Petition · past parliament · Home Office

Grant full citizenship to British citizens by descent, and their children

Closed 43 signatures

What the petition asks

The Government should allow British citizens by descent who have lived in the UK for over 5 years to ‘upgrade’ their status to full citizenship, and automatically grant their children citizenship if they were born abroad.
Currently if a British citizen by descent has a child born abroad, their child can be left stateless. British citizens are either British citizens by descent or a British citizens otherwise than by descent. The difference between these is that a British citizen by descent cannot normally pass their citizenship to their children born outside of the UK. British citizen by descent person can live in the UK all their life but cannot pass on their nationality. People who have emigrated to the UK and become naturalised citizens have more rights in this regard than a British citizen by descent living in the UK.

Timeline

29 Jun 2022 Petition opened for signatures
12 Jan 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 43
Status Closed
Department Home Office
Opened 29 Jun 2022
Closed 12 Jan 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.