What if granparent was a Bitish citizen born outside UK?

If you have a grandparent who was birtish but born outside the UK, can you still apply for the ancestry visa? my grandmother was British but born in India, her father was in the military "crown service" and they immigrated to Canada after world war 1. Any info would be greatly appreciated I can't find anything out for these circumstances!!

-- Sat Dec 05, 2009 4:53 pm --

As I understand it, for you to qualify for Ancestry Visa, you basically need to prove that your parent was a british citizen by descent. This doesn't entitle you to citizenship, but does entitle you to Ancestry visa.

So, I think the best way to figure out if you are eligible is to determine if your parent could derive citizenship from your grandmother, which would only be if your grandmother was considered a british citizen otherwise than by descent. Since she wasn't born in UK, the answer would normally be 'no', as her citizenship would only be by descent and not transmissable to your parent. But, perhaps your greatgrandfather's crown service got your grandmother 'normal' british citizenship, that is, citizenship otherwise that by descent. If it did, then she would pass her citizenship to your parent by descent, and you would be eligible for Ancestry visa.

-- Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:44 pm --

Consulting the following link:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... chapter20/

Would seem to indicate that if her father was in crown service, her citizenship is NOT considered by descent, and thus she did indeed have citizenship transmissable to her children -- just as if she were born in UK [the only caveat here is that women could not always pass citizenship in 20th century] --, and you would be eligible for visa.

based on this I'd be giving it a shot.

Thank you so much, its at least worth trying!!