British Overseas citizenship
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A British Overseas citizen (BOC) is a holder of a residual class of
British nationality British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...
, largely held by people connected with former British colonies who do not have close ties to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
or its remaining overseas territories. Individuals with this form of nationality are
British national A British national, or United Kingdom national, is a person who possesses a type of British nationality. This includes anyone who is a: * British citizen * British Overseas Territories citizen * British Overseas citizen * British subject (as defi ...
s and
Commonwealth citizen A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen or qualified national of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but some grant limited citizen ...
s, but not
British citizen British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...
s. BOCs are subject to immigration control when entering the United Kingdom and do not have the automatic
right of abode The right of abode is an individual's freedom from immigration control in a particular country. A person who has the right of abode in a country does not need permission from the government to enter the country and can live and work there withou ...
there or in any British overseas territory. This nationality gives its holders a limited set of rights when they are resident in the United Kingdom, conferring eligibility to vote, to obtain citizenship under a simplified process, and to serve in public office or non-reserved government positions. About 10,000 BOCs currently hold active British passports with this status and enjoy consular protection when travelling abroad. However, BOCs who do not have the right to live in the UK and have no other citizenship are effectively stateless as they are not guaranteed the right to enter the country of which they are nationals.


Background

From 1949 to 1983, all citizens of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
held a common nationality.
Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
(CUKCs) initially held an automatic right to enter and live in the UK. This entitlement was given to all British subjects, which included CUKCs and citizens of independent countries in the
Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...
, as part of a wider initiative to preserve close relationships with white-majority
Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 192 ...
s and colonies ( Australia,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...
) and moderate nationalist attitudes within the Commonwealth. Non-white immigrants were systemically discouraged from entering the UK, though there was no legal limitation to their migration. The
Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of c ...
ordered colonial governments to hinder prospective migrants of colour by informing them of the difficulties they would face in finding housing accommodation and employment in Britain, as well as confiscating passports from those who were deemed to have insufficient funds or determined to be unemployable. Nevertheless, 500,000 of these new immigrants had settled in the UK by 1962. Immigration from the colonies and other Commonwealth countries was formally restricted by
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
from
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
to 1971, when British subjects originating from outside of the
British Islands The British Islands is a term within the law of the United Kingdom which refers collectively to the following four polities: * the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (formerly the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) ...
first had immigration controls officially imposed on them when entering the United Kingdom. As Britain withdrew from most of its remaining overseas possessions as part of
decolonisation Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence m ...
, some former colonial subjects remained CUKCs despite the independence of their colonies. After passage of the
British Nationality Act 1981 The British Nationality Act 1981 (c.61) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning British nationality since 1 January 1983. History In the mid-1970s the British Government decided to update the nationality code, which had b ...
, CUKCs were reclassified in 1983 into different nationality groups based on their ancestry, birthplace, and immigration status: CUKCs who had
right of abode in the United Kingdom The right of abode (ROA) is an immigration status in the United Kingdom that gives a person the right to enter and live in the UK. It was introduced by the Immigration Act 1971 which went into effect on 1 January 1973. This status is held by Bri ...
became British citizens while those connected with a remaining colony became British Dependent Territories citizens (BDTCs). Remaining CUKCs who were no longer associated with a British territory became British Overseas citizens. Section 26. An estimated 1.5 million people were reclassified as BOCs in 1983, 1.3 million of whom also held another nationality. Lord Filkin, , col. 285.


Debate over full citizenship rights

The creation of different British nationality classes with disparities in United Kingdom residency rights drew criticism for creating what was seen as a two-tier system. The vast majority of people who were classified as British citizens in 1983 were white, while those assigned BDTC or BOC status were predominantly Asian. The deprivation of full nationality rights was particularly distressful for the
Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa The Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa consists of approximately 3 million people of Indian origin. Some of this diaspora in Southeast Africa arrived in the 19th century from British India as indentured labourers, many of them to work on the K ...
, many of whom migrated to Africa during colonial rule while working in the civil service. As former East African colonies gained independence, aggressive Africanisation policies and an increasingly discriminatory environment in the post-colonial countries against the Asian population caused many among them to seek migration to Britain. While CUKCs without strong ties to the British Islands were already subject to immigration controls starting in 1962, the subdivision of nationality reinforced the idea that British identity depended on race. A "special quota voucher scheme" was introduced in 1968 to annually admit a small number of CUKCs (and later BOCs), along with their dependents, who held no other nationality and who were pressured to leave their countries of residence. Waiting times under the quota system were extremely long, with applicants waiting in excess of five years to receive a voucher to enter the UK. The system was abolished in 2002, when Parliament granted remaining BOCs who held no other nationality the right to register as full British citizens. About 35,000 BOCs were estimated to have benefited from this provision at the time of the law's passage. Prior to 2002, British Overseas citizens from Malaysia had been able to petition for British citizenship after renouncing Malaysian citizenship.. After passage of the
British Overseas Territories Act 2002 The British Overseas Territories Act 2002 (c.8) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which superseded parts of the British Nationality Act 1981. It makes legal provision for the renaming of the ''British Dependent Territories'' as ...
and the
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received royal assent on 7 November 2002. This Act created a number of changes to the law including: British Nationals with no othe ...
, these requests were no longer considered. However, a number of Malaysian BOCs continued their applications after this change in immigration policy and renounced their Malaysian citizenship after being given incorrect legal advice. Due to differences in how the governments recognise nationality renunciation, both the British and Malaysian governments consider this group of individuals nationals of the other country and refuse to give them any form of permanent status. Debate over ultimate responsibility for this group of BOCs (estimated to be 1,000–2,000 people) continues while they remain stateless without a territory that they have a guaranteed right to remain in.


Acquisition and loss

Becoming a British Overseas citizen is generally not possible. The status cannot be acquired by
naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
and can only be transferred by descent if an individual born to a BOC parent would otherwise be stateless. It is expected that BOCs will obtain citizenship in the country they reside in and that the number of active status holders will eventually dwindle until there are none. Almost all individuals with this status obtained it in 1983, when Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies without right of abode in the United Kingdom were reclassified as British Overseas citizens. Due to the broad nature of the governing Acts that determine CUKC and BOC eligibility, there are a variety of circumstances in which an individual could have acquired BOC status. These include: * CUKCs connected with a former colony or protectorate who did not acquire that country's citizenship on independence (applicable particularly to some former colonies, such as
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
and Aden);. connection in this context generally means having acquired CUKC status by birth or naturalisation in a qualified territory, or by birth to a father or grandfather who fulfilled those requirements * persons who became citizens of a newly independent country, but remained CUKCs (applicable to the former Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca, as well as
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
) * persons who became citizens of a newly independent country, but remained CUKCs based on a connection to another colony which subsequently became independent before 1983 * BDTCs connected with
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
who failed to register for
British National (Overseas) British National (Overseas), abbreviated BN(O), is a class of British nationality associated with the former colony of Hong Kong. The status was acquired through voluntary registration by individuals with a connection to the territory who ha ...
status and would otherwise have been stateless after the transfer of sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997 * British subjects connected with
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
who made declarations to retain that status after independence in 1948 * women who acquired CUKC by marriage on or after 28 October 1971, at para. 14.5.5. * minor children who acquired CUKC by registration at the British high commission of an independent Commonwealth country on or after 28 October 1971 * eligible descendants of Sophia of Hanover who have never been members of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.. Several early independence acts did not remove CUKC status from certain citizens of newly independent states. In the former Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca, around one million
Straits Chinese The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, t ...
were allowed to continue as CUKCs with Malayan citizenship when the Federation of Malaya became independent in 1957. Consequently, when Malaya merged with North Borneo,
Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
, and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
to form
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
in 1963, CUKC status was not rescinded from individuals already holding Malayan citizenship. Similarly, when Cyprus became independent in 1960, Cypriots who were not resident in Cyprus for the five years leading up to independence and were also living in another Commonwealth country would not have lost CUKC status. In some cases, a former colony's new government only granted citizenship to members of the majority ethnic group. When Aden became part of the newly independent South Yemen in 1967, individuals who were not of
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
ancestry did not acquire Yemeni citizenship and remained CUKCs. Likewise, Hong Kong residents lost BDTC status when that territory was transferred to China in 1997. Residents choosing to retain British nationality were able to voluntarily register for British National (Overseas) status before the handover. Individuals who were not ethnically Chinese did not acquire Chinese nationality on that date and automatically became BOCs if they would have been made stateless. Sophia of Hanover was placed in the English line of succession in 1705 to avoid a reigning Catholic monarch. Because she was German, Parliament passed an Act to naturalise the Electress as an English subject, along with all of her lineal descendants. Although the
British Nationality Act 1948 The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on British nationality law which defined British nationality by creating the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" (CUKC) as the sole national ci ...
ended the naturalisation of further direct descendants, eligible non-Catholic persons born before 1949 would have already become British subjects. Those individuals would also be able to transmit British nationality to at least one further generation. Because such persons would not automatically have the right of abode in the United Kingdom, some current claimants to British nationality through the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705 could receive British Overseas citizenship. British Overseas citizenship can be relinquished by a declaration made to the
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...
, provided that an individual already possesses or intends to acquire another nationality. BOC status may also be deprived if it was fraudulently acquired. There is no path to restore BOC status once lost.


Rights and privileges

British Overseas citizens are exempted from obtaining a visa or entry certificate when visiting the United Kingdom for less than six months. They are eligible to apply for two-year working holiday visas and do not face annual quotas or sponsorship requirements. When travelling in other countries, they may seek British consular protection. BOCs are not considered
foreign national A foreign national is any person (including an organization) who is not a national of a specific country. ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.") For example, in the United States and in its territories, a foreign national ...
s when residing in the UK and are entitled to certain rights as
Commonwealth citizen A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen or qualified national of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but some grant limited citizen ...
s. These include exemption from registration with local police, voting eligibility in UK elections,. and the ability to enlist in the British Armed Forces. British Overseas citizens are also eligible to serve in non-reserved Civil Service posts, be granted
British honours In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award: *Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement an ...
, receive peerages, and sit in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
. If given
indefinite leave to remain Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or permanent residency (PR) is an immigration status granted to a person who does not hold the right of abode in the United Kingdom (UK), but who has been admitted to the UK without any time limit on their stay ...
(ILR), they are eligible to stand for election to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
and local government. ILR status usually expires if an individual leaves the UK and remains abroad for over two years, but this limitation does not apply to BOCs. Prior to 2002, BOCs who entered the UK on a work permit were automatically given indefinite leave to remain. BOCs may become British citizens by registration, rather than
naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
, after residing in the United Kingdom for more than five years and possessing ILR for more than one year. Registration confers citizenship ''otherwise than by descent'', meaning that children born outside of the UK to those successfully registered will be British citizens ''by descent''. Becoming a British citizen has no effect on BOC status; BOCs may also simultaneously be British citizens. BOCs who were
Hong Kong resident The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom of ...
s and had no other nationality on 3 February 1997 may also register for citizenship without UK residence requirements. Applicants who successfully register in this way become British citizens ''by descent'' and cannot pass citizenship to their children born outside of the UK. Remaining BOCs who do not hold and have not lost any other nationality on or after 4 July 2002 are entitled to register as British citizens.. There are about 12,000 people who continue to be BOCs and hold active British passports with the status.


Restrictions

BOCs who hold no other nationality are ''de facto'' stateless because they are deprived of entering the country that claims them as nationals. The
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It received royal assent on 7 November 2002. This Act created a number of changes to the law including: British Nationals with no othe ...
allowed these individuals to register as British citizens, after which statelessness was generally resolved for people who were solely BOCs. However, there remain circumstances in which BOCs are effectively stateless after 4 July 2002, including: * a BOC is also a citizen of a country that considers acquisition of a foreign passport to be grounds for citizenship deprivation (e.g.
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
). A Malaysian-BOC dual national applying for a BOC passport would consequently have their Malaysian citizenship deprived. * a BOC is also a citizen of a country that only permits dual citizenship for minors and requires renunciation of all other nationalities before a certain age (e.g. Japan). A Japanese-BOC dual national would potentially have their Japanese citizenship revoked at age 22


United Kingdom

British Overseas citizens are subject to immigration controls and have neither the right of abode or the right to work in the United Kingdom. BOCs are required to pay an immigration health surcharge to access
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
benefits when residing in the UK for longer than six months.


European Union

Before the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, full British citizens were European Union citizens.. British Overseas citizens have never been EU citizens and did not enjoy freedom of movement in other EU countries. They were, Annex II. and continue to be, exempted from obtaining visas when visiting the Schengen Area.


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Parliamentary debates

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Publications

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Government reports

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Correspondence

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News articles

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See also

*
French people living outside France French people living outside France (French language, ''French'': ''Français établis hors de France'') are French citizens living outside the current territory of the France, French Republic. At the end of 2019, the French presence abroad was ...
*
Swiss abroad The Swiss diaspora refers to Swiss people living abroad (german: Auslandsschweizer, french: Suisses de l’étranger, it, Svizzeri all’estero, rm, Svizzers a l’exteriur), also referred to as "fifth Switzerland" (german: Fünfte Schweiz, it, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:British Overseas Citizen British nationality law Nationality law in British Overseas Territories