Nationality and Borders Act: UK Citizenship for Chagossians explained
Summary
The Chagossian amendment to the Nationality and Borders Act will provide a pathway to British Overseas Territories Citizenship and British Citizenship for all people of Chagossian Descent. The application process will start towards the end of 2022.
What you will need:
- Proof of Your Chagossian ancestry
- Proof of your identity and address
The application process:
- The application process will be free of charge
- You should apply from where you live: you do not need to travel to the UK
- You will apply for BOT citizenship and British Citizenship at the same time
- You may need to wait for weeks or months for the application to be processed
Citizenship Ceremony: Once your citizenship has been granted you will need to attend a citizenship ceremony.
Passport: Once you have been granted UK Citizenship you will need to apply for UK Passport.
Spouses: Spouses who are not of Chagossian descent will need to apply for the relevant visa and pass the appropriate tests. Please visit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/immigration/getting-a-visa-for-your-partner-to-live-in-the-uk for more information.
Children not of Chagossian descent: If children in the family are for any reason not of Chagossian descent (adoption, remarriage) they are currently not entitled to UK citizenship and the usual formalities will need to be followed. More information is available at https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa.
Changes in the law effective from 28th June 2022
Although the application process for all people of Chagossian descent will not begin until later in the year, some changes come into force on 28th June 2022. Our contact at the Home Office tells us:
“𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘖𝘛𝘊 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 1 𝘢𝘯𝘥 2 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘈𝘉𝘈 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺…𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘉𝘐𝘖𝘛 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 1 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 1983) 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 1 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 2006) 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩.”
Links
- https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-parent-british-overseas-territories-citizen
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registration-as-a-british-overseas-territories-citizen-botcf
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-as-a-british-overseas-territories-citizen-form-botcm
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/registration-as-a-botc-and-british-citizen-children-of-botc-parents