parents' previous marriages??

I am applying for a British passport and I just found out that I need my parents to sign a marriage declaration, and if this wasn't their first marriage, they need to provide all previous marriage and divorce documents??

I'm claiming citizenship through my father. This was his first marriage but not my mother's. I don't see how her previous marriages concern me whatsoever, let alone my citizenship. All that should matter is that their particular marriage was legitimate.

I consider obtaining these documents almost impossible. I do not know the names of my mother's previous husbands. They were both in the US, and I don't know exactly where, either. My mother does not support my choice to pursue British citizenship and I therefore don't see her being helpful in this process.

Is there any way around this? It seems so uneccessary and I think it would be stupid to deny me a passport for this reason.

I sympatize with your problem. The reason that UK needs to establish that your mom's previous marriages were legally ended was to prove your 'legitimacy'. Without those papers, can you really say that your parents' marriage was legal?

The issue with your mother is a whole other kettle of fish. You may just want to remind her that you ARE a UK citizen, and are simply applying for the passport.

If you are really wanting to move to UK, you could consider an Ancestry visa instead, and then 'naturalise' once in UK for the required period of time. This gives you 'better', transmissable UK citizenship, rather than non-transmissable citizenship by descent from your father.

Check with the embassy as well, they may have contingencies for dealing with this. After all, many applying for passport don't have living parents who can sign anything.

What do you mean by "transferable" or not? Does this mean that if I marry someone they can get the citizenship as well? I thought that as long as I'm a citizen and I live with that person in the UK for however long, they would be eligible as well.

By transmissable I meant automatically to your children, even if born outside UK.

If you apply for a passport thru your fathers birth in UK, you get what is known as citizenship by descent, which is citizenship that cannot be confered on your children.

If you get citizenship by any other means (adoption, naturalization, birth in UK), this is known as citizenship otherwise than by descent, and this is passed on automatically to your children, even if not otherwise eligible (ie. not born in UK)

Soemtimes, it is advisable, for someone who is eligible for citizenship by descent, and also otherwise eligible to live/work in UK, to defer pursuing UK citizenship by descent, to live in UK for the requisite time, and then naturalise.


Marriage never results in automatic citizenship. It may sometimes result in an easier time to get citizenship, but its never automatically conferred on a spouse..

So-- what if I pursue citizenship by descent, but still live there for long enough that I would be "naturalized" anyway? Would my children only get citizenship, not because of me, but because they were born in the UK (hypothetically)? I would not expect a spouse to get citizenship unless they also lived in the UK for long enough (but I assumed there was still some advantage to my citizenship to them).

Technically the only disadvantage is the children part?

Would my children only get citizenship, not because of me, but because they were born in the UK?

Yes, you child would be like any other born in UK of, say Cdn or US parents. But do keep in mind that, at the moment, not all persons born in UK get citizenship.

Personally, I would (in fact I did) get citizenship by descent now, as this allows you to live in UK now, without restriction, and allows you to live in Europe now, too.

Immigrating to UK and wating to naturalise, is in the future, and limits you to UK until you do so, and who knows what will happen in your life.

thanks for your advice-- this is my current motivation- to live in the UK without restriction (right now) and receive benefits of the EU too (right now).

I'm not really concerned about benefits to potential children or spouses.

Amen.

potential children or spouses
Try to limit yourself to one spouse.