British Nationality vs British Citizenship

Contrary to what many people believe, British citizenship is not the same as British nationality. When trying to understand nationality vs citizenship in the UK, it is important to note that British citizenship is one of five different types of British nationality.

British citizenship enables a person to live and work in the UK without being subject to UK immigration restrictions; this is referred to as the full right of abode. The other four types of British nationality do not come with full right of abode. According to the British Nationality Act 1948, the four different types of British nationality are as follows:

• British overseas territories citizen
• British overseas citizen
• British subject
• British national (overseas)
• British protected person

Each of these types of British nationality is explained in detail below.

Types of British Nationality

British citizenship

As a British citizen, you will have the right of abode in the UK, allowing you to remain here, work, study and access the NHS at no cost for the rest of your life. Crucially, you will be free of immigration control, and you can apply for a British passport.

There are several ways to get British citizenship, including:

• British citizenship by birth – this will depend on whether you were born in the UK or a British colony and when you were born.
• British citizenship by descent – if you were born overseas, you may be able to apply for British citizenship if your parent/s or grandparent/s had British citizenship. Note - British citizenship by descent is typically only passed down one generation if a child was born outside of the UK.
• British citizenship by marriage - i.e. based on your relationship, marriage, or civil partnership to a British citizen.
• Naturalisation – if you have held UK permanent residence status (e.g. ILR) for at least 12 months.

British Overseas Territories citizen

You may be a British overseas territories citizen (referred to as a ‘British dependent territories citizen’ before 26^th February 2002) if:

• You were born before 1^st January 1983, were a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC), or were born in a British overseas territory, and your parents or grandparents were born, registered or naturalised in the same British overseas territory.
• You were born after 1st January 1983 in a British overseas territory in which one of your parents was legally settled or a citizen.

Please note the rules above are not exhaustive. As a British Overseas Territories citizen, you will have the right to apply for a British passport, however, you will be subject to immigration controls and will not have automatic right of abode.

British overseas citizen

You may be classed as a British overseas citizen if you 1st January 1983 you were a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) on 31^st December 1982 and you did not become a British citizen or a British overseas territories citizen on 1^st January 1983.

As a British overseas citizen, you can apply for a British passport, but you will still be subject to immigration controls, and you will not automatically have the right of abode or right to work in the UK.

British subject

You may be a British subject if you had a close connection to the UK before 1949 or you were a Commonwealth citizen before 1983. As a British subject, you can apply for a British passport, but you will still be subject to immigration controls, and you will not normally have the right of abode in the UK or the right to work here. However, you may have several UK commonwealth visa options available to you.

British national (overseas)

If you were a British overseas territory citizen due to your connections to Hong Kong, you may have been registered as a British national (overseas) before 1^st July 1997.

As a British national (overseas), you can apply for a British passport, but you will still be subject to immigration controls, and you will not automatically have the right of abode in the UK or the right to work here.

An alternative option is to apply for the BNO visa, which will allow you to live, work and study in the UK.

British-protected person

You may be classed as a British-protected person if, as of 1^st January 1983 were a citizen or national of Brunei or you already held this status. In addition, you can register as a British-protected person if you are stateless (and always have been), you were born in the UK or an overseas territory, and one of your parents held this status when you were born.

As a British-protected person, you can apply for a British passport, but you will still be subject to immigration controls, and you will not normally have the right of abode in the UK or the right to work here.