Following the UK government's insistence that all British dual nationals must use a UK passport in order to enter the UK from February 25th, some dual nationals have announced that they intend to renounce their British citizenship.
These include people obliged to apply for a UK passport for the first time - such as the children of British citizens who qualify for citizenship but have never had a passport - or those who allowed their UK passport to lapse many decades ago. These people face a significantly more complicated and more expensive process than the standard renewal.
READ ALSO: Are children born to Brits in Europe now required to have a UK passport?✎
However, renouncing citizenship is not cheap either, and these days it requires more than simply chucking some tea into a harbour.
But Brits can apply to renounce their British citizenship or status — there is more than one form of British citizenship, depending on where they were born.
It is, however, not allowed for a person to be ‘stateless’. So, Brits over the age of 18 and ‘of sound mind’ who wish to give up their British citizenship may only do so if they are already a citizen of another country, or have to renounce it in order to become a citizen of another country.
The good news is that the ‘of sound mind’ is dealt with by a declaration made by a counter-signatory to the application form.
Many countries in Europe allow dual nationality for non-EU citizens, but in countries like Austria and Spain the rules are much stricter.
In countries that do not allow it, you must have gained citizenship of that country within six months of receiving your declaration of renunciation from the British government. If you have not, the declaration is invalidated and you retain your British citizenship or status.
Giving up citizenship or status only affects the person who has applied for it and not any other members of their family, although it could affect the status of any children they have in future.
Anyone who chooses to give up their British citizenship should be aware that this will affect their future rights to live and stay in the UK, as well as the travel processes to follow if they wish to visit.
So how do you do it?
You can apply to renounce your British citizenship, British Overseas Territories citizenship, British Overseas citizenship, British subject or British National (Overseas) status by completing a declaration of renunciation. You can do so online or by post.
The statuses of British Overseas Territories citizenship; British Overseas citizenship; British subject or British National (Overseas) apply to people born outside the UK under certain conditions eg in Hong Kong before independence - you can find your status in your expired passport.
Brits who live abroad, or (most but not all) children of British nationals, are simply British citizens.
The completed form, plus payment, should be sent to;
Department 1
UK Visas and Immigration
The Capital Building
New Hall Place
Liverpool
L3 9PP
Complete information, specific to your circumstances, is available here.
If your application is successful, you will receive a ‘declaration of renunciation’. This will be your application form, officially signed and stamped.
The date your citizenship or status stops will be shown on the form.
Supporting documents will be returned to you — whether your application is successful or not.
Documents
You’ll need to provide:
- A copy of your declaration of renunciation (either form RN1 or R6);
One of the following;
- your passport, or certificate of naturalisation or registration for your other citizenship or nationality;
- an official letter or statement from the country you’re currently a citizen or national of saying that, if you had not given up your British citizenship, you’d have lost or failed to get your current citizenship or nationality.
Fee
Those looking into doing this to avoid the costs of getting an extra passport may be disappointed - this process is expensive.
In order to apply to renounce British citizenship, British Overseas citizenship, British Overseas Territories citizenship, British subject, British protected person status or British National (Overseas), a fee of £482 per applicant is payable.
You will not get a refund if your application is withdrawn.
If your application is rejected, the overall fee will be refunded after an administration fee of £28 per applicant is applied.
Getting it back
In some cases you can to resume your British nationality after renouncing it.
You have a one-time right to re-register as a British citizen if you previously renounced citizenship in order to keep or acquire another citizenship.
You have a separate right (once only) to re-register as a British citizen if you previously renounced citizenship;
- in order to keep or acquire the citizenship of a Commonwealth country, or;
- because you had reasonable cause to believe that you would be deprived of your citizenship of a Commonwealth country if you did not renounce.
If you renounced citizenship for any other reason, or if you have already renounced and resumed British citizenship (as a right), registration is at the discretion of the Home Secretary. Registration will be granted if they see fit.
Are there any other reasons to renounce?
Other than avoiding potential transport hassles, there are not many reasons to renounce British citizenship.
Many Americans decide to renounce their US citizenship due to the US citizenship-based taxation policy, but the UK - like most other countries - operates residency based taxation, so if you no longer live there or have any income there, you will no longer have to deal with HMRC.
Until now, the most common reason for Brits to renounce citizenship was that they were taking citizenship of a country that doesn't allow dual nationality.
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