BOTC CAMPAIGN
BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES CAMPAIGN
This is what it's all about; read on:
Trent Lamont Miller, a US-based actor and advocate, fought against unjust nationality laws that prevented him and others like him. from obtaining British citizenship through his father, who was born in Montserrat, a British former colony now an overseas territory.
Why? Because his father had never married his American-born mother. Trent was treated differently under British nationality law than his half-siblings, where his father had married their mother. His campaign was instrumental in changing these laws, leading to the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which now provides equal citizenship rights to children of British Overseas Territories descent born out of wedlock.
His story highlights his determination to change the law making fairer and non-discriminatory
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In 2010, he researched the possibility of claiming British and British Overseas Territories citizenship by descent through his father, Abraham. Trent's father was born in 1942 in the former British colony, now a British Overseas Territory called Montserrat. Trent's grandparents were also born on the island. So, his family connections are deeply rooted.
In contrast, his half-siblings living in the USA can claim that their father married their mother. Under British nationality law, family members are treated unequally, leading to divided families. This situation is grossly unfair. It was the case that British nationality law was discriminatory and divided families. The UK and Montserrat regarded Trent as a 'visitor' rather than someone entitled to belong. This situation impacted his culture and identity; at the time, he felt denied and deprived through no fault of his own.
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The denial of British and British Overseas Territories citizenship by descent gained public attention in 2009 after a campaign led by Tabitha Sprague from the U.K. Citizenship Equality Campaign. In 2014, she successfully campaigned to amend the British Nationality Act 1981 to grant illegitimate children, now adults, born to UK mainland fathers the retroactive right to register for citizenship. In Tabitha's case, her father was born in the UK, while her mother was American.
The late Lord Eric Avebury and former British MP Julian Huppert played crucial roles in changing the British Nationality Act 1981 ('BNA') through Section 65 of the Immigration Act of 2014 as it moved through the House of Lords. For the first time, these amendments allowed individuals like Tabitha to have their births registered retroactively and subsequently apply for British nationality and citizenship by descent based on their unmarried father. However, a significant omission persisted. These amendments did not encompass the "just as British and deserving" illegitimate children of British Overseas Territories fathers, like Trent.
At the time, the excuse provided by the Home Office Minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach, in the final stages of the debate to the late Lord Eric Avebury, was: "I know that my noble friend is also concerned about British Overseas Territories citizens. Changes to those provisions require consultation with the territories involved, which is impossible in the time available. However, I assure my noble friend that the government will seek suitable opportunities to discuss this issue with the overseas territories once the provisions are implemented." (Hansard 6 May 2014: Column 1416)
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The net result is that only children born out of wedlock to fathers born in the mainland UK could register for British citizenship. Other British children of descent, like Trent, with fathers from British overseas territories, would remain excluded.
This created an unequal position under British nationality law. Had we been included in the changes to nationality law, it would have been fairer for all children born out of wedlock. Yet, our exclusion marks us as "less than" regarding our rights to inherit our father's citizenship.
Our campaign also discovered that children born abroad to British Overseas Territories mothers before January 1, 1983, are denied the same pathway to claim their unmarried mothers' British and British Overseas Territories citizenship by descent. Eligibility depends on the child's birth year, place of birth, and parent's marital status.
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Many years passed after Lord Taylor's statement to the now-late Lord Eric Avebury. Baroness Ruth Lister of Burtersett took over the campaign, tirelessly working with Trent to advocate for and urge the Home Office to introduce primary legislation to address this unequal situation. Eventually, after much pressure from us, consultations between the Home Office and the respective British Overseas Territories governments took place.
The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 removed the discrimination, permitting Trent and others like him to become British and British overseas territory citizens. This is an outline of the changes:
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1. Illegitimate Children born before 1 July 2006 to British Overseas Territories fathers
Children born to unmarried British fathers could acquire British nationality through their father only after 1 July 2006. Registration provisions were introduced for people born to unmarried British citizen fathers before 1 July 2006 to be registered as citizens by section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014. These provisions allow a person to register as a British citizen if they have acquired that status automatically under the British Nationality Act 1981 had their father been married to their mother. However, the same category of illegitimate children born to British Overseas Territories fathers did not receive the same consideration and was intentionally left out of that legislation.
Section 65 was introduced at a very late stage in the Bill debates: it was recognized that each overseas territory has its immigration law, and to create a route for people to become British Overseas Territories citizens (which could give a right of abode in a territory) would require more comprehensive consultation with governors and territory governments, which was not possible before the introduction of that Act. Corresponding provisions were therefore not extended to include citizens from British Overseas Territories who were deliberately left out!
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2. Children born before 1 January 1983 to British Overseas Territories mothers
Before 1 January 1983, women could not pass on British nationality to a child born outside the U.K. and Colonies. Provisions to allow for children born before 1983 to British citizen mothers to be registered as British citizens were introduced in the Nationality, Immigration, and Asylum Act 2002 but were not extended to British Overseas Territories mothers. This was because the registration provision was introduced to extend the concession announced in 1979 to register U.K.-born mothers' children only. The aim in 2002 was to cover those who could have been registered as children based on that concession but had not applied in time. The criteria introduced - that the person would (if women could have passed on citizenship at that time) have become a citizen of the U.K. and Colonies and acquired a right of abode in the U.K. - aimed to cover those who had a maternal connection with the U.K. The registration criteria were extended in legislation in 2009. As this was introduced as an unexpected Lord's amendment, there was no time to consult with BOT governments about the implications of doing something for BOTCs, which could impact territory migration. Therefore, there is no route to register for British & British Overseas Territories citizenship.
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After successfully campaigning, the Home Office introduced legislation through the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, creating the BOTC (M) Route to remedy the continued discrimination. This legislation, effective 28 June 2022, placed BOTC and BC citizens on an equal footing.
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3. British Overseas Territories Act 2002 - Impact on children of descent
When the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 came into force, anyone who was a BOTC on 21 May 2002 automatically became a full British citizen. Equally, it allowed British citizenship to be acquired through birth in an overseas territory or to a relevant parent from an overseas territory. This means that people in the above groups should have gained BOTC and British citizenship. Therefore, the only way to fix this is to make further inclusive amendments to the British Nationality Act 1981 to provide a retrospective route to register births for nationality purposes. It will allow disenfranchised children, now adults, of British Overseas Territories descent, to become British and British Overseas Territories citizens.
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After successfully campaigning, the Home Office introduced legislation through the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, creating the BOTC (M) Route to remedy the continued discrimination. Thereby placing BOTC & BC citizens on an equal footing. Effective 28 June 2022
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​But that was not the end of his story:
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As the changes fought for by Trent were going through its parliamentary process, we became aware of another group of children, grand and great-grandchildren of Chagossian Descent, who had been denied a citizenship path because their ancestors were forcibly removed to Mauritius and Seychelles from a British territory in the Indian Ocean called the Chagos Archipelago. We estimated that approximately ten to fifteen thousand had lost out of being British. This seemed another example of the law hurting children through no fault of their own or their ancestors. We joined forces with various Chagossian groups and supported their efforts to include them in the same nationality bill with further amendments. Trent, his partner Dave, worked hard with Roy L'eveque Baroness Lister and others to change the language acceptable to the Home Office, despite numerous rejections by the British government, who eventually relented and added them into the final stages of the bill. So, the greater good came from this whole experience.
4. Chagossian Children of Descent (British Indian Overseas Territory "BIOT."
British Overseas Territories citizenship (BOTC) is a form of British nationality held through a close and continuing connection with a British Overseas Territory. The vast majority of people who hold BOTC also hold British citizenship.
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Chagossians are the former residents of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) who were removed from the islands that form BIOT between the mid-1960s and early 1970s, and their descendants were born outside the BIOT. The removal of Chagossians from BIOT has meant that British nationality could not be passed on to the second and subsequent generations of Chagossians born outside the UK and territories. This is because it is a long-standing principle of British nationality law that nationality can only be passed on to the first generation born outside the UK territory, reflecting that British nationals should have a close and continuing connection to the UK or a British Overseas Territory.
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​Due to cross-party cooperation and campaigning advocacy, the Home Office, at the last minute, agreed to add to the Nationality and Borders Bill 2022 to allow people who are directly descended from someone who was born on the islands that now make up the British Indian Ocean Territory, to apply for registration to acquire British nationality. Applications can be made from 23 November 2022. This benefited Chagossians of descent worldwide. However, most applicants live in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the UK. It is a time-limited exception of five years, effective from 23 November 2022, for people over twenty-three years old. Those under that age will have until their twenty-third birthday to apply. After this time, no further applications will be accepted.
So, change is possible if you fight for what is right. And for that, we are thankful.
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INFORMATION & LINKS:
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​BOTC ( F) ROUTE:​
(CHILDREN BORN OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE TO BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES FATHERS BEFORE 1st JULY 2006):
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Guidance:
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Application form:
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BOTC (M) ROUTE:
(CHILDREN BORN ABROAD TO BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES MOTHERS BEFORE 1st JANUARY 1983):
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Guidance:
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Application form:
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BIOT (BOTC & BC) CHAGOSSIAN ROUTE:
(GUIDANCE AND APPLICATION TO REGISTER CHAGOSSIANS AS BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES CITIZENS (BOTC) AND BRITISH CITIZENS):
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Guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/form-biot-guidance
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Apply online:
https://www.gov.uk/apply-british-citizenship-person-chagossian-descent
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Application form by post:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-as-a-botc-and-british-citizen-form-biot
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FURTHER HELP & QUESTIONS:
All nationality and immigration questions should be directed to the Home Office Nationality Teams:
General Nationality Enquiries:​ Nationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
​After Application Follow-up Enquiries: Citizenship.support@homeoffice.gov.uk
Chagossian Applications Enquiries: ChagossianEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
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​BOTC Campaign email contact: botccampaign@gmail.com
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Please note: Our campaign is not qualified to provide legal advice on nationality matters. We strongly suggest you locate a competent British Nationality Lawyer to assist you further. You can find more information at https://www.gov.uk/find-an-immigration-adviser
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