British, English or what?

[hughnique]

My dear other half, came in to the world to English parents working in what was the Gold coast, now Ghana, in 1951, [ they repatriated in about 1957], she has a Ghanaian birth certificate, and that in itself has caused problems in the past, when applying for a passport, being asked if she should actually be living in the UK. Finally sorted by going to what was the Petty France passport office and spending the whole day waiting, even they were dubious about issuing her with one. Finally got it and have obviously kept it going when renewal was required. The question arises that is she allowed to call herself English, is she deemed as British, or should she apply for a Ghanaian passport.

[exile]

A complex question and one where I don't think I can offer definitive answers - however:

If she has been issued with a full UK passport, I think she can safely call herself British. Whether she wants to call herself English is up to her. There are no rules. I know of people born of English parents but born in Scotland and some consider themselves as English and some as Scots. Place of birth is not a decider - see below. It has been known for the UK passport office to revoke citizenship but this would be extremely rare unless she decides to commit a terrorist act against the UK.

I have no idea whether she can apply for a Ghanaian passport. Place of birth does not in itself necessarily confer nationality. It certainly does not in the UK but whether it does in Ghana would be something for the two of you to explore. Without at least one Ghanaian parent my expectation would be that she would be refused. I would ask however what benefit you would expect from holding such a passport. It will certainly not make entry into France easier and could even cause complications regarding the titre de sejour which has been specifically issued to UK citizens - not Ghanaian. It would definitely complicate entry to the UK.

[exile]

Just to show the complexities of nationality, I was working with friends in Germany both of whom were British but both born outside the UK. Their British nationality was conferred because their parents were British born British.

When she became pregnant they made hasty arrangements to return to the UK. With the rules as they were at the time, had the child been born in Germany (or anywhere outside of the UK), it could not have claimed UK citizenship since neither parent was British born and only received British citizenship through their parents. That right did not extend to UK grandparents. Further the child could not have claimed German citizenship if born in Germany since their rules demanded Austro-Germanic heritage back to at least one grandparent. In principal the child could have been born stateless.


At least some of these rules have subsequently changed but that was the case at the time.

[Blaze]

The question arises that is she allowed to call herself English, is she deemed as British, or should she apply for a Ghanaian passport.

As Exile says, if she now has a full British passport, officially she is British though if she wants to call herself English, that's her choice.

Out of interest, why would she want to apply for a Ghanaian passport if she already has a British one ?

OH was born in Hong Kong to British parents when HK was a British Crown Colony (not the case for Gold Coast !). His birth certificate was issued in HK and it is impossible to obtain any sort of duplicate. We went through all those hoops when applying for his CdS as he is not prepared to let his original out of his sight. I contacted the GRO (General Registry Office) who said that they could unfortunately do nothing. Fortunately he obtained his CdS after full explanations.

[hughnique]

The Ghanaian passport comment was a bit tongue in cheek, only if she wanted to get a job in a call centre ringing vulnerable people in the UK.

[Blaze]

The Ghanaian passport comment was a bit tongue in cheek, only if she wanted to get a job in a call centre ringing vulnerable people in the UK.

[DaveW]

My kids were born in Ireland and got British passports through us both being British. The grandchildren were born in Monaco and got British passports through their mother, however, it seems to stop at that point. The grandchildren’s children would not be entitled to UK citizenship, luckily their father, Cypriot, gained British citizenship which makes everything whole in terms of future citizen status UK wise - figure that one out.

My children and their children have also taken Irish citizenship because they can and it lets them travel and work in the EU, without being chained by Brexit.

They all use their Irish passports, except the SIL.

[MAD87]

@hughnique , as Blaze says, your Dearest can call herself English if she likes - it makes no official impact as "English" is not a nationality, no more than Scottish or Welsh are. I've had to explain this ad nauseam to notaires (and their UK clients!).