Global InformationBritish Overseas Territories citizen information
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| Law relating to former territories |
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A British Overseas Territories citizen (BOTC), formerly called British Dependent Territories citizen (BDTC), is a member of a class of British nationality granted to people connected with one or more of the British Overseas Territories.
This category was created to differentiate between British nationals with strong ties to the United Kingdom and those connected only with an overseas territory (other than Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands), both of which groups had shared Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC) before 1 January 1983. The primary right of citizenship, that of abode in the United Kingdom, had been taken away from colonial CUKCs by 1968 and 1971 acts of Parliament, unless they retained it through a qualifying connection with the United Kingdom. Under the British Nationality Act 1981, which went into effect on 1 January 1983, colonial CUKCs (other than Gibraltarians and Falkland Islanders) without a qualifying connection to the United Kingdom became British Dependent Territories citizens (renamed British Overseas Territories citizenship in 2002), a citizenship which did not include right of abode anywhere – not even in the territories in which they were born. (CUKCs born in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, or the Crown Dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man all became British Citizens, with right of abode in the United Kingdom.)
Those with British Overseas Territories citizenship remained British nationals (subject to British sovereignty), but not British citizens. (Although British Overseas Territories Citizenship is a class of British nationality, it is not a citizenship of a British Overseas Territory or of the British Overseas Territories collectively, as the name may imply.) As the United Kingdom is a Commonwealth Realm, all British Nationals, including BDTCs, remained Commonwealth citizens, though free movement by citizens of other Commonwealth countries into the United Kingdom had ended with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. (The British Overseas Territories are not members of the Commonwealth in their own rights, as the Commonwealth is a community of independent nations – which none of the Territories are.)
BOTC status does not give the holder right of abode in the United Kingdom, but since 2002, almost all BOTCs simultaneously hold British citizenship, except for those connected only with the territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as those who have registered or naturalised as BOTCs since that date. Nationals of this class who are not also full citizens are subject to immigration controls when entering the UK. About 63,000 BOTCs hold active British passports with this status and enjoy consular protection when travelling abroad.[1]
- ^ Smith, T. (11 February 2020). "Freedom of Information Request" (PDF). Letter to Luke Lo. HM Passport Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.