Apply for citizenship if your parent is a British overseas territories citizen

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If your parents were not married

You can apply to become a British overseas territories citizen and a British citizen if one of the following apply:

  • you would have automatically become a British overseas territories citizen if your parents had been married
  • you could have applied to become a British overseas territories citizen if your parents had been married

You must have not previously given up (renounced) your citizenship as a British overseas territories citizen.

Documents you’ll need to apply

You’ll need to provide the following documents to show how you could have become a British overseas territories citizen through your father:

  • your passport
  • your birth certificate

If your birth certificate does not have your father’s name on it, you’ll need to provide another document that shows how you’re related, for example a court order.

You’ll also need to provide one of the following:

  • your father’s birth certificate
  • your father’s certificate of naturalisation or registration as a citizen of the UK and Colonies
  • papers showing your father’s legal adoption
  • your father’s expired passport that shows he was a citizen of the UK and Colonies

How to apply

Fill in the form. You can use the same form to apply to become a British overseas territories citizen and a British citizen.

If you apply from outside the UK

You’ll be asked to make an appointment at a visa application centre to provide your biometric information (your fingerprints and a photo). You’ll get a letter telling you how to do this after you’ve applied.

If you apply from inside the UK

You’ll be asked to make an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) centre to provide your biometric information (your fingerprints and a photo). You’ll get a letter telling you how to do this after you’ve applied.

If you’re applying from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man

If you live in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, you have to apply in person or by post.

Check which you can do with your lieutenant-governor’s office.