Am I a UK National?

I was not born here nor were my parents. I moved here 12 years ago when I was 4. However, I do have a british passport. Does a british passport make me a uk national?

Reply 1

Crystalyne

2

Officially, you are if you hold a UK passport indefinitely. Being a national is more about your naturalized country, not your origin country (that's ethnicity.)

If you're a dual citizen, then it's usually done by your country of residence.

Reply 2

jwall

OP

7

Original post by neal95

you are not and never will be ethnically british. however for the purposes of your enquiry, you will be considered British but never a "native", due to your bloodline which is not homogenous to the british isles

if you dont mind me asking what does that make my nationality?

Ya

Original post by jwall

I was not born here nor were my parents. I moved here 12 years ago when I was 4. However, I do have a british passport. Does a british passport make me a uk national?

If you have a full UK passport, then imo that makes you a UK citizen. Yes you are a UK national.

https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/british-citizenship

Ethnicity nothing to do with it.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

RugRatz

Original post by jwall

if you dont mind me asking what does that make my nationality?

You will be a native of wherever yoi was born, so for example you could have British citizenship but it does not mean your a British person, IE Indian native with british citizenship

Reply 6

999tigger

19

Original post by RugRatz

You will be a native of wherever yoi was born, so for example you could have British citizenship but it does not mean your a British person, IE Indian native with british citizenship

This is wrong. They are a national of whichever country has responsibiliy for them i.e their passport, which bestows citizenship on them. They belong to that nation.
Read the hovernment link I posted above.

Reply 7

simon_g

16

Original post by RugRatz

You will be a native of wherever yoi was born, so for example you could have British citizenship but it does not mean your a British person, IE Indian native with british citizenship

actually, having the British passport means that he/she is a British person.Not someone who has "British ethnicity"- because thing like that does not exist. one could be ethnic English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh- they could, however, think about themself as British first, English/Irish etc second.

Reply 8

JamesN88

20

Some serious triggering going on here. :rolleyes:

Wasn't this thread about 3 pages long before the mods got hold of it?

Reply 9

markova21

21

British passports are only given to British citizens. You can either be born in Britain or have a British parent or grandparent. If that does not apply then you can still qualify by being resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a certain number of years to be eligible for citizenship by Naturalisation. The waters DO become slightly muddied though by "Non British " people. Or can be. For instance the actress Joanna Lumley was born in India. But that hardly makes her Indian, does it?

Reply 10

AlexanderHam

19

Original post by jwall

I was not born here nor were my parents. I moved here 12 years ago when I was 4. However, I do have a british passport. Does a british passport make me a uk national?

At least based on your birth situation and parents nationality, you would not be a British citizen according to the Nationality Act. And it's also true that passports are sometimes issued to people who are not citizens.

However people who have been here for more than five years are usually automatically entitled to indefinite leave to remain (and you can also get a passport with that status I believe).

But ultimately you can just look in the back page of your passport; it will have a "Nationality" field. On mine, it says "British Citizen"

Reply 11

john2054

6

Original post by markova21

British passports are only given to British citizens. You can either be born in Britain or have a British parent or grandparent. If that does not apply then you can still qualify by being resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a certain number of years to be eligible for citizenship by Naturalisation. The waters DO become slightly muddied though by "Non British " people. Or can be. For instance the actress Joanna Lumley was born in India. But that hardly makes her Indian, does it?

You can also get that status by marriage, and being able to demonstrate a subsisting relationship, then living here for five years, i think?!?

Reply 12

RugRatz

Original post by simon_g

actually, having the British passport means that he/she is a British person.Not someone who has "British ethnicity"- because thing like that does not exist. one could be ethnic English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh- they could, however, think about themself as British first, English/Irish etc second.

I would change it I don't like that. in my opinion to be British you need to be born in a home nation, not just merely have a passport. what your saying is the OP is jist as English as me even though he was born elsewhere. Now brexit happened I think it should change so they just have citizenship

Reply 13

JamesN88

20

From gov.uk:

"You must have British nationality to apply for or hold a British passport"

https://www.gov.uk/british-passport-eligibility

Reply 14

Devify

19

Original post by RugRatz

I would change it I don't like that. in my opinion to be British you need to be born in a home nation, not just merely have a passport. what your saying is the OP is jist as English as me even though he was born elsewhere. Now brexit happened I think it should change so they just have citizenship

Do you even remember anything before you were 4? OP has basically spent their whole life in Britain. It wouldn't have changed anything if they were born in Britain or anywhere else. So what, if OP was born 4 years later you'd be fine because they were born in England?

Reply 15

999tigger

19

Original post by RugRatz

I would change it I don't like that. in my opinion to be British you need to be born in a home nation, not just merely have a passport. what your saying is the OP is jist as English as me even though he was born elsewhere. Now brexit happened I think it should change so they just have citizenship

Why are you confusing the issue with incorrect information?

The OP asked a technical question about whether they are a UK national.

They are. end of.

For the issue of nationality, then yes they are considered equal and just as British as you. Thats what happens when you are granted a full passport and rights as a UK citizen.

Reply 16

TheFroyoBear

7

Officially, one's nationality is that of which one has citizenship. A passport is a symbol of citizenship; one can only gain the passport of a country that one has citizenship of. However, the matter of which nation you "belong" to (as is commonly confused with citizenship) is personal. That nation is the one that you identify yourself with as of identifying with its culture, values and norms. Hence, regardless of where OP was born, officially they are a UK national. But, in my opinion, the more important personal side of unofficial "nationality" lies in whichever nation OP identifies most with. From the fact that OP has been here the vast majority of their life, I suspect that they probably identifies most with this country. But ultimately it's a personal thing.

Reply 17

RugRatz

Original post by Devify

Do you even remember anything before you were 4? OP has basically spent their whole life in Britain. It wouldn't have changed anything if they were born in Britain or anywhere else. So what, if OP was born 4 years later you'd be fine because they were born in England?

I have absolutely no issue with @jwall living and working in Britain, I was merely bringing up how easy it is to get British as your nationality. To clear up any doubt the argument i was trying to make is that it is to easy to get British as your nationality, the opening poster despite living in Britain for most of his life , he is not British in my opinion-the change i would propose is to make nationality and citizenship a seperate entity, so foreign oeople can work and live here but they are not native to our country so can not be British. Its as simple as born in Britain =British, not born in Britain=British Citizen.

Reply 18

dozyrosie

5

Original post by jwall

if you dont mind me asking what does that make my nationality?

You are British, all that crap about ethnicity and bloodlines means nothing, even if you were ethnically a Martian you would still be British.

Reply 19

999tigger

19

Original post by RugRatz

he is not British in my opinion-the change i would propose is to make nationality and citizenship a seperate entity, so foreign oeople can work and live here but they are not native to our country so can not be British. Its as simple as born in Britain =British, not born in Britain=British Citizen.

What would the point of that be?
How many generations would you go back?
Would you get extra rights if you were born here and if so what?
What about someone born to British parents whilst they were working abroad, would that make them non British by default?

Am I a UK National?

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