I would like to claim British citizenship. I was born in the Bahamas in 1966. The Bahamas was under British rule at the time. I was born to an American mother and a Bahamian father. My mother registered me with the U.S. consulate as a birth abroad. I have been living in the US most of my life. Is there any way I can claim British citizenship?
The Bahamas became independent of the UK in 1973. I know it’s reaching, but is it possible that I can claim British citizenship?
This is a quote:
The Bahamas
You could be eligible for British citizenship if you were:
Born to a parent (a father or mother) who was born in the UK before 1983
from british citizenship born in bahamas - Google Search
It’s a pdf file
I suggest a letter to the British Consulate where you live. You will need documentary evidence such as birth certificates and/or passports so send copies of what you can find.
Alternatively, why not just apply for a British Passport and see what happens?
Here is the Bahamian law on which British citizens did or did not become citizens of the Bahamas at independence.
The Bahamas Independence Act 1973, passed by the British Parliament, stated in Sections 2 and 3 who retained or lost British citizenship by virtue of ties to the Bahamas.
My reading is that you probably can’t, but specific pertinent details of your family could change that, so read these and then contact the embassy in Washington for clarification.
Thanks for the info. I will read the links, but they are less than clear.
I think my best option is to call the British Consulate and will do so Monday.
But if anyone else wants to speculate, here are my specifics:
I was born in The Bahamas in 1966. I have my Bahamian birth certificate. I was always a US citizen because my mother registered me as a US citizen born abroad. My father was a Bahamian and at the time a UK citizen. But we moved to the US in 1969. My dad did become a US citizen -----I don’t know when mid70s----- But since I was a child when we moved and I have never actively renounced any citizenship, I wondered if there were any way for me claim British citizenship.
And, if anyone wonders. I want to move to UK because Trump was elected to be the US president. While he hasn’t specifically targeted the LGBQT community yet. It’s only a matter of time before he screws up and needs another scapegoat. I suspect we’ll get our turn at being the scapegoat soon enough.
British nationality law is incredibly complex, but the general picture is as follows:
After the Second World War, the formerly unified British Subject status that applied throughout the Empire (later Commonwealth) started to get subdivided into national citizenships. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other self-governing countries within the Empire began to enact their own citizenship laws. So, e.g., an Australian would become both a British Subject and a Citizen of Australia. The residual category, for British Subjects who didn’t acquire Australian, Canadian, etc citizenship was “Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies”, often abbreviate to CUKC. The OP, both by virtue of birth in the Bahamas, which was then a colony, and by virtue of being born to a CUKC father, would have been born a CUKC.
As colonies transitioned to independence, each enacted its own citizenship law. There’s a link upthread to the Bahamian citizenship law. It’s fairly typical, in that anybody who was a CUKC by virtue of birth in the Bahamas, or birth to a father born in the Bahamas, was granted Bahamian citizenship. And the UK’s legislation granting independence to the Bahamas, also linked upthread, is again fairly typical; a CUKC who acquired Bahamian citizenship lost their CUKC status unless they had some independent claim to that status, not relying on their connection with the Bahamas.
There were further reforms in 1981, as part of which the CUKC status became “British Citizenship” and British Subject status, formerly an overarching category embracing all Commonwealth citizens, became a residual category for people who have a connection to the UK but don’t hold citizenship in any Commonwealth country (including the UK itself).
It’s likely that the OP is a Bahamian Citizen from birth. It’s not likely, unless there are additional links with the UK that have not been mentioned, that the OP is, or can become, a British Citizen. if, contrary to my expectation, the OP has lost Bahamian citizenship somewhere along the way, it’s possible that they could claim British Subject status. But as British Subject status doesn’t actually come with a right to enter or settle in the UK, it’s not hugely useful.
As a Bahamian citizen the OP enjoys visa-free entry to the UK (and indeed the whole EU) but not the right to settle there. However if by any chance any of their grandparents were born in the UK then, as a Bahamian citizen, the OP could apply for an ancestry visa entitling them to live and work in the UK for five years, with the possibility of extending that time. And, after living in the UK for five years or more, the OP could apply to be naturalised as a British Citizen.
Thank you, UDS. Your response was informative and succinct. The links to the laws were confusing. I wish laws were written by people like you, UDS; then I wouldn’t need someone else to explain them. 
I do not believe that my grandparents were UK citizens. I believe that they were Bahamian, and I am out of luck. I’ll check with my oldest sister to see (crosses fingers). I’m certain that no one in my immediate family has documentation on my grandparents. But if there were any possibility that my dad’s parents were British, it would definitely be worth it to me to fly to England or The Bahamas to verify the info via whatever records were available.
I don’t think those records exist though. My father was born in 1918 and had a difficult time verifying his birth records-----So much so that he said “yeah, that’s me” about his dead brother, because they couldn’t find his records----which caused him grief in the long run. It took forever for my dad to get his records straightened out because he took the short cut of trying to use his dead brothers records because his parents failed to document him properly.
Apart from the more sensible answers, I’m sure that GB now has a residency-eligibility test too.
You will need to drink a cuppa tea with 2 sugars.
Eat a ‘full English breakfast’ in front of the immigration boffins.
Be wearing the team colours for your English football team (not to be confused with American football)
And have a full knowledge of all of the Coronation Street characters and pertinent quotes from Fawlty Towers episodes.
Then, and only then, will they maybe consider to adopt you.
…And under no circumstances utter the words “I want be a British.”
Voltaire! I was wondering just when anyone was going to comment on the phrasing.
Joking aside, fervour, you have my sympathy.
If you don’t qualify for British citizenship I presume you could live in the Bahamas? How tolerant is that country to the LGBT community?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_Bahamas Not LGBTQ friendly
But we aren’t making rash decisions. Trump doesn’t take office until January 20. It’s not like he can screw up the world on day 1. The US has elected a fascist. But the likelihood of that effecting us right now is low. We have breathing room.
HAHA! to those catching my typo. I was torn between typing, “a British citizen” and “British”. But “haha”, you caught me. “yay” you! Hope finding my typo makes you feel superior while I’m trying to find safety for me and my husband. Thankfully we have a few months.
I know you’re joking, but the “Life in the UK” test I had to pass was eerily similar to this!
(My husband’s mother has a British passport which meant he could get a British passport. As his wife, I got a two year visa then had to sit the Life in the UK test in order to be given permanent residency here.)
They could be UK citizens being from the Bahamas, I don’t know if they would or would not. My Stupid Ex was a UK citizen and he’d been born in Jamaica a few months pre-independence; his parents were both born in Jamaica, Daddy chose UK citizenship, Mommy Jamaican.
From the horse’s mouth (if you ask a consulate, you may simply find yourself told to look up this link):
WOW! thanks. that cite imples, “YES”. That would be such a huge relief. I do think the US has elected a narcissistic sociopath and that the world is left with a huge “?” . I’m just trying to remove some of that uncertainty. If I can protect my husband, I will be so happy.
UDS, was this clause specific to Bahamians, or in general?
My maternal grandmother was born in England, of an English mother and Irish father. Your inquiry above gives me a tiny bit of hope, but nothing I’ve read previously leads me to believe I might qualify for any UK status.
Useful video tutorial here:
Are you sure? The Bahamas isn’t listed as one of the British Overseas Territories.