United Kingdom - Passport & Nationality - British Citizenship by Double Descent (UKM 12(5)1948 PGF) Mother

Section 12(5) of the British Nationality Act confers Citizenship of the UK and Colonies (CUKC) to a woman married to a CUKC man before 01.01.1949 if the woman was a British Subject. It does not matter whether that man has the CUKC status by birth, descent, registration or naturalisation.

Recent changes to remedy anti gender discrimination of woman in the older nationality legislation now means that such woman can pass their British nationality to children born after 01.01.1949. So an application for British nationality can be made in the modern day where:

• your mother was born after 01.01.1949;
• your mother's paternal grandfather (i.e. father's father) was born in the UK (including Scotland and Northern Ireland);
• the marriage of her parents must have taken place before 01.01.1949; AND
• your mother must have been a British Subject (this can happen in several ways, but the most common are by birth in a former British territory, or having a father born in a former British territory).