Search Legislation

British Nationality Act 1981

 Help about what version

What Version

  • Latest available (Revised)
  • Original (As enacted)
 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

 Help about opening options

Opening OptionsExpand opening options

Changes over time for: Cross Heading: Minors aged 5 to 17 born in the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory after commencement

 Help about opening options

Alternative versions:

Changes to legislation:

British Nationality Act 1981, Cross Heading: Minors aged 5 to 17 born in the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory after commencement is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 31 October 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations. Help about Changes to Legislation

[F1Minors aged 5 to 17 born in the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory after commencementU.K.

Textual Amendments

3A(1)A person born in the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory after commencement is entitled, on an application for the person to be registered under this paragraph, to be so registered if—U.K.

(a)the person is and always has been stateless,

(b)on the date of the application, the person was a minor,

(c)the person was in the United Kingdom or a British overseas territory (no matter which) at the beginning of the period of five years ending with that date and (subject to paragraph 6) the number of days on which the person was absent from both the United Kingdom and the British overseas territories in that period does not exceed 450, and

(d)the Secretary of State is satisfied that the person is unable to acquire another nationality in accordance with sub-paragraph (2).

(2)A person is able to acquire a nationality in accordance with this sub-paragraph if—

(a)the nationality is the same as that of one of the person’s parents,

(b)the person has been entitled to acquire the nationality since birth, and

(c)in all the circumstances, it is reasonable to expect the person (or someone acting on their behalf) to take the steps which would enable the person to acquire the nationality in question.

(3)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2)(b), a person is not entitled to acquire a nationality if its acquisition is conditional on the exercise of a discretion on the part of the country or territory in question.

(4)A person entitled to registration under this paragraph—

(a)is to be registered as a British citizen if, in the period of five years mentioned in sub-paragraph (1), the number of days wholly or partly spent by the person in the United Kingdom exceeds the number of days wholly or partly spent by the person in the British overseas territory;

(b)in any other case, is to be registered as a British overseas territories citizen.]

Back to top

Options/Help

You have chosen to open the Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?