Difference Between British Citizenship and British Overseas Territories Citizen

If you are a British citizen, you can freely live and work in the United Kingdom without immigration controls. A British overseas territories citizen is someone who is part of the United Kingdom colonies, because they themselves or their parents or grandparents became the citizens of these territories on January 1.

If you are a British citizen, you can freely live and work in the United Kingdom without immigration controls. A British overseas territories citizen is someone who is part of the United Kingdom colonies, because they themselves or their parents or grandparents became the citizens of these territories on January 1.

What Makes You An Overseas Territory Citizen

You become a British overseas territory citizen if your parents were legally settled in a British overseas territory. Also if you were adopted in the overseas territories by citizens, and if you are a citizen by descent, this means that your parent or parents gained the overseas territories citizenship on their own.

The Rights of an Overseas Citizen

As a British overseas citizen you can hold a British passport, are eligible for protection from the United Kingdom diplomatic posts, and receive assistance from a consulate as well. Unless you also happen to be a British citizen you will be subject to immigration controls, where you do not have the automatic right to either work or live in the United Kingdom.  

Who is A British Citizen

In 1983 it was decided that a personofficially became a British citizen if they were a citizen of the United Kingdom itself or any of its colonies, or if they held the ‘right of abode’ while they were in the UK. The right of abode translates into people who are free from the immigration office and do not need permission to enter the United Kingdom. These people can work and live in the country without any special restrictions. The people that make up British citizens are those who were born in the United Kingdom, those who were born in a British colony with the right of abode, those who are registered citizens of the United Kingdom and any of its colonies, people who have been naturalized in the UK, and those people who can successfully prove their descent from a father who has qualifies as either of the types above.

British Citizens Born in the UK Post 1983

Did you know that just because you are born in the United Kingdom it does not mean that you are a British Citizen?  People who are born after January 1983 are only considered British citizens if they were settled in the country at the time of birth, or if they were a British citizen when they were born. In several cases if the parents are naturalized into United Kingdom at the time of the birth of their baby, the baby is entitled to be a British Citizen.

It is important to note here that people who were born before 2006 will automatically have the nationality of their father if he was still married to their mother.