If an American citizen gets adopted by a British subject, can the American apply for British citizenship?

Question

My mother's brother is a British subject; if he agreed to adopt me, could I apply for British citizenship, or is there more of a process involved?

Answer 1

If you were a minor yes. But it would have to be done legally (and your registration of citizenship would have to be filled out and sent to the Home Office before you were 18).

Adoption

A person born and adopted overseas by a British citizen has no automatic claim to citizenship.

Parents of a minor child (under eighteen) can apply for citizenship on the child's behalf.  This type of registration is at the discretion of the Secretary of State and not all applicants will be successful.

If the adopted person is over 18, residence in the UK is necessary before qualifying and the application should be submitted to the Home Office while still resident there.

A Commonwealth citizen adopted by a British citizen before 1 January 1983 may be eligible to apply for a Certificate of Entitlement to the right of abode, allowing entry into the UK for purposes of work and residence. Information can be found on the Immigration/Visa pages of this website.

http://ukincanada.fco.gov.uk/en/passport...

Answer 2

In theory, yes.  But I am not sure that he would be allowed to adopt you in the US.  Also, depends on how old you are.