United Kingdom - Passport & Nationality - British Citizenship (Bechuanaland Birth - Married to British man)
Listen to our RECENT WEBINAR where our two British nationality experts - Philip Gamble and Mishal Patel - discuss a family birth in Bechuanaland and its implications for claims to British nationality in the modern day.
A woman has a potential claim to British nationality where she was born in Bechuanaland before its independence on 30 September 1966. Upon independence, she retains her British status on account of having the Right of Abode through her marriage to a British husband. The criteria of this solution are:
- the candidate was born in Bechuanaland before Independence on 30 September 1966;
- the candidate's father was born in a former British Colony; AND
- the candidate married a British husband before the latest of a) the independence of the country of birth of the candidate's father or b) 30 September 1966.
MORE ABOUT BECHUANALAND
Bechuanaland was a British Protectorate up until its independence on 30 September 1966. From that point, Botswana became (and still is today) an independent Commonwealth country.
A birth in Bechuanaland gave the status of British Protected Person (or BPP). Upon independence, this BPP status was either retained or lost depending on the circumstances of each person. The rules as to whether a person became a citizen of Botswana or not were determined by the Independence Day arrangements and the new Constitution.
We have found several other British nationality solutions that arise from a birth in Bechuanaland:
British Citizenship by Double Descent (48-5(1)a Botswana)
British Citizenship by Double Descent (Bechuanaland)
British Citizenship (Bechuanaland Birth)
British Overseas Citizen (BOC) - Bechuanaland Parent
British Protected Person (BPP) - Bechuanaland