Immigrating to the UK

The Voice said:
Why so long? Thought it was 3 years if your spouse is British.
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5 years. Then ILR. Then can apply for citizenship straight away. The 0.5yr extra is due to only switching to spouse visa next year. So the “clock” resets for me then. Bring on 2030 🤣
 
theratman said:
It's the citizenship through grandmother that I'm doing. Sister doing it at the same time too. Pricey, but the last thing I want in my life is more paperwork.
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I’m not aware of any path to citizenship via grandparent right away. You’re eligible for an ancestral visa that way though which leads to citizenship, eventually after 5 years.
 
Priapus said:
I’m not aware of any path to citizenship via grandparent right away. You’re eligible for an ancestral visa that way though which leads to citizenship, eventually after 5 years.
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There is one through a grandmother if you were born before 1988, citizenship through double descent. It's pretty new too. A close friend of mine did his about a year back, and got his citizenship and passport just after through them. All while living in CPT, and never having lived in the UK. His kids got theirs too through him.

I'd have done it then too but it was a major hassle getting my late mothers documents from Malawi. The whole process takes around 1 year.

New law opens door to British citizenship for people born before 1988 with a UK-born grandmother | Shepherd and Wedderburn

Section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981 offers a potential route to British citizenship for adults with a UK-born grandmother who missed out due to historical legislative unfairness.
shepwedd.com shepwedd.com

"Citizenship by “double descent”
Under the new law, people born before 1 January 1988 with a UK-born grandmother can now register as British citizens if historical legislative unfairness prevented their grandmother from passing on citizenship to their parents, and by extension, to them. In these circumstances, British citizenship can now be passed to the second generation born outside British territory, by what is often referred to as “double descent”.

To be eligible for registration as a British citizen based on double descent you must have:

Been born in a foreign (and not Commonwealth) country before 1 January 1988;
Have a UK-born grandmother (maternal or paternal)."
 
theratman said:
There is one through a grandmother if you were born before 1988, citizenship through double descent. It's pretty new too. A close friend of mine did his about a year back, and got his citizenship and passport just after through them. All while living in CPT, and never having lived in the UK. His kids got theirs too through him.

I'd have done it then too but it was a major hassle getting my late mothers documents from Malawi. The whole process takes around 1 year.

New law opens door to British citizenship for people born before 1988 with a UK-born grandmother | Shepherd and Wedderburn

Section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981 offers a potential route to British citizenship for adults with a UK-born grandmother who missed out due to historical legislative unfairness.
shepwedd.com shepwedd.com

"Citizenship by “double descent”
Under the new law, people born before 1 January 1988 with a UK-born grandmother can now register as British citizens if historical legislative unfairness prevented their grandmother from passing on citizenship to their parents, and by extension, to them. In these circumstances, British citizenship can now be passed to the second generation born outside British territory, by what is often referred to as “double descent”.

To be eligible for registration as a British citizen based on double descent you must have:

Been born in a foreign (and not Commonwealth) country before 1 January 1988;
Have a UK-born grandmother (maternal or paternal)."
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Okay cool but what “historical” unfairness would have prevented your grandma passing citizenship down the line? Just curious.
 
Priapus said:
Okay cool but what “historical” unfairness would have prevented your grandma passing citizenship down the line? Just curious.
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Women couldn't pass citizenship down, only males could, so the unfairness is that they were not treated equally. Which is what the new law addresses.

This explains it pretty well:

If you were born outside of the UK (before 1988) with a UK-born grandmother, Section 4L may offer you a path to citizenship. According to the British Nationality Act 1948 (‘the 1948 Act’), individuals born outside the UK to a UK-born father were recognised as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) by descent. Consequently, they could register any of their children (grandchildren to that UK born man), born outside of the UK, at a UK consulate within a year of their birth. Therefore, individuals born abroad with a UK-born grandfather had the right to register for citizenship.

However, this provision did not extend to cases where the grandmother was UK-born since, at that time, women could not pass citizenship to their children. Although Section 4C of the 1981 Act addresses the issue of women being unable to pass on citizenship to their children born abroad, it does not retrospectively address the grandchildren who could not be registered in the first year of their life as they did not at the time have a British parent. For individuals who were unable to register as children due to the historical sexism present in the 1948 Act, Section 4L may provide a solution.

It is important to note that these provisions only apply to individuals born before 1988. Since 1 January 1988, the transmission of British citizenship has been restricted to one generation born abroad, regardless of registration at a consulate.
 
theratman said:
Women couldn't pass citizenship down, only males could, so the unfairness is that they were not treated equally. Which is what the new law addresses.

This explains it pretty well:

If you were born outside of the UK (before 1988) with a UK-born grandmother, Section 4L may offer you a path to citizenship. According to the British Nationality Act 1948 (‘the 1948 Act’), individuals born outside the UK to a UK-born father were recognised as Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) by descent. Consequently, they could register any of their children (grandchildren to that UK born man), born outside of the UK, at a UK consulate within a year of their birth. Therefore, individuals born abroad with a UK-born grandfather had the right to register for citizenship.

However, this provision did not extend to cases where the grandmother was UK-born since, at that time, women could not pass citizenship to their children. Although Section 4C of the 1981 Act addresses the issue of women being unable to pass on citizenship to their children born abroad, it does not retrospectively address the grandchildren who could not be registered in the first year of their life as they did not at the time have a British parent. For individuals who were unable to register as children due to the historical sexism present in the 1948 Act, Section 4L may provide a solution.

It is important to note that these provisions only apply to individuals born before 1988. Since 1 January 1988, the transmission of British citizenship has been restricted to one generation born abroad, regardless of registration at a consulate.
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Very interesting, thanks for the info and good luck.
 
Priapus said:
Very interesting, thanks for the info and good luck.
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Yeah, it's a sneaky but legit path to it, but I'm not complaining. Will post an update in a couple months.

My brother unfortunately doesn't qualify as he was born in 89, but he doesn't travel much, or plan to anyway.

I'll get my Irish citizenship in a couple of years too, which will be more useful as I travel to the EU often (passport control lines can tsek).
 
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