Commencement of Core Nationality Reforms (Remedying Historical Injustices)

Policy effect

Commences provisions under Part 1 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 remedying historical gender and marital status discrimination in British nationality legislation (allowing registration where mothers or unmarried fathers could not transmit citizenship) and granting discretion for adult registration where someone missed citizenship due to historical legislative unfairness.

Official source excerpt

Quoted verbatim from the official source below. Ellipses indicate omitted text.

… means the Nationality and Borders Act 2022; “the appointed day” means 28th June 2022; “the Refugee Convention” means the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28th July 1951 and its Protocol. (3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, subject as follows. (4) Paragraph 24 of Schedule 1 and paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 extend to England and Wales only. Provisions coming into force on 28th June 2022 2. The day appointed for the coming into force of the provisions of the 2022 Act listed in Schedule 1 is 28th June 2022. Transitional and … saving provisions 3. Schedule 2, which contains transitional and saving provisions, has effect. Tom Pursglove Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Home Office 26th May 2022 Regulation 2 SCHEDULE 1Provisions of the 2022 Act coming into force on 28th June 2022 1. Section 1 (historical inability of mothers to transmit citizenship). 2. Section 2 (historical inability of unmarried fathers to transmit citizenship). 3. Section 4 (sections 1 and 2: related British citizenship), except to the extent that section 4K(1)(a) of the British Nationality Act 1981(3), inserted by section 4(2) of the 2022 Act, refers to section 17H of the British Nationality Act 1981. 4. Section 5 (period for registration of person born outside the British overseas territories). 5. Section 6 (disapplication of historical registration requirements). 6. Section 7 (citizenship where mother married to someone other than natural father). 7. Section 8 (citizenship: registration in special cases). 8. Section 9 (requirements for naturalisation etc) and Schedule 1 (waiver of requirement of presence in UK etc), except for paragraph 3(4)(d) of that Schedule. 9. Section 11 (citizenship: stateless minors). 10. Section 12 (differential … Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (c. 36) xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" PART 1U.K.Nationality Valid from 28/06/2022 British overseas territories citizenshipU.K.1Historical inability of mothers to transmit citizenshipU.K. (1)Part 2 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (British overseas territories citizenship) is amended as follows. (2)After section 17, insert— “17ARegistration: remedying inability of mothers to transmit citizenship (1)On an application for registration under this section, a person (“P”) is entitled to be registered as a British … subsection (1), after paragraph (c) insert— “(ca)the person is a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of registration under section 17A; or”. Commencement Information I1S. 1 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 87(1)2Historical inability of unmarried fathers to transmit citizenshipU.K. (1)Part 2 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (British overseas territories citizenship) is amended as follows. (2)After section 17A (as inserted by section 1), insert— “17BRegistration: unmarried fathers; the general conditions For the purposes of sections 17C to 17F, a person (“P”) meets the general conditions … with the commencement date, before they reach the age of 23 years. (3)In subsection (2), “the commencement date” means the date on which this section comes into force.” Commencement Information I3S. 3 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 87(1)4Sections 1 to 3: related British citizenshipU.K. (1)Part 1 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (British citizenship) is amended as follows. (2)After section 4J, insert— “4KAcquisition by registration: certain British overseas territories citizens (1)A person is entitled to be registered as a British citizen on an application made under this section if— (a)they are entitled to be registered as a British overseas territories citizen under section 17A, 17C, 17D, 17E, 17F or 17H, or (b)they would be entitled to be registered as a British overseas territories citizen under any of those sections but for the fact that they have already become a British overseas territories citizen under a different provision. (2)Subsection (1) does not apply in the case of a person— (a)who is or would be entitled to be registered as a British overseas territories citizen by virtue only of a connection with the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, or (b)who has … 4LAcquisition by registration: special circumstances (1)If an application is made for a person of full age and capacity (“P”) to be registered as a British citizen, the Secretary of State may cause P to be registered as such a citizen if, in the Secretary of State’s opinion, P would have been, or would have been able to become, a British citizen but for— (a)historical legislative unfairness, (b)an act or omission of a public authority, or (c)exceptional circumstances relating to P. (2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), “historical legislative unfairness” includes circumstances where P would … Secretary of State may cause P to be registered as such a citizen if, in the Secretary of State’s opinion, P would have been, or would have been able to become, a British overseas territories citizen but for— (a)historical legislative unfairness, (b)an act or omission of a public authority, or (c)exceptional circumstances relating to P. (2)For the purposes of subsection (1)(a), “historical legislative unfairness” includes circumstances where P would have become, or would not have ceased to be, a British subject, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, a British Dependent Territories Citizen …

Review method

Two separate automated exact-claim source reviews

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• 2022-02-17Immediate Closure of the Tier 1 (Investor) Visa Route (CP 632)
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• 2022-04-06Removal of No Time Limit (NTL) Application Fee
• 2022-04-06Use of Identity Document Validation Technology (IDVT) for Digital Right to Work Checks
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• 2022-05-11Imposition of Visitor Visa Regime on Nationals of El Salvador
• 2022-05-30Introduction of the High Potential Individual route
• 2022-06-01New Legal Advice Service for Immigration Detainees
• 2022-06-24Revision of UK Expansion Worker Guidance (Endorsement Streamlining)
• 2022-06-28Implementation of Differentiated Refugee Status Regime (HC 17)
• 2022-06-30End of COVID-19 Student Sponsorship Concessions
• 2022-08-10Homes for Ukraine opens to new applications from children without parents or legal guardians
• 2022-08-22Introduction of the Scale-up route
• 2022-08-31Devolution of Immigration Bail Regulations for Scotland and Northern Ireland
• 2022-10-01Reinstatement of In-Person Right to Work Checks
• 2022-11-30Closure of the Afghan Ex-Gratia Scheme