria were married at the time she was born and she was born in Argentina.
This means that Alice can apply for British citizenship.
But what about the position of Alice’s children?
A person born after 2006 can apply for citizenship as before but in this case will only be eligible to apply if either their mother or father was a British citizen when they were born, with a citizenship which can be passed onto their children.
Alice was not born in the UK and acquired her citizenship only by means of her father’s citizenship at the time of her birth. Therefore, her children cannot automatically apply for British citizenship.
Alice and I explored what she could do if she came to the UK with her children for their education.
A child can apply for a passport if at the time they apply they are under 18, their mother or father was a British citizen when they were born and they’ve lived in the UK with their parents for three years before the date they apply.
They must also however be able to prove that they and their parents have not spent more than 270 days outside the UK during those three years and were in the UK exactly three years before the day the Home Office receives their application.
If their parents are divorced or separated then only one parent needs to live in the UK with them, but both parents must consent to their application.
This is the ideal solution for Alice. She can apply for a British passport and come to live in the UK for her children’s education. When they have been in the UK for three years they can then each apply for a British passport. In three years they will still be under the age of 18 so can qualify.
The only thing Alice needs to commit to is to spend 270 days in the UK for each of the three years. She now needs to find somewhere to live and schools for her children – which is where Caroline’s Club comes in…
Please let me have your comments and don’t forget to register for Caroline’s Club – it’s FREE to register and you can then learn more about our exclusive award winning club of leading private client professionals who are keen to win business and build trust with clients simply register here