Hi my dad is a British Citizen Overseas from Hong Kong. Is there a chance where I could inherit that status?

Question

Hi my dad is a British Citizen Overseas from Hong Kong. Is there a chance where I could inherit that status?

Answer 1

Probably not, but you should check with a british Consulate or embassy...

Acquisition of British Overseas Citizenship under the 1981 Act

Save for some transitional arrangements made under the 1981 Act (which expired on 31 December 1987) it is normally only possible for a person to acquire British Overseas citizenship if otherwise stateless.

A British Overseas citizen parent does not in itself give rise to a claim to British Overseas citizenship, or any other form of British nationality. This applies whether one is born in the UK or elsewhere.

British Nationality Act 1981

British Nationality Act 1981 was monumental in not only creating new categories of British citizenship, but also effectively renaming British colonial territories. The Act implied that all British colonial possessions were to be known as British Dependent Territories.

The Act abolished the status of CUKC, and replaced it with three new categories of citizenship on 1 January 1983, namely:

    * British citizenship,

    * British Dependent Territories citizenship (BDTC), and

    * British Overseas citizenship (BOC).

The law implied that those who have CUKC in connection with Hong Kong or those born in Hong Kong in or after 1983 has BDTC. The law also stated that citizens by descent could not automatically pass on British nationality to a child born outside the United Kingdom or its Dependent Territories.