New legislation protects nationality rights of UK-born children after "technical issue" identified with Home Office policy between 1983 and October 2000
The Government has today published the very brief new British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill to clarify the confusion that arose in the High Court's Roehrig judgment over the British citizenship of children born in the UK between 1983 and 1 October 2000 to EU national parents.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe 8-page Bill, with just two pages of actual legislation, can be download here.
For more on the issues raised around citizenship in the Roehrig case, see this article for The Conversation by Alice Welsh of the University of York.
As Alice Welsh notes, the question posed by Roehrig was whether EU nationals without indefinite leave to remain could be considered "settled". Specifically, the question arose for EU nationals in the UK between the introduction of the British Nationality Act 1981 in 1983 and a Home Office policy change on 2 October 2000. Today's British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill will confirm in law that, yes, they were considered settled, meaning their children born in the UK are, indeed, British.
The Home Office says the British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill is being made to protect the nationality rights of people born in the UK to EU parents following the "technical issue" that was identified with its policy in place for 17 years before 2 October 2000.
According to the Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens (PRCBC), the Home Office has indicated that it hopes the Bill can be fast-tracked through Parliament.
Explaining the purpose of the Bill, immigration minister Robert Jenrick said in a written statement:
Statement
The British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Bill, introduced today, will confirm in statute a long-standing historical policy under which EU, EEA and Swiss nationals living in the UK in the relevant period and exercising free movement rights here were considered to be settled.
This will protect the nationality rights of people born in the UK to parents who were considered settled on the basis of that policy, and who were treated as British automatically, and those who registered or naturalised as British citizens on that basis.
The Bill also clarifies when EU, EEA and Swiss nationals could be considered settled on the basis of exercising an equivalent right in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which are considered part of the UK for nationality purposes.
We want to be clear that we are not creating 'new' British citizens, but rather confirming the citizenship of individuals we have long considered, and treated as, British already under established Home Office policy.
The introduction of the Bill was preceded by consultation with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with relevant officials in these locations having confirmed their support for the measures the UK Government is looking to introduce.
To support scrutiny of the Bill by both Houses, we are publishing on GOV.uk and Parliament.uk the following documents:
- Explanatory Notes
- Equality Impact Assessment
- ECHR Memorandum
- Factsheet