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Legal Terms -British Overseas Territories citizenship
One of three types of citizenship that were substituted for UK and colony citizenship (as British Dependent Territories Citizenship) by the British Nationality Act of 1981. *British citizenship and *British Overseas citizenship are the other two. A schedule to the Act lists the territories that are relevant for the purposes of this type of citizenship; these include, among other places, Gibraltar and Bermuda. Approximately 63,000 individuals currently possess valid British passports with this classification, granting them consular protection when they go overseas.
Many current UK and Colony citizens were automatically granted citizenship on January 1, 1983, the day the Act went into effect. These individuals were citizens by birth, by registration or naturalization in a dependent territory, or by descent from parents or grandparents who were citizens on one of those grounds. Since then, acquisition (and deprivation in the case of naturalized or registered citizens) has been regulated by rules akin to those governing British citizenship, with the notable exception that acquisition through registration almost exclusively pertains to minors. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002 placed additional restrictions on the ability to register as a citizen of the British Overseas Territories. Because they live in the UK, citizens of the British Overseas Territories are eligible to register as British citizens. Individuals who held citizenship in the British Dependent Territories due to their relationship with Hong Kong lost their status on July 1, 1997. They might, however, register to obtain *British National (Overseas), a new kind of British nationality. Nearly all British Overseas Territories nationals were granted full British citizenship (including the *right of abode) by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002; the majority of these individuals currently possess both forms of citizenship.
One of three types of citizenship that were substituted for UK and colony citizenship (as British Dependent Territories Citizenship) by the British Nationality Act of 1981. *British citizenship and *British Overseas citizenship are the other two. A schedule to the Act lists the territories that are relevant for the purposes of this type of citizenship; these include, among other places, Gibraltar and Bermuda. Approximately 63,000 individuals currently possess valid British passports with this classification, granting them consular protection when they go overseas.
Many current UK and Colony citizens were automatically granted citizenship on January 1, 1983, the day the Act went into effect. These individuals were citizens by birth, by registration or naturalization in a dependent territory, or by descent from parents or grandparents who were citizens on one of those grounds. Since then, acquisition (and deprivation in the case of naturalized or registered citizens) has been regulated by rules akin to those governing British citizenship, with the notable exception that acquisition through registration almost exclusively pertains to minors. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002 placed additional restrictions on the ability to register as a citizen of the British Overseas Territories. Because they live in the UK, citizens of the British Overseas Territories are eligible to register as British citizens. Individuals who held citizenship in the British Dependent Territories due to their relationship with Hong Kong lost their status on July 1, 1997. They might, however, register to obtain *British National (Overseas), a new kind of British nationality. Nearly all British Overseas Territories nationals were granted full British citizenship (including the *right of abode) by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002; the majority of these individuals currently possess both forms of citizenship.
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