*screech*

My mother was born in Malaysia in 1944 – when it was known as British Malaya.

.. I might already be British.

HOW DO I CONFIRM THIS?!???!

6 thoughts on “*screech*”

I sent you something on the Twitternets that might help.

Damn. The Romanian internetz stole my reply. I’m not sure that you can claim citizenship through your mom. I had to go through my dad to get my UK citizenship (I was born in 1977) and my cousins (daughters of my dad’s sister) born around the same time had to claim through the male relative above my aunt, which was my grandfather and the reason they have Irish citizenship, not UK like myself. I don’t think the rules changed about claiming through your mother until the 1980s. But definitely check that… who knows if I’m remembering things right!!

Nyarlathotep

April 6, 2013 at 11:40 am

Nope, you are remembering that correctly, though there are exceptions to that rule as well.

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Jen

April 6, 2013 at 12:47 pm

Most EU countries (not all – DAMN YOU, NETHERLANDS!) changed it recently, so you can claim through your mother if you were born before 1983. But you need to apply, and it’s a lot more expensive.

Neil thought he had to go through that process, and it was while filing the paperwork that the High Commission sent back an email saying “oh! hold on! your dad was born in Singapore (to British parents, not sure how important that part is) while it was under British Rule, so he’s British, and so are you.” Which is how we found out about that whole thing.

They also said there is no reasonable way we’d know about this, because it isn’t documented in the application guides. It’s something that was challenged in previous cases, and because the UK operates on tort law, all cases go according to that precedent.

So it’s entirely likely your mom is British, and if she is, you may be able to apply yourself via this process: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/eligibility/registration/britishmother/

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