What Is The Difference Between A British Citizen And A British Overseas Citizen?

A British citizen is a person who was born in the United Kingdom and at least one of their parents is/was a British citizen or lived in England, Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland when they were born.

In 1983, it was ruled that an individual became a British citizen if they were a citizen of the United Kingdom or one of its territories, or if they had the “right of abode” in the United Kingdom. People with the right of abode are exempt from the bureau of immigration and do not require a visa or authorisation to visit the United Kingdom. These people are free to work and live in the country with no limitations.

A person can be a British citizen even if they were not born in the United Kingdom. They are likely to be British if one of their parents was born or naturalised in the United Kingdom. Note that simply being born in the United Kingdom does not entitle you to British citizenship.

People born after January 1983 are only deemed British citizens if they were domiciled in the country at the time of their birth or if their parents were British citizens at the time of their birth. If the parents are naturalised in the United Kingdom at the time of their child’s birth, the child is automatically granted British citizenship.

Benefits of Being a British Citizen

There are great benefits to being a British citizen. Below are the advantages of this kind of citizenship.

• British citizenship entitles you to live and work in the United Kingdom indefinitely, with no immigration restrictions.
• Being one allows you to be able to apply for a UK passport
• The right to remain in the UK as long as you want – your status will be permanently established
• You are granted full civil rights including the right to vote and be voted for.
• There are no limits on your freedom to work or enter the UK.
• There are no limits on international travel.

British Overseas citizenship is one of the 6 types of British nationality under the British Nationality Act 1983. British Overseas Citizens are British citizens, but they are not granted the right to reside in the UK.

Those who qualify can apply for British citizenship, enjoy privileges when applying for visas to other countries, and are eligible for the British government’s support and assistance when overseas. This is a general rule. However, they are not considered British citizens, so they have limited privileges.

It is practically impossible to become a BOC. This British nationality type cannot be obtained by naturalisation and can only be passed by descent if a person is born to a parent who is/was a British overseas citizen.

Additionally, when visiting a country without a British embassy, BOCs are entitled to seek international support and assistance from the consulate of any other Commonwealth country located in that country.

It is assumed that British overseas citizens will gain citizenship in their home country and that the number of people with this type of British nationality will reduce. Because of the regulating acts that establish British Overseas Citizenship eligibility, a person could have obtained this citizenship under a lot of conditions.

Because the UK does not oppose dual citizenship, a person can be both a BOC and a citizen of another country, so long as the other country does not oppose it. BOCs have a clear edge over other commonwealth citizens because they cannot relinquish their residency status in the UK when issued with Indefinite Leave to Remain.

However, other foreign citizens’ UK residence status is revoked if they are absent from the UK for longer than 2 years.

British Overseas Citizenship cannot be handed down through generations; but, because the UK does not implement unilateral Citizenship legislation, once you obtain British Overseas Citizenship, you will not have to forfeit it until official actions are made to disavow it.

Benefits of Being a British Overseas Citizen

The BOC status is awarded to applicants who were born in a former British territory but were not granted citizenship of that country at the time of its independence. This is predominantly due to the Independence Day arrangements and how citizenship was given based on where the person’s parents were born.

Although your rights as a holder of British overseas citizenship are limited when compared to those of a British citizen, you can gain advantages by being one. Below are some of the benefits:

• You do not need a visa to visit the UK.
• Individuals who have/had indefinite leave to enter the UK earlier cannot lose their status by staying absent for longer than two years.
• If your home country is unsafe or insecure and it is dangerous to stay there, or you are longer allowed to live there, the UK will welcome you for residence.
• Visas to other European countries are normally not needed except if the visit is longer than three months.
• BOCs are excluded from the current Naturalisation regulations and will just have to live five years in the UK as opposed to the new period of eight years.
• BOCs are entitled to request Consular Protection from the British Government when they need it overseas.
• Stateless children of British Overseas Citizens may identify as British after three years of living in the UK if born in another country, or become British Citizens immediately if they were born in the UK.
• People with the BOC status who have not had another nationality since 4th July 2002 are eligible to apply for British citizenship without fulfilling any additional requirements.

The arrangements for BOC status are constantly evolving, and if a favourable change is made to holders of this type of British nationality, these benefits normally only pertain to individuals who hold this citizenship at the time of the amendment.